OK Doug, but those are cartridge type brake pads and judging by the wear indicators - the inserts have almost no wear on them. Just my suggestion - you can recover those next time no problem. The metal bits issue is always superficial.

Burton,

They have not hit the outside garbage can yet, and I'll see if I can salvage them Thanks.

seeing your brake pads Doug really makes me think of how regular maintenance and checking over pads will have a big effect on how much rim wear one gets. I dont ride that much in the rain, but when I do it really is impressive how even one ride in the wet results in a good coating of sandy, gunky, abrasivey stuff all over the rims and pads. As I've mentioned before, I always take a minute with a rag to immediately wipe off the rims-do one side of bike, turn it around and do other. When its still wet, it wipes off right away and the rim is nice and clean again; and I usually do a quick wipe of the pads too.

I think its fair to say that most people arent interested/dont think about doing this sort of stuff, or checking their pads/rims.

I have a friend who bought a new bike the same time I did a few summers ago, and she never ever cleans her bike, so the combo of the stock pads on her bike plus general muck--compared to my clean rims and me putting softer KoolStop pads on--the braking difference is really substantial between the two bikes (and Ive put a lot more kilometers on my bike)

I know that I like futzing around with my bike, its my hobby and I enjoy it. A big part of that though is that I know it has a big effect on how efficiently the bike runs (hey I'll take any percentage of help I can get!), how it shifts, how it brakes and of course, how long parts last while working better at the same time.

the comment of softer pads being less prone to picking up bits of alum. seems right to me, or at least that is how it seems to me from my experience. What I do know is that softer pads really do make a diff in braking power, and Im sure over the long run are much cheaper even if you change them more often because its easier on the rim--especially as mentioned here of how little bits of metal in your pads are doing a real number on the rims.