What is the braking like on modern Carbon wheels e.g. Zipp 404’s? I have heard that it is not great as they Grab (I am not sure if I heard that long decents were particularly bed for some reason? Also with the correct pads what is the rim life like compaired to a metal breaking surface? I know from his bike reviews that Chris Boardman is not a big fan, but then would those Lightwieght & ADA wheels be so popular in mountain stages if they where really bad? Can you use the brake pad designed for carbon wheels with metal wheels or do they wear to much or are to expensive to want to?
I find them easy to use. I have campy carbon pads and keep the pads on and use them on all my rims. Noisey on the alumimum though. They might not be as smooth, but I’m not sure I even notice. I try to maximize turning speed by braking less and feeling for the right speed is obviously outweighing any negative feedback. The brakes are a negative in the speed game so use them less;-). Perhaps the problem is in the long draging of the brakes.
Kool Stop makes nice green pads for ceramic, and Nimble recommends them on their wheels. I like them a lot on both carbon and aluminium rims.
I use Corima cork pads on my Zipps. Not the ultimate stopping power but they work fine and are very predictable. I tried the Zipp pads and they stop very well and keep the rims cooler but they screech like a wounded banshee on hard braking and they wear very quickly.
According to most manufacturers a ceramic pad is not good for carbon rims. Rather than the pads getting chewed up the rims do. I read somewhere it’s also not a good idea to use the same pad on aluminum and carbon since the pads pick up small Al particles and when the pads are used on carbon those particles can cause premature rim wear.