alex jb

Hi guys,

Just wondering what you all weather commuter guys use for pads in your canti/V brakes for
The best stopping power in all weather?

I have just about finished off a set of Koolstop red pads in my Avid shorty 4 cantis, they are not the most powerful brakes so pads need to be fairly grippy or soft.

MEversbergII

I keep seeing Koolstop suggested. They have a multi compound brakepad that seems to have a lot of favor.

M.

Dwayne

Do you have the red ones, or the salmon (orange) ones currently? I've been very happy with the salmon ones for many years on different bikes. Never used the red ones though, but the salmon compound is better than the colored compounds: https://www.koolstop.com/english/compounds.html

fietsbob

Black replaced by KS Salmon compound, at 1st Opportunity.. Last 2 sets were Dura Ace type
in the Brompton and TRP CX holders ..

Previous ones Magura HS33.. KS makes theirs too. pretty much my Pad Of Choice..

Thats better than grinding away the aluminum from the rims wouldn't you say?

alex jb

Yes my koolstops were the salmon compound not the red, they were great pads and bought for $8 a set at my local shop in Naperville IL.
Now I'm back in UK, no shops near me stock KS so I was considering alternatives, but may have to give in to the evils of eBay bike part buying.

Fizzaly

I've had good results with baradine abs pads they have three different ones I believe the red ones are the all weather.

alex jb

definately!
dont want to have to throw in crappy OEM black pads as a temp measure though, will get on the KS case right away.

droy45

All the kool stops are good, and basically any mountain bike specific pad will give you the best stopping power in wet or grimmy conditions. I have been using mountain bike pads on my road bike for a few years now and will never use anything else.

bragi

I use Ashima. I used to use Kool Stops, and the Ashima are way better. By far the best brake pads I've ever used. Great stopping power, little to no squealing, even when wet.

techie2

After using both Koolstop and Swiss Stop I found the Swiss Stops to be far superior.

tarwheel 

I like Koolstop salmons so much that I have put them on all of my bikes. 'Nuff said.

pdlamb

+1.

Or is that +n?

alex jb

Same Koolstop pads are £20 a pair, not the end of the world, but there must be a European version/manufacturer that is more realistically priced and quicker to get?
The ones on eBay were coming from US sellers.

alex jb

I saw 'Ashima' pads on Wiggle.co.uk, they seem ok and are reasonably priced.

alex jb

Got a set of these for the rear locally.
https://www.chainreactioncycles.com/c...s/rp-prod89743
only 1 ride and they seem great, better than the out going koolstops but it should be said in their defense, they had worn quite uneven which must have been my fault when I didn't set them up again as I switched from 19mm to 24m rim wheels with my gravel set up earlier in the year.
i did adjust the front and the KS are better on the front.

Matariki

Like the others, I really like the Kool Stop salmons. On my all-weather commuting bike, however; I have drum brakes. I am spoiled.

arex

Koolstop salmon.

2_i 

I purchased Ashima after your comment, only to find out that they are next to a joke on wet. I took an alu rim and pressed koolstop (2/3 salmon, 1/3 black), swissstop (green) and Ashima (salmon-gray), all same size V-type cartridge, against the rim. When dry all produced decent amount of friction against the rim. After I splashed water over the rim and pads, the strength of friction dropped for all pads, but koolstop and swisstop still retained significant gripping power. On the other hand, Ashima retained nearly no breaking power whatsoever. There was just some minimal occasional grab, but for practical purposes you could use them to line up skates. I can imagine that there may be some other low quality pads on the market, like Ashima, but I won't be seeking and them and for now will be avoiding Ashima like plague.

Ghost Ryder

KS dual compound in the front, salmon on the rear on my commuters.
KS reds front/back on my CXers.

kenwer

Jan Heine from Bicycle Quarterly did real test on several different brake pads and Kool Stop Salmon came out on top. I use them on my Redline Conquest with canti brakes and am very impressed with the dry and wet weather improvement. I ride in NYC and the stopping distance of a few inches can mean a lot. It's also important to remember that in wet weather I have much less braking power regardless of the brakes, or brake pads. I couldn't find his test, but here's another article on braking that's very good, https://janheine.wordpress.com/2013/0...-on-a-bicycle/

cogdriven 

I bought a new Long Haul Trucker disc fork and put it on my Steamroller so I could have a front disc brake and also so I could have a longer steerer tube to solve a neck injury problem. You can't beat disc brakes in bad weather. I find them easier to install and adjust, though they do get noisy in the wet.

slcbob

I prefer discs and don't always use rim brakes in the wet, but when I do, I prefer Koolstop Salmon.

Stay thirsty, my friends.

ItsJustMe

What evils are those? I buy almost all my parts off eBay and haven't had a problem, and always get exactly what I wanted.

acidfast7

lack of supporting the local community?

jeffpoulin

I haven't found that to be the case. I use both. I find the blacks are about the same for each brand. The Koolstop salmons are slightly softer, quieter, and less durable than the SwissStop greens, but they're both very good.

My rain/winter bikes have salmon or green pads. My dry/summer bikes use blacks.