A friend of mine is going through bb5 brake pads like crazy. He was touring Tasmania recently with a trailer and got 600 km out a set of pads, even without the trailer he's not happy with the pad life. He's tried aftermarket and original pads. Is this sort of pad life normal? Whats your experience?

What type of pads was he using: Organic, Semi-Metallic, Metallic Sintered or Ceramic Sintered?

Different pad materials have different life expectancies.

He might not be breaking in the pads correctly.

How do you break in disc pads correctly?

Thanks Cobba, I'll pass it on. Though 600k's does seem low for any type of pad.

Huh? Is he riding a lot of downhills?
I bought my bike in 06 and still have the original pads.

Put all 4 in 1 caliper.

I know what your saying, I replace my pads just to maintain feel rather than because of any loss of braking performance, this guy mostly commutes. Either he's really fast or he's installing them incorrectly or ???

I know it sounds dumb, but could it be wear that can be countered by the barrel adjuster on the levers or the knob on the unit? Perhaps they wear down enough after 600km that the way they are set doesn't let them fully close on the rotor, and if they were moved in a little bit, they would get full contact again.

I'd like to think not but I'd better see if I can get a look and check this. He's a bright guy but that just makes the dumb mistakes so much funnier.