I don't mean to get into a semantic debate but there are three types of brake pads including organic/resin, metallic/semi-metallic/sintered and ceramic.

Organic and resin are different names for the same thing. Organic (non-metal) friction materials (rubber, fiberglass, carbon, kevlar, etc.) are bonded together using resin so they can rightly be called either organic or resin.

Metallic, semi-metallic and sintered are also just different names for the same thing. The friction material can be from 25% to 75% copper, iron, steel or other metals typically combined with graphite. The term sintered refers to how the pads are made - particles combined under heat and pressure.

Ceramic pads are common on high end luxury automobiles. They offer very smooth braking and low dust but are not for high performance/heavy duty applications. Your grandmother will love them. I believe they may be appearing on e-bikes but I have not seen any ceramic pads for mainstream cycling applications. E-bike pads use ceramic mostly as a heat barrier between the friction material and backing plate but it is possible that ceramic finds its way into the cycling world at some point.

To the topic of the thread, I use Shimano pads because they are guaranteed to interoperate with Shimano calipers and rotors. I wore out a pair of L02A resin pads and just switched to L04C metallic pads to try them out and am happy so far. Metal are definitely more noisy but I'm hoping the last longer. I use the finned versions to dissipate heat. $22/pair on Amazon is the lowest price I have found.


-Tim-