I know there are three types of pad materials offered (organic, metalic and semi-metalic) but was wondering if there are differences between brands? Let's say my choices for organic is Shimano, Sram, SwissStop or KoolStops. Do you think they are all the same or would one brand be better than the other? Is it a marketing ploy or is one brand better than the other due to some "special sauce" they use? Prices seems to vary widely in this example.

What do you guys use and why?

I just use organic/resin for the commuter and cross bike. Cheap enough that wear don't matter to me and the quietest of the bunch. I prefer shimano when available

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-

I would add not all discs are rated for metallic pads. if your bike came with organic pads, they likely are for organic only but you should verify if you know the disc type. if you can't find information, assume it is not rated for metallic.

And obviously with the proprietary shapes you need to find the one that fits in your brake.

I assume, if koolstop, or other regarded brand, has a pad that is labelled to work with your specific shimano brake, that it will be similarly as good at a similar price. If you find no-name cheaper pads that are labelled to fit, you likely get inferior pads.

Not sure if your goal is to get cheaper pads, but I would stick with the OEM type, or a good brand (which may not save $). I never rode down a steep hill and thought: "I'm so glad I got the cheaper no-name pads"

if you want better brake performance, get larger discs. More braking power and better cooling with a given brake and pads. I'm buffed that most bicycles come with rear and front discs the same size. I always would have front a size larger than rear (like every car, motorbike, scooter etc.)

You just moved the point of wear-- now the pads will last longer, but the rotors will not. I'm organics forever, as pads are maybe 8 bucks a pair, and rotors are $40+.

I've yet to find any difference at all between different brands resin pads. Shimano are a little dustier. But every brand I've tried has lasted basically the same amount of miles, and performed the same, wet or dry.

On the upside the faster you wear the rotor the faster you have an excuse to get a larger one

I do shake my head in disbelief when I see Spesh disc bikes coming with 140mm front and rear. I know a guy with a Roubaix, and his front rotor has bluing on it from being regularly overheated. I on the other hand finally located my briefly-lost brake mount adapter so I could put my 180mm IceTech back on the front of my bike.

I may need to create a new thread but I'll try here first. Perhaps someone can tell me how to determine when my pads need replacement - that is, minimum thickness (mm). If needed, my pads are Shimano B01S.

Good point. I'll just stick to name brand resin pads for now. The Shimano ones pretty economical...


FWIW, I read somewhere that when the pads get to the same thickness as the backing then your are getting close to wanting to replace them.

I run em until I hit the spring clip

The fine print in the Shimano papers says (if memory serves) 0.8mm pad thickness and it's time to replace. On mechanical calipers, I just replaced them when I ran out of available pad adjustment.

The Shimano B01S pad replace limits are:
“If oil adheres to the brake pads, if the brake pads are worn down to a thickness of 0.5mm, or if the brake pad presser springs are interfering with the disc brake rotor, replace the brake pads.”

Source:
Shimano dealer disc brake manual, which I found a .PDF copy of using Google. Manual specifically applies to M365 (which is what my bike has, and uses Shimano B01S pads) and other Shimano brake models.

I would be happy to post a copy of this useful manual (which contains a lot of assembly and repair info, but I don't want to violate forum copyright rules.