Koolstop salmons vs dual compounds
 

I see koolstop salmon brake pads recommended a lot but see that Koolstop say they are for wet conditions and they produce a dual compound pad for general use.

I have a tour bike that has cantis plus Shimano drop levers so the braking isn't great. I also get quite a lot of squeal on the front wheel with the current pads and have already tried the usual fixes of toeing in and cleaning the rims. I was thinking of trying Koolstops but wasn't sure whether to go with the all salmon that everyone seems to rave about or the dual compounds.

thanks

You should try toeing them in and cleaning the rim.

Go for the dual compounds. They are half salmon and work quite well for all conditions I've used them in...both on- and off-road.

I've used both and prefer the Salmon pads. The dual compounds work ok but the all-Salmon are better in the wet, work fine in dry conditions and seem easier on the rims. There is no cost difference and the Salmon pard are adequately durable too.

Hey Freebooter, I was messing with you on my first response. Yeah, it's Friday.

I'm currently using both the salmon and the dual pads. They're both equally good to me but then again I ride mainly in dry conditions so I couldn't make a recommendation in wet weather this time of the year in So Cal.

Tough to say in some respects since you don't have much data 'bout what ya ride in, or where you're located in your post.
In damp Seattle, I'm a fan of salmon pads, they are noticeably better in the rain. As far as squeal goes with a good fresh set of salmon's I've managed to keep avid shorties quiet; however you should clean your rim & check your pads. If the pads look dried out, don't bother fussing at the toe in, they'll still squeal. Just pick up some new pads & then play with the toe on them.
If you really wonder you can buy a set of both & try 'em. Not too expensive to do & that way ya find what you like, it may be that in warmer environments then 'round here the harder pads work better.

"Most direct-pull cantilevers, however, use asymmetrical shoes (longer end faces the rear) that are designed to be set with no toe in."

Sheldon Brown.

?

I prefer the shimano pads. They stop better in the wet and dry conditions. Canti brakes take a little more force when used with road levers.

I just built up a Surly Cross Check with Shimano BB-R550 cantlever brakes using road brake levers. So far (about 100 miles) the stock pads have been satisfactory in both wet and dry use. Yes, they take more hand effort than caliper brakes but a lot less than the older style canti's I had on an early '90's MTB.

BTW, for a touring, hybrid or cyclocross type bike that used cantilever brakes with standard road/STI/Ergo levers, I highly recommend these brakes. Installation and set up are MUCH easier than earlier type cantilevers and, as noted above, hand effort is acceptably easy.

My experience with Shimano brake pads on both cantilevers and caliper brakes has been quite satisfactory over the years but I find the Kool Stops are a bit better all around. Either make beats Tektro pads hands down. :)

Our tandem came with the dual compound. These worked fine, but no matter what I tried (including toe-in) I had really bad squeal. I switched to salmon and the squeal disappeared. I don't think you can go wrong with either pad. Squeal problems tend to be a function of fork resonance and such and not necessarily a function of the specific pad.

Thanks for the replies.

rdtompki, Interesting that you found the salmon to squeal less than the duals. Koolstop's page here, http://www.koolstop.com/brakes/Compound.html has a comment at the bottom that suggests that the reverse should be true.

IIRC the salmons are slightly cheaper here than the duals so I may go with those to start with and see how they are.

Koolstop makes "red" replacement pads for V brakes (or newer vintage canti brakes that have the same brake pads as V brakes). The reds are a close cousin to salmon, and are labeled as "all weather" braked pads. No squeal at all with the Tektro CR720 canti brakes, and I have these on my two commuter bikes which get lots of use year round. When the road conditions are dry, I use the front brake for almost all stopping and the red pads have been fairly gentle on the rim surface. Anyone ever tried the Koolstop green, which are labeled as "dry weather" brake pads?

Salmon pads do tend to feel a bit more mushy than the black ones, just a slightly different lever feel. Caveat; this is my experience on both calipers and cantilevers.

The green ones are for ceramic rims. Don't use those on your regular aluminum rims or you'll burn through them in no time (the rims, that is)

I find that canti brakes are the worst culprit for squealing. Chances are any of the brake pads will squeal. I would recommend getting the pad that koolstop says is best for your riding conditions. Salmon for rain, dual compound for all year (varying conditions), and black for dry weather. Then you can mess with the squeal. As far as braking power any of these pads should be adequate. The salmon will be stickier and wear faster, the black will last the longest, but the difference is marginal in my experience. One last thing you could try to fix the squeal is to grease your canti studs. Sometimes the squeal comes from excessive vibration of the brake arm that resonates through the fork (like rdtompki said) and greasing the canti stud will help in many situations where toeing isn't doing the job.