Do i need swissstop brake pads?

Triathlon Forum
1

i have an aluminum braking surface on my training wheels and a carbon surfaace on my xentis race wheels. xentis says you need a special brake pad for their wheels, however, i noticed the other day on my outdoor ride (80-90 % of my rides are on the trainer) that i thought my braking performace was pretty terrible. i have dura ace brakes, however i have zero cycling background so i dont neccesarily know what good or bad braking feels like. do you think i should get some swissstops? i mean, how often do you use your brakes in a race?

any info on this would be appreciated

2

I’m no expert, but if I’m following this correctly…yes, you do need specific brake pads for your carbon wheels. Basically, standard rubber brakes will overheat and damage the carbon wheels.

Drew

3

typo: xentis says you do NOT need a special brake pad for their wheels
.

4

Two issues with not using separate brake pads for carbon wheels.

  1. Carbon-specific pads are made of different materials that take the heat better. Carbon does not dissipate heat as well as aluminum, and you therefore need a different material pad to prevent melting.

  2. Whether you realize it or not, your brake pads from the aluminum brake track are probably embedded with metal fragments that will ruin the brake surface of your carbon rims.

As S/T speak goes, you paid for nice race wheels, and you won’t fork over another $50 for some brake pads?
Just do it.

5

Swissstop yellow pads will do the trick. Having shards of aluminum scratching the crap out of your good carbon rims is the opposite of a good thing.

Jim

6

Hi!

I also have this problem/question. I have my regular alum training wheels and Planet X Carbon Wheels. Do I need a specific brake pads for both alum and carbon wheels or should I switch between pads?

The PX Wheels came with their brake pads, can I use this pads (for carbon wheels) with my aluminum wheels?

7

doesn’t the above answer solve your problem?

use separate brake pads if you don’t want to run the risk of scratching up your carbon tubulars with metal fragments from your metal clincher brake track.

carbon rims also don’t dissipate heat as well, so are often made of different compounds than clincher pads.