First time I use a carbon wheel (picked up a nice deal locally on a 303FC). I am decent at fixing my bike but not a 20 year expert. I installed Swissstop flash pro yellow carbon pads yesterday on my front wheel (rear wheel is a flo disk). I am aware about braking performance difference, but I want to make sure this is what I should expect and not me failing to install and realign the brakes properly: the front brake feels "mushy". It feels like I need to press a lot on the brakes to get good stoppage - kinda like the pads are compressing and getting squishy along the carbon track (whereas normal pads don't compress much). The cables seem tight as they should be. Normal?
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Re: Carbon brake pads [lordhong]
[ In reply to ]
Yellow Swiss Stops are good quality pads. First time using carbon wheelset? If so, yes, braking will feel different, perhaps not as 'grabby' as dry aluminum.
ADD: Be sure to adjust pad to optimum 'toe in' position relative to rim brake surface (too much can cause the slow mushy feel you describe).
ADD: Be sure to adjust pad to optimum 'toe in' position relative to rim brake surface (too much can cause the slow mushy feel you describe).
Re: Carbon brake pads [lordhong]
[ In reply to ]
If you can't get a decent feel out of your current pads I recommend trying the Zipp carbon pads. I have them for my FC404's and they work great! The stopping power is very good and they seem to be holding up very well. Stopping power is still not amazing in the wet, but nothing is when wet. Dry stopping power is about on par with alum wheels.
Re: Carbon brake pads [aarondb4]
[ In reply to ]
How can I describe it... The braking itself seems ok. It's the pressure on the lever that feels different. It feels like the levers will go much deeper when pressed but not because the cable is loose. It feels like the carbon pads are compressing more during braking compared to standard pads, therefore allowing the lever to be pressed deeper...
Re: Carbon brake pads [lordhong]
[ In reply to ]
I do not get that feeling from the Zipp pads, they feel very similar to regular pads on alum wheels. I haven't tried any other sort of pad yet. The Zipp pads are spendy at $35-40 per wheel, but they work great! I needed another set of pads for another bike and didn't want to spend the $70 for the Zipps so I ordered Kool Stops for $20, haven't be able to try them yet.
Re: Carbon brake pads [lordhong]
[ In reply to ]
I got/get that feel with the Swissstop yellow and Reynolds blue pads. The Zipp and Enve pads seem to feel more firm - not sure if they actually stop any better though.
I have read good things about the Swissstop Black Prince and will probably give those a shot next.
It also depends on the lever - STI levers feel ok despite the give; the tiny integrated 3t levers on my Ventus bar feel much better with the firmer Zipp pads.
/kj
http://kjmcawesome.tumblr.com/
I have read good things about the Swissstop Black Prince and will probably give those a shot next.
It also depends on the lever - STI levers feel ok despite the give; the tiny integrated 3t levers on my Ventus bar feel much better with the firmer Zipp pads.
/kj
http://kjmcawesome.tumblr.com/
Re: Carbon brake pads [lordhong]
[ In reply to ]
Swisstop Black Prince Flash Pro EVO and don't even bother with anything else. The Zipp branded Platinum Pro EVOs last a short amount of time. You'll get great braking, modulation and wear life from the Black Prince FP EVOs. I've done about 150-250 MPW this past year on my Zipp 303 FCs with an average of 10-15K of feet of climbing weekly (lots and lots of canyon descents) and I went through a lot of Zipp pads. I will only use the Black Prince FP EVOs now because they are considerably better and half the price.
Re: Carbon brake pads [lordhong]
[ In reply to ]
i installed the swiss stop as well and they are quite a bit thinner than the regular ones I was using. This caused the mushy (not enough lever) feeling. I adjusted the brake to be tighter to the rim and problem was solved.
Re: Carbon brake pads [JimMoss]
[ In reply to ]
JimMoss wrote:
Swisstop Black Prince Flash Pro EVO and don't even bother with anything else. The Zipp branded Platinum Pro EVOs last a short amount of time. You'll get great braking, modulation and wear life from the Black Prince FP EVOs. I've done about 150-250 MPW this past year on my Zipp 303 FCs with an average of 10-15K of feet of climbing weekly (lots and lots of canyon descents) and I went through a lot of Zipp pads. I will only use the Black Prince FP EVOs now because they are considerably better and half the price.What's the difference between the Flash Pro and the Flash EVO?
/kj
http://kjmcawesome.tumblr.com/
Re: Carbon brake pads [kjmcawesome]
[ In reply to ]
EVO is a sleeker design allowing for more clearance with wider brake track wheels - like Zipp. I believe that's the difference. That and the grooves are different.
http://www.swissstop.com/rimbrakes/
http://www.swissstop.com/rimbrakes/
Re: Carbon brake pads [lordhong]
[ In reply to ]
Do not run the yellows. they run very hot and can damage the rim braking surface.
Use Zipp platinum EVO, or Swissstop Black Prince pads..
IF you run extended descents with those pads do not be surprised if you damage your wheels..
Use Zipp platinum EVO, or Swissstop Black Prince pads..
IF you run extended descents with those pads do not be surprised if you damage your wheels..
Re: Carbon brake pads [shadwell]
[ In reply to ]
shadwell wrote:
Do not run the yellows. they run very hot and can damage the rim braking surface. Use Zipp platinum EVO, or Swissstop Black Prince pads..
IF you run extended descents with those pads do not be surprised if you damage your wheels..
There are 0 hills here. None. Nada. Zilch.
So far this year I have done a whole 70m total ascent. Two of the three triathlons I race this year are flat as pancakes. The last (Tremblant 70.3) is the extent of climbing / descent I'll do this year. I'm not too concerned about overheating, but I will take that into consideration next time I need to buy pads.
On the flipside, I am concerned about wet condition braking and the flash pro yellow were rated higher. I have yet to do a triathlon not in torrential rain. And I'm not kidding, just bad luck so far.
Re: Carbon brake pads [lordhong]
[ In reply to ]
The best pads that I have ever used are the Reynolds blue. Brake well both wet and dry.
Re: Carbon brake pads [lordhong]
[ In reply to ]
lordhong wrote:
I have yet to do a triathlon not in torrential rain. And I'm not kidding, just bad luck so far.What's your 2015 schedule so I can stay away...
Formerly TriBrad02
The streak will be broken (possibly) on Sunday! No rain, but a balmy 55 degrees! Mind you, that's better than last year balmy 55 degrees with torrential rain (where I punctured twice, to add to a wonderful day).