Based on the Sheldon Brown website, I decided to upgrade the pads on my cheap road bike to Kool Stop Salmon MTB pads (the website indicated these would fit most bikes). But I just tried to put them on and the longer pads don't fit because they are so long that they extend into the area between the rim and the fork, and they are too thick to fit there). The problem area is probably 3/4" long.

original setup:
"Brakes: Tektro 510A ALLOY BARREL SILVER CALIPER BRAKE, Dual Pivot "
Side pull brakes with threaded pads. The existing pads are 2" long and 0.5" thick (the pads are practically new; I'm just experimenting with simple bike projects, and I assume that Kool Stop rubber would be improvement)

I'm reasonably mechanically experienced, but have little experience with bikes. I see a couple of options, and I was hoping to get some advice about which way to go.

options:
1) Accept that I've lost $12 and just buy different pads (Kool Stop Thinline threaded? or Dura Road Holder or Continental? The pads aren't available at LBS, so it's hard to guess which model). Perfectly fine, although I'd like the improved stopping power of the longer pads if I can figure out a way to work it.

2) Use a dremel to wear off the outer side of the pad (rim side would still be flat) so that it fits inside the fork; it's a guess, but I'd probably have about half of the pad thickness left. (There's no asbestos or anything in these, right?) If that's too time consuming, I could presumably just cut off the problem part with a hacksaw.

3) Get different brakes, which might extend further away from the fork. (The brakes are attached with a recessed bolt that goes through the center of the carbon fork.) The only reason I mention this is that I would be willing to buy better brakes anyway if the performance improvement is worth it. (I could also presumably insert some spacers to move the existing brakes out from the fork by 3/4"; the pads are currently at the top of the holders, so there is space to drop them down if I were to do that. But I'm just getting started in this stuff, so I'm hesitant to do ghetto things without the experience to know when ghetto is just dangerous.) If you recommend #3, could you recommend some good brake models to look for?

Thanks for any advice! (I didn't post pictures, but I'm happy to do so if that would help.)

-Nube

Kool Stop makes a brake to fit everything... try the road or continental pads.

Tell us what brakes you're running? You probably did buy the wrong pads. I'm guessing you have some sort of dual pivot sidepull calipers - which don't use mtb/v-brake style pads.

^Operator, that's pretty good intuition for someone who didn't read the original post.

Yeah, the mountain pads are longer. A 3/4" overlap is probably too much to trim off. You'd expose the underlying steel structure. It would look awful and likely eventually fall apart. Suck it up and buy some pads that are indicated for road bikes.
And don't go buy new calipers. There's no reason to.

The Kool Stop pads you have now will work on the rear. If your front has clearance like this (~30-35mm from fork to center of brake arm slot):


then you could use the Kool Stop Dura Road cartridge system or any "symetrical" brake pad/system that is 50-55mm long. If the clearances are tight, then Kool Stop Continental's or something similarly sized.

@Sci-Fi: Thanks!!!!! I wasn't sure if there was a standardized size, so I was worried that the Dura Road would still be too large. But I have 30.5mm from caliper to fork, so I'll pick up a pair. I'll leave the new MTB pads on the rear caliper. Thanks also for the included picture; it's always reassuring to see a picture so that I know I'm on the same page.

@Metzinger: Thanks for the advice on not grinding them down; I didn't realize there was a steel structure embedded in the pads! Regarding calipers, I found a guy willing to sell me the stock calipers from his Felt F55 (I'm guessing they are Tektro RX20) for $20. I was going to do it, since I assume the calipers are an improvement. But now it sounds like I should pass (?). I must admit that I don't really know what makes for high-quality brake calipers other than the omnipresent lightness concerns (I can see how cable stretch would be undesirable though)

@Everyone: Thanks for taking the time to respond to my question; I really appreciate it!


-Nube

High quality calipers are usually stiffer and have better bearings/bushings at the pivots. The calipers are usually deeper when viewed from the side. They often come with better pads than the cheapos.

The RX20s might be better. You'd still need to install them properly. Do they look structurally different from the 510As?

Kool Stop also sells their "Dura type" (i.e. Shimano replacement) road brake pads as sets complete with pad holders. The hoders are permanantly bolted to the caliper arms and the pads slip in and out for installation and replacement. These holders have spherical washers so initial installation and alignment are easy. Here is one reference:

https://www.biketoolsetc.com/index.cg...item_id=KS-RHD