Leicester

I got back into cycling a little while ago; I'm still way heavier than I want to be (6'2", 255bs) - but at least I'm riding every day and starting to head in the right direction.

Quick question, though: I seem to burn through brake pads on my bike (a tourer). About every 600 miles they are completely spent and need changing.

Is this usual wear, or is it reasonable to expect given how heavy I am?

I just changed the latest ones this week The guy at my local bike shop fitted some new ones for me - I think they are Kool Stop.

No big deal, but I was wondering if the wear is usual/to be expected, or maybe there is something wrong with the way the bike is set-up or my riding style?

Shimagnolo

Are you in the habit of dragging brakes on the downhills?

indyfabz

I am a relatively heavy braker, tend to ride more hills than flats and also do more city riding than most, so I tend to run through them more quickly, but I certainly get more than 600 miles out of a set. The Kool Stops are good pads. Maybe that will make a difference.

howsteepisit

I have not gone through a set of pads in the last 5,000 miles. What are you doing to wear them so fast? My brakes are Shimano 105 long reach. I had bought some cool stops years ago for when the OEM pads wear out, but they just don't wear, and the cool stops site looking lonely, are are probably too hardened to use anyway.

youcoming

I go through about two sets on the front a season, 600 miles seems kinda quick

sstorkel

I can't remember the last time I replaced brake pads... which probably means it was about a year (and 3000 miles) ago. I usually switch to Kool Stop salmon-colored pads once the OEM pads wear out. The two things I've found that cause pads to wear quickly are: 1) dragging the brakes continuously during a descent, and 2) riding in the rain. I was surprised by that last one! Seems like a lot more dirt/mud/gunk gets stuck to the rims when the roads are wet and forcing the brake pads to scrape it away accelerates wear. YMMV.

adrien

For me, I go through fronts about every 3,000 miles; rears about every 10,000.

A few questions:
- do you ride in the rain a lot, or on dirt?
- how are your rims looking?
- what pads are you using?
- canti brakes?

But, yeah, that wear is not typical.

BTW, I'm 205, 6'4. And I ride hard; as an example, I go through chains every 1000 miles.

Shimagnolo

I do 4000-5000 miles/year distributed across 3 bikes.
The oldest was built in 2006 and has the original pads (Campy).
On the other two I only changed the pads once, and that was just to replace the Shimano
pads with Koolstop salmons because the Shimano pads sucked on steep descents.

TrojanHorse

What does "completely spent" mean to you, besides all the other stuff?

CliftonGK1

I use KS Salmon pads and depending on the weather, I can tear through a set inside of 700 miles. Winters in the PNW suck for brakes/rims. Sand and cinders get thrown on the road for traction in the snow (if it snows.) If it doesn't, then you just have all the regular road grit clinging to everything because of the constant rain/fog mix. It forms a nifty grinding paste along the braking surface, and soft pads like the KS Salmon don't last long.
The long pad inserts are only $7 a pair, so I just chalk it up as a consumables cost and deal with it.

CliftonGK1

I burn mine down to where the pad holder is scraping the rim.