patentcad

My LBS says they work but with a 10-20% decrease in braking power which won't damage my regular rims or overly wear the carbon brake pads. Is anyone familiar with how Zipp carbon pads work with rims like Mavic Kysirium's?

recneps

nope , but I'm thinking about trying. I just got zipp pads to use with my mag 300s ceramic breaking.

if your really interested and ask nicely I will put my ksyriums on and trying braking. I would imagine that they would not brake as well though.

I doubt they will get worn out easier on alu breaking surfaces.

Vinokurtov

Not with the Zipps, but the other carbon specific pads I've had are pretty hard and don't stop as well on aluminum rims. They pads will actually wear like iron on alu though.

curiouskid55

If you are swapping between carbon and aluminum rims the carbon pads will pick up aluminum and grind the sh*t out of your carbon rims. Keep your carbon pads clean by using them only with your carbon rims.

patentcad

That won't work.

Plan B, somebody, quick.

Vinokurtov

Having ridden and raced on carbon for several years now, I haven't found this to be the case. I do wipe down my pads and rims between wheel swaps, but if you've got embedded aluminum (or rocks, or sand, or other road grime) in your pads, it will do just as good a number on an aluminum rim as it will on a carbon rim.

Given the plethora of carbon rims in cyclocross these days...

EDIT: I do use a comparatively soft pad (Kool Stop salmon/black front, salmon rear) on my race stuff. These might shed material faster than a harder pad, on the other hand they might embed material easier.

dmotoguy

I used the zipp pads on al wheels for a day or two, braking wasnt that much worse than normal pads, it was sort of inconsistant. they feel much better on carbon .

curiouskid55

Well you paid for them you can do whatever you want to them.

patentcad

Plan B:

I spoke to Zipp tech support. The nice man who answered said:

'Just inspect the carbon pads when you swap wheels and have an exacto knife in the garage. You can easily pick out any aluminum fragments in the carbon pads carefully with the knife, I've been doing that for years whenever I swap rims. Those aluminum frags are what may scratch your carbon rims, pay attention to that and it will be no problem.'

THAT is Plan B.

curiouskid55

Thanks for the useful info.

Vinokurtov

Curious, what type of carbon rim were you using where you've had this issue, and what type of pads?

Pat, a bigger issue is going to be finding the happy medium in your pad/caliper adjustment. Tubulars, especially carbon tubulars, tend to be quite a bit different in width and braking surface location than aluminum clinchers. If you're in an event where you might be swapping wheels out from either nuetral support or your own wheels in the wheel pit, make sure to:

a) Allow enough adjustment in the barrel adjuster to open/close up the caliper as needed and

b) Adjust the pad on the side of caution, so that the pad will not contact the tire sidewall.