Mountain Biking - Shimano or Koolstop or whatelse

Right now i Have shimnano XT vbrakes and I actually got the loud hollar to go away. Yay me. But I finally wore out my pads from riding and an emergency break that i had to do yesterday.. riding down a hill at 45km/h and halfway down the light turns yellow but it was too far for me to gun accross the dangerous intersection so i had to slam my breaks.. i finished off the pads and threw both mavic 517s outta tru but thatll be fixed.. anywho i need new pads now and wanna know if i should just buy another pair of Shimano pads for my XT or if i should get Koolstop.. I ride XC and freeride a bit and road but nothing extreme extreme in the bush.. tell me what you recommend

i reckon you should get Avid Rim Wranlger 2 Cartridges, they are better than your shimano.

anything is better than my shimano destroying my rims lol.

I ride on the road and have just recently worn out my original Shimano pads on an Ultegra set of brakes. I switched over to Kool Stop and they are better by far. Stop quicker. More progressive and better in the wet. I talked to the local bike shop mechanic and he basically said Shimano original equipment pad are crappy and lots of people change over when they wear them out.

So far, so good.

yah i was told that too.. ill just pick up koolstop for like 10 bux a wheel or something.. then i should send shimano a copy of the bill for a new wheelset.. mm new 517s eh eh eh

Koolstop pads came as standard on my SRAM 9.0's and I've been very happy with them. They're the only cartridge brakes I've used though. Non-cartridge wise, Koolstops were far better than either the Fibrax or Promax pads I tried.

Richard

I find the thin line kool stops to be far better than the original pads, they last a full season in the mud and wet conditions in new england. The other type of pad that I found to be real good stoppers and last a good long time both on the road and off are the YPK pads that you can buy from performance and nashbar, the nashbar brand pads appear to be the YPK pads. One interesting thing that I have noticed is, they don't sqeal at all and they stop great, even in wet conditions. On my commutes, I generally ride loaded and my route is hilly so stopping on rainy days has greatly improved since I found the YPK pads. Hope this helps.

thanx all..ill go pick up a set of koolstops when i get outta school.. ill just pick them up at work

2 words: Kool Stop. Used them 3 times and I'll never go back to Shimanos. They grip better, brake harder, work better in wet, and best of all - you don't hear any of the horrible sliding/grinding sounds that Shimanos tend to make as they grind away at your rims.

just came home. i put them on.. omg what a frikkin difference.. my brakes are silent.. my back wheel lifts off the ground again. and no grindy sandy sound.. best 20bux i spent.. front and back wheel. thats canadian