Hi there

I, personally, wouldn't use the same pads. The risk, so far as I am aware, is that if you use the pads on alu wheels then they can pick up very small amounts of the rim material in the pads itself. You then put them on carbon wheels and it's a wonderful way of destroying a carbon brake track. Also, alu pads tend to be harder as the brake track is more abrasive. Carbon pads are a lot softer as the brake track is a lot smoother, meaning the pads have to do more work. If you use carbon pads on alu wheels, they'll wear out quicker. If you use alu pads on carbon wheels braking performance is likely to be bad, if not downright dangerous.

In terms of brands - for alu I always go shimano. They're just excellent, and are inexpensive. For carbon, I've heard lots of good things about Swisstop, but they're expensive. I've always just used Wiggle's own brand (lifeline) and they work perfectly well and are cheap.

Hope that helps

You must use carbon brake pads for carbon wheels. Aluminum debris can remain on the pads and they can ruin carbon brake surface so you don't want to use same pads for both carbon and aluminum wheels.

If you use carbon brake pads on your aluminum rims, tiny pieces of aluminum will become embedded in the pads. Then when you use those pads on carbon rims, you will scratch the hell out of them.

I went with SwissStop black prince (About $35 a set)

I believe the difference is that the Carbon-specific pads can run hotter without melting, so you don't want to run regular pads on carbon wheels, as they will overheat. I'm pretty sure going the other direction is fine, as it's what I've been doing. I assume the only downside might be they would wear out slightly faster but braking performance seemed fine. I just read the posts about the bits of alu becoming embedded so I am going to be careful of that going forward if I do have to swap wheels.

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Clubs/Affiliations: The Rippers / Charles River Wheelers / Cambridge Sports Union

Yeah, the surface can "caramelize" and become hard and smooth. Scary when you hit the brakes and nothing happens. Did that once when I forgot to swap pads. A little sandpaper fixed the pads though.

Thanks for the help. I’ll grab a spare set of carbon pads for the other bike.

I used carbon pads on aluminum and carbon wheels (raced on carbon, trained on alum) and never had an issue. I did it for a few years without issue.

With that said, I am sure it would cause a warranty issue.