mycoatl

This topic comes up frequently but I'm still confused. I often hear claims that Kool Stop Salmon pads will cause your rims to wear faster. My experience has been the opposite--my rims seem to last longer when I use them.

Does anyone have some REAL information about whether this is true or not?

well biked

I like Kool Stops because they don't get stuff embedded in them and then act like a grinding wheel on rims, at least they never have from my experience, and that includes a lot of dirty, gritty, off-road riding, as well as road riding. I've noticed Shimano pads, especially, will cause a grinding noise when braking, and then you'll soon notice small shards of aluminum have been torn from your rim surface, embedded in the pads, and will then destroy rims at an even faster rate. I absolutely hate Shimano pads, and I know some will say this was a problem with Shimano pads for only a short while, the problem has been corrected, etc. That hasn't been my experience with them, I've hated them for a long time because of this, I remember using them many years ago and they had this problem, and not long ago (maybe three or four years ago) I gave them another brief chance and they still did it..........I don't know for a fact that Kool Stops use a softer compound, but I'm inclined to think they do. They wear faster than other brands, and they will not wear grooves in rims from my experience. That seems to indicate they're softer. And the salmon compound seems to wear faster than the black Kool Stop compound, which makes me think the salmon pads are softer between the two. Another thing, the salmon Kool Stops definitely give the best wet conditions braking performance I've ever had, and I believe it's because of the softer compound being somewhat more "tacky" on the rims than harder, "slicker" compounds.

chipcom 

Only my rims know for sure.

"Do you like the koolstops?"

"Salright"

Michel Gagnon

To find REAL information, one would need to do a double-blind test. I haven't cycled TWO bikes in the exact same conditions to be able to test it. However, I would agree with you: my Kool Stop Salmon pads most likely helped reduce rim wear. Three observations:

– I only wore one rim so far : a rim that was used for 3-4 years for all weather cycling, including lots of snow and de-icing salts. That rim wasn't new to begin with. My touring bike, which has about 1000-2000 km of winter riding (not through the worst conditions, though) and more than 20 000 km of summer riding still has the original front rim. No grooves, no whatever in the rims.
BTW, I replaced the rear rim fairly early because it tore apart, not because of rim wear.

– The touring bike came in December 2000 with Avid v-brakes and pads. Original pads and a few pairs of Shimano pads lasted less than 1 month of winter riding. Kool Stop pads last on average one year in the front (rear pad wear is irrelevant in my case). Even though Kool Stop Salmon pads need to be ordered and even though they cost 50% more than Shimano pads, I therefore consider they are cheap by comparison.

– I rarely if ever hear any grinding noise, and the very few times I look at my pads, I don't see any rocks in them.

–

mycoatl

Thanks for the responses. I'm asking because I'm ready to spring for a nice set of handmade wheels and want the rims to last as long as possible. When I was using Salmons on my mt. bike commuter it seems that the pads actually cleaned my rims. Despite riding in the rain and muck, the rims were never dirty or grimey. This could either be because the pads were cleaning that crap off my rims or my rims were wearing and revealing a nice new layer of metal. The rims didn't seem to wear, though, so I suspect they were cleaning the rims. In comparison, on my touring bike, I'm using Kool Stop black pads and I'm frequently cleaning hardened black stuff off my rims. They're crappy old Araya rims, though, so I wasn't sure how much was the rim and how much was the pad.

'nother

Just about any brake pad is susceptible to getting crud embedded in them, perhaps contributing to premature rim wear. I prefer the KS Salmons myself but I have definitely found crap stuck in there, esp. after riding in dirty/dusty conditions. The one thing about KS is they have that little "squeegee" lip which strikes the rim first, and may help prevent stuff getting in the pads.

If you want to preserve the life of your new handmade rims for as long as possible, just make sure you wipe the rims after every ride (or if they get gunked up), and check your pads for crud after every ride. That's about the best you can hope for, no matter what pads you get. Rim wear is a fact of life for rim brakes. I guess you could go for disc brakes...

Also: KS have a "dual-compound" (black/salmon) pad that offers the best of both (longer wear of black, grippiness of salmon). I have not tried those myself but have heard good things about them.

jbrians

OK, here is an idea.
Put one KOOL stop on the left side of your bike and brand "B" on the right side. Ride for a while as you normally do then take notes on what everything looks like.

yes

^which side should the pannier go on?
Seriously, good idea, but it sounds like the OP wants to not wreck a rim. With your method, he gets the worst of both pads (in terms of rim wear).

Grand Bois

I don't know where you're hearing that Kool Stop salmon pad cause more wear to your rims, but I've always heard exactly the opposite.

mycoatl

I've heard the "more wear" bit from my LBS and in several posts on the forums here. Kool stop even goes out of the way to say that their "special formula" doesn't wear rims faster, which to me suggests that there's at least a "more wear" rumor out there.

wethepeople

I only use Koolstop Salmons on my bikes, and i've never had a problem with them.

Except for chirping when new, but I just to play with toe a little bit and now they're quiet, except for when I land on top of a back on my rear rim with the brake locked, thats the only time I get chirp.

Cyclist0383

+1

Scooper

I think it's a rumor stared by jealous competitors...

operator

...

SoonerBent

That's my experience. I have a couple thousand miles on my current rims and if I clean them really well they still look new. I do go through KS Salmon pads faster than I ever used up any black pad. This would tell me that the Salmon pads are softer and would be easier on the rims.

CdCf

The salmons may not wear the rim faster, but the pads themselves wear in a very short time! I'm on my third set in just over one year!

Rowan

Until the lip wears down which is quite rapidly, and I think the lip is more for making toe-in easy to set up when the pads are fitted.

I think Koolstops may have an advantage in the rounded shape at the leading edge of the pad (in terms of tyre rotation), and the angling of the slots in the middle to help in channeling the crud away after the lip disappears.

spookyload

I think your shop may be confusing Koolstop Salmon pads with WTB red pads. They do look just alike, but the WTB red pads are for ceramic rims. They in fact will wear a rim faster. The two pads are very similar in appearance, but the Koolstop salmon is the softer rim pad. It will wear out much faster than Koolstop black, but the breaks feel much better IMO. If you live in a non-mountainous area, you will still get about two years wear out of a set of Koolstop Salmons, which is acceptable.