So I was doing some routine maintenance on my bike last night. Cleaning the drive trian and re lubing the chain. Checked to make sure all screws for the brakes, cranks etc... were snug and noticed the brake pads are worn down a bit.

The brake pads are stock Tektro R580's. I have about 600mi on these pads. Are there wear indicators on the pads or is there some general rule of thumb to go by for knowing when to replace pads? Am I over thinking this and should just buy new pads when I feel they should be replaced?

I'll assume everyone will say get a set o Kool Stops, or are there another preferred brake pad?

They should last for a few years. When they wear, turn the barrel adjuster on the cable to move the pad closer to the rim.

If you're happy with the braking performance, put stock pads in. If you're not, then Kool Stops are good pads.

Negatory.

Salmon Kool Stops FTW.

600 miles is not much for a set of pads, you probably still have enough pad left. Do you still have notches left on the pads? If you don't like how much play there is the in the levers before your brakes engage, just tighten up the cable with the barrel adjuster.

Why would you use aftermarket pads if you're happy with stock pad performance?

Happy is too subjective. But how would you know? You're grumpy!

The slots in the pads are the wear indicators. When they are gone, replace the pads.

If you get metal to metal contact between the caliper and the rim, it's too late. Up to that point, if they are still working well then it's a judgement call. There are grooves cut into the brake pad block - when these are very shallow or non-existant I usually let safety concerns over-ride my innate cheapness and replace them.

In my experience, the Shimano ones are ok, the kool stops are better (I prefer the black ones - it seems like the salmon ones don't like high temps very much, and at least in the summer we don't get much rain), but the best I've tried are the Scott/Mathauser ones sold by Yokozuna (https://store.yokozunausa.com/brakepadsshoes.html). Reasonably priced, long lasting and give better modulation than the Kool Stops.

JB

Actually the slots are for water to get by. But it makes sense when they are gone to replace the pads because they won't work as well when wet.

Most people find Kool Stops work much better than stock. I'm sure the OP will find that with Tektro.

Yep. I probably have 20,000 miles on one set and they still work fine.

What set is lasting you 20,000 miles? That's amazing. I feel like I mow throw the swiss stops.

The black Kool Stops

I posted my comment as I had read it in another forum. But after I posted it, I took a look at my pads, they are pretty deep so I was thinking it had to do with water.

Either way, I did wear a set down to the bone during a ride, a 20 mile 6% descent in the pouring rain (wet debris/grit). The groove was gone but the pads still worked. I did replace them a day or two later for safety reasons, but they did work.