myrridin

I recently acquired my second bike, a Novarra Radonee touring bike. Look the bike, but have heard that the stock pads on the Tektro CR720 brakes leave a lot to be desired. My first bike is a mountain bike with disc brakes which seem much more responsive.

That said the brakes on the Radonee work, but in the recent rain didn't work as well as I would like. Reading the threads there seems to be a common thought that the Kool Stop Salmon pads are the best replacement.

Great, however, when I went to order them I noticed that there were several different models of Kool Stop Salmon available. I've order two sets of the following Kool Stops with the salmon compound; Supra 2, Eagle 2, and the Mountain Pads.

Received them today and they all look like they will work with the CR720's on my bike. Can't find any information on what the differences between the three models are. Any information available?

AEO

good question, I figured the not salmon pads were regular pads with colours in them.
the salmon pads have the special iron compound which makes them that colour.

myrridin

Thanks for the reply.

My question, though is what is the difference between the three different models of salmon pads; Supra2, Eagle 2, and Mountain Pads?

After I ordered them I noticed on the Sheldon Brown site that he recommends the Mountain Pads, but doesn't mention anything about the differences with the other models.

Mondoman

From a Supra 2 description: "All purpose brake pad, the same design as the Eagle 2 but with adjustable washers for perfect set up. These pads have a toe in design to help with braking performance and remove noise from the pad."


Regarding the Mountain pads: "A major upgrade from the Thinline, the Mountain Pads have a double curved design that provides substantially more contact area. Full salmon coverage provides maximum braking power. This model was formerly called "BMX" but there's nothing "BMX or "mountain" specific about it. If your brakes, caliper or cantilever, use threaded hardware, the "Mountain" model is the very best you can get, for road or off road use."


Eagle 2 is available in both threaded and smooth studs, while the other two are threaded only.

zzyzx_xyzzy

the only difference between the threaded Eagle and the Supra is the hardware -- Supra comes with the spherical washers. You could use the Eagle and just keep the spherical washers that came with your existing pads.

The Mountain pads are thinner, and work with some V-brakes that the thicker pads don't, sometimes. The thicker pads work well with CR720s IMO.

Kool Stop also makes the "V-type insert" which just directly replaces the removable insert in your existing cartridge holders cartridge holders. That's what I use, though there's an argument that the one-piece pads are more rigid.

myrridin

Thanks for the information guys.

I ended up installing the Supra 2 pads on the bike, since the other set of Eagle 2 pads are identical and I can reuse the Supra 2 spherical washers when the time comes to replace them. I'll also hang onto the mountain pads since they will work as well. Curiously, while the mountain pads are thinner they are much longer and have the same curve as the rim. It looks like they have greater surface area in contact with the rim as well.

Anyway, tested the installed pads on a quick ride and they seem to have a better feel when stopping. Guess I will not know how well they work until the next rain storm in Dallas.

velo-orange

the compound on all the salmon kool stop pads you bought are the same.

The difference between them is the brake arm they will fit on. The Supra 2 and Mountain pads are designed to fit on V type brakes (and to further confuse you, cantilever brakes like your Tektro CR720's). The Eagle 2 is designed for traditional cantilever brakes that require a smooth post. There is an Eagle 2 that is threaded. It's intended use is for road brake calipers, but can fit on V type brakes in a pinch.

CliftonGK1

I have CR720s on my brevet bike and use these KS V-brake inserts. (top of link; BRK12)

pacificaslim

I used the salmon v-brake insert pads in the stock tektro holders and those brakes work great. just adjust the height of the straddle cable to have the power vs. modulation feeling that you'd like.

I currently run a mini-V brake with the dual compound koolstop and they work well too.