Not as broad and stupid question as you may think.i live in flat and chalky east anglia and was suprised by people who carry a set of pads on them “in case i wear a set out in a ride” i doubt that will happen round my way but to answer my question, i suppose im asking whats the longest a set could last? i do about 20- 30 miles a week.their the pads that were fitted from factory (does that mean they will be pants quality?).

also what the difference with sinitered and organic? what do they usually fit from factory?

sorry if this is muppety but im new to this game!

bump

Can of worms. From what I have heard – and no direct experience – avid seem to be one of the makes that is difficult to bed in thus giving very variable lifespan. Myself I believe that anything less than a thousand miles is not good enough and I regularly exceed this using hopes.

Elixirs come with sintered pads (at least mine did), and mine are still going strong after 8 months or so, doing similar milage to yourself. Still plenty of life left in them too.

Stick in a search for the differences between sintered and organic pads as there’s whole threads disscussing it.

Hope that helps!

I was speaking to someone the other day who reckons they last for ages and ages.

Its nice when pads last. I love my hopes the pads go on forever. My formulas (the one) would last about 5 rides!

I’ve got juicy’s, pads last between 2 days (Alps/Peak District if it’s raining) and about 6-12 months for sintered pads for me, which supposedly last better.

A pair of spare pads weighs next to nothing so why not take them with you?

Better than having to cut a ride short, and it means you’ve got the spares whenever they do wear out so you’re not waiting about to get around to going to the shop or for them to arrive mail order.

Has anyone else shagged the tiny hex bolt that holds the pads in on ELixir’s whilst trying to change them on the trail with a crappy multi tool though? And does anyone know where to get spare bolts for them?

while we are on about elixir’s mine are elixir cr “carbon” am i right in saying the only difference are the levers? if so then surelly they should be labelled as elixir’s ” with carbon levers” they seem to boast them like there super different, but theve just got light levers?!

still love em tho!

just got 200 miles out of mine, winter trail use

I know this may be a thick question, but apart from looking into the calliper & estimating how much pad is left, how do you know when to change pads?

Andy

Andy – the best way is to whip 'em out and have a look, but I find that eventually you can hear a little pinging noise when you brake, which is the spring that holds the pads apart cathching on the rotors, as there is almost no pad left. Probably best to change them before that though, 'soc the next stage is no brakes…

My Elixir pads varied wildly but mostly lasted not very long. The worse case was a brand new sintered avid pads that were almost bare metal after 1 very wet/muddy winter ride on my hardtail. New hopes are 6 months in and loads of life left.