Favorite Brake Pads - Aluminum Rim?

Triathlon Forum
1

I know anything about rim brakes is last year’s news with all of the current disc brake debates. But, I have rim brakes on all of my bikes, and I will continue to have them for the foreseeable future…

What is the consensus favorite SRAM/Shimano road bike brake pads for aluminum rims? I see a lot here about Kool-Stop and SwissStop. Shimano’s pads seem to have a lot of love also, and they are surprisingly inexpensive for their performance level. Then, there are a few other well-known brands that sell pads that do not seem to get as much airtime, like Jagwire, Tektro, and Clarks. Compounding the challenge is that Kool-Stop and SwissStop each offer three or four different options.

Is this one of those “don’t overthink” selections and just buy the high-value Shimano? Or, are the SwissStop FlashPro at >2x the cost of Shimano worth the premium. Or alternatively, are the Kool-Stop Salmon pads at ≪ less than Shimano the easy choice?

2

I don’t think you’re overthinking it; having worn out some expensive rims over the years it’s definitely worth paying attention to. The way I look at it is every time you touch the brakes you’re either wearing out the rim, the pads or both. Cheap, harsh pads will give you crap braking and will wear out your rims; good grippy pads will give you better braking and wear themselves out instead of your rims.

Having used Shimano pads (105s), KoolStop salmons and various SwissStop pads, it’s SwissStop all the way for me. Used the Green GHPIIs for years, but I believe these were recently discontinued as they cut down their product line; I’m now using the Black ones and can’t tell the difference though, they’re great in all-conditions and kind on the rims. The only other option for alloy rims is the Blue “High Performance” ones, never used them but I’d guess they’ll be grippier but wear out quicker; I’d just choose one of those based on the kind of braking power you need.

The Shimano pads were absolute crap and I felt they were very harsh on the rims; KoolStop salmons were kind of in-between, are good in the dry but not so great in the wet IMHO. I wouldn’t bother with Clarks or Tektro, I’ve never been much impressed with any of their stuff that I’ve tried.

Obviously keeping them clean and digging out out any debris is crucial for both performance and preventing undue rim wear, but a decent pad to start with is essential.

3

Any pad is good on aluminum.

4

I had the Koolstops that came with the TriRig brakes but I switched to the Shimano pads.

5

I know anything about rim brakes is last year’s news with all of the current disc brake debates. But, I have rim brakes on all of my bikes, and I will continue to have them for the foreseeable future…

What is the consensus favorite SRAM/Shimano road bike brake pads for aluminum rims? I see a lot here about Kool-Stop and SwissStop. Shimano’s pads seem to have a lot of love also, and they are surprisingly inexpensive for their performance level. Then, there are a few other well-known brands that sell pads that do not seem to get as much airtime, like Jagwire, Tektro, and Clarks. Compounding the challenge is that Kool-Stop and SwissStop each offer three or four different options.

Is this one of those “don’t overthink” selections and just buy the high-value Shimano? Or, are the SwissStop FlashPro at >2x the cost of Shimano worth the premium. Or alternatively, are the Kool-Stop Salmon pads at ≪ less than Shimano the easy choice?

The Shimano pads tend to be a harder compound than the options like KoolStop Salmon or SwissStop BXP (blue). With proper setup, you get the best braking with the softer compounds IMO, especially in damp or wet conditions.

For bare aluminum surfaces, my “go to” pad is the KoolStop Salmon. I’ve often said that you can turn a “so-so” brake into a GOOD brake just by swapping those pads in. My first experience with that effect was with some single-pivot Cane Creek calipers I had mounted on my old Bianchi. As an alternate, if those pads seem a bit “grabby” for the setup (which is what happened when I swapped the Cane Creeks for some Dura Ace dual pivots on that bike), then I’ll go to the KoolStop dual compound pad, which is mostly the Salmon compound (for wet performance) with ~1/3 of it a harder black compound. This sort of “detuned” the setup so it had less initial grab.

I also use the blue SwissStop BXP Flash Pro pad on a particular set of aluminum rims…but these are the Boyd Altamonts that have the PEO(ceramic) coating on them, and Boyd recommends those pads. They work great, and are a very soft pad…but, my suspicion is that they are specified for use with those rims as a way to protect the ceramic coating from being worn. I haven’t tried the BXP compound with regular aluminum tracks, but I would imagine they’d work well.

The only wheels I use regular black pads (Shimano, KoolStop, etc.) are on a set of Hed Jet6 Blacks. These rims have an “engraved” surface treatment that would chew through a softer compound in a heartbeat…and the surface treatment adds enough power/modulation that the harder compounds are required…plus, the black pads tend to keep the tracks looking black :wink:

Speaking of the pads that come with the TriRig Omegas…I know that at the time Nick was developing the brakes, he tried a whole bunch of pads, and was completely blown away by how well the KoolStop Salmons worked. That’s why he supplies the brakes with those as the stock pad.

I hope that all helps! :slight_smile:

6

Personally i use the Jagwire red pads. Mainly cuz i like the wet weather pad and my local bike store carries them.

I also like the standard shimano black pads.

7

Any pad is good on aluminum.

Totally agree here. Black rubber ones have always seemed to work well for me couldn’t give you a brand name.

8

I had the Koolstops that came with the TriRig brakes but I switched to the Shimano pads.
For bare aluminum surfaces, my “go to” pad is the KoolStop Salmon…Speaking of the pads that come with the TriRig Omegas…I know that at the time Nick was developing the brakes, he tried a whole bunch of pads, and was completely blown away by how well the KoolStop Salmons worked. That’s why he supplies the brakes with those as the stock pad.
Thanks for the reminders. I forgot I have a nearly new set of pads from my Tririg brakes sitting in my spare parts bin. I did not know what they are, and I had forgot ton about them. I will give the Kool-Stop Salmon pads I already have a try.

9

SwissStop are absolutely worth the premium. Koolstop are fine if you want to save cash.

10

for generally dry weather, is the bxp or or black swiss stop the way to go?

In the past I always ran black kool stop pads on the road but used salmons for rim brake CX. currently I’ve got whatever pads sram ships with the aerolink calipers and they’re kind of… meh.

11

BXP all the way.

12

I am not an expert on all rim brake pads, but I have used classic campy pads, various more recent shimano pads, and kool-stop salmon pads, all on various AL rims, bare ones and anodized.

The kool-stops are the very clear winner with a very significant performance increase over the others in the dry. And a huge performance increase over the others in the wet.

13

for generally dry weather, is the bxp or or black swiss stop the way to go?

In the past I always ran black kool stop pads on the road but used salmons for rim brake CX. currently I’ve got whatever pads sram ships with the aerolink calipers and they’re kind of… meh.
I think the current Red Aerolink brakes are shipping with SwissStop FlashPro, which would be the black ones.