Old thread, but some questions to me, so I'll reply...
Originally Posted by
dynaryder
BB5 pads $8.99:
http://www.jensonusa.com/store/produ...s.aspx?sc=FRGL
Thinking about it,BB5's have a fixed outer pad. Do your pads wear the same? IE,is one side shot while the other still has some meat on it? You can play with your cable tension to keep the outer pad from dragging. You can also swap the pads around after a while for consistant wear.
Pads wear more or less the same. Neither pad drags when the brakes aren't engaged. The disk flexes enough that both pads will experience about the same pressure under braking.
I eventually ordered some pads from discobrakes.com, $40 for a package of 4 sets ("medium" compound, the cheapest). Much better longevity, but a slight decrease in stopping power (more noticeable in the wet). There are other compounds which should give better stopping power (but it should be a couple years before I need to buy more pads).
Things work well enough that for now, I'm not planning to swap to BB7s, although I might have to give the clean sweep rotors a shot with JeffS's recommendation.