Touring - Kool Stop pads... which one? Mountain Salmon or Dual compound Mountain

I am riding my LHT on the stock Tektro Oryx brakes. Now I need new pads but I am confused in which one to get.
Mountain Salmon or the Dual compound Mountains
http://www.sheldonbrown.com/harris/brakeshoes.html#mountain

Then I want to order from CS West bikes (http://www.cswestbikes.com/ search for 'Kool Stop'), but I can not figure out which item is which.

Any help on this one would be appreciated.

i would say dual compound ,i ordered mine from chainreaction cycles always good prices.

I'll predict you're going to get strong consensus for salmon. They work fine in all conditions. If you're still concerned, try one, then try the other. They're just brake pads, and like tires, it might just be fun to do the research yourself if you're so inclined. Happy stopping.

I run dual compounds and salmons. To be really honest, I can't tell a difference -both are excellent -but that might be due to the fact I have different levers so hence different cable pulls and feels.

One recommendation though: whichever compound you opt to go with, go with the cartridge pads and brake shoes. The difference in price over the long term will make it worth it (it means a little more outlay initially, but again, I'd say do it if you can afford it).



I am riding my LHT on the stock Tektro Oryx brakes. Now I need new pads but I am confused in which one to get.
Mountain Salmon or the Dual compound Mountains
http://www.sheldonbrown.com/harris/brakeshoes.html#mountain

Then I want to order from CS West bikes (http://www.cswestbikes.com/ search for 'Kool Stop'), but I can not figure out which item is which.

Any help on this one would be appreciated.

I'm a big fan of the all salmon... Seem to work pretty well in the wet. I ride in the rain more than I care to think about.

Oh, I must have not worded my question correctly.
I am not concerned of the performance of the two. I am concerned of getting the right type of pad. For instance....

http://www.cswestbikes.com/servlet/the-1032/Kool-Stop-BMX-Dual/Detail

vs.

http://www.cswestbikes.com/servlet/the-503/Kool-Stop-dual-compound/Detail

Are these the same thing, just different packages? on the Sheldon Brown page it made it sound like they were but I am not just not sure.

My guess is they're the same just marketed to different market segments. Email and ask go be sure.

The all salmon pad was developed first. It has good stopping power but squealed (noise) against the rim under heavy braking when used with some kinds of brakes. The dual compound was designed to reduce squeal, but has slightly less stopping power. Not even very noticable though. In other words, what makes them stop so well is the salmon colored part.

Here's KS's own rationale (http://www.koolstop.com/brakes/Compound.html), but for myself, in practice I can't tell the difference (right now I have one bike in duals and one bike in salmon)

Probably exactly the same pad. Maybe there is some difference in size because one says for BMX and the other says Mountain Bike. I would go with the mountain bike pad. If there is any compound difference, the mountain bike is closer to a touring bike in terms of weight and size.