After a couple of days in the peaks last weekend my rear pads were down to the metal 🙁

Was a lot of very wet and muddy down hill sections (cut gate saturday and jacobs ladder sunday)

They are the pads that came with Orange Five and have only lasted since late April this year, is that normal for once a week in the peaks ??

Would sintered be a better bet for the future ?

Cheers

Andy

Can of worms. some would say that was normal – but I would say not. No conditions I have ridden in do I get less than 500 miles out of pads and usually thousands.

How many miles is that?

some would say that the peaks are very harsh on pads – but others seem to get good life even in the peaks

There seem to be many factors at work – not just the soil conditions but riding style, type of brakes ( but hopes are usually good) speeds etc.

I think the crucial factor is getting the brakes hot enough to be in their efficient working zone. Do you have big rotors? My theory is big rotors may not get hot enough so the brakes run in abrasive friction not adherent friction thus resulting in the high wear rates. My logic for this is that on the tandem where the brakes run right on their limit of heat capacity the pads last forever.

However this is all very debatable

I run hope E4 brakes. Use sintered pads, get a few good heat cycles through them in the clean and dry (ie, big road hill) before use and don't drag your brakes. Mine last for years like that.

Definitely a can of worms there, no definitive answers but quite likely to be riding style as much as conditions.I've heard recommendations to"take spare pads to Afan, I wore a set out in one ride", whilst I took a 3 rides a week, 4month old set(same type of pad) there for three rides of the same circuit, in absolutely foul conditions and got another two months use afterwards.

Is it the black backed ones then you should try the sintered. They will last longer i think but i also think that you need to get them really hot then cold to start with before you take them in to the mud.

its gritty in the peaks, try harder compound pads like sintered.

Thanks for the help boys n girls

Its the first bike i have had with discs so still all new to me,comming down some of the decents in the fog,sand ,bog and rain the rear was on most of the time as i was just crapping my pants and that was b4 i got to jacobs ladder !!

Just been looking on chainreaction and they have three types of fibrax pads… semi metallic…semi metallic plus and sintered… I was just thinking about going for the metallic plus to see how i get on then the sintered if they go the same way

what about sintered on the rear and a "normal" pad on the front is that OK ?

Cheers

Andy

I would stick with the hope sintered – thats what I generally run . with the hope pads you get new springs and pins – you don't always with afterrmarket

ee waht I mean about the can of worms? Afan has been labelled a pad killer by many with folk going thru a set of pads per ride ! Then along comes coatesy and it don't happen to him.

I have just popped a new set of hope in the rear but they are just the "organic black" from chainreaction will see how they go and get a pair of hope sintered as back up 🙂

I only asked about the fibrax as i read a few reviews on chainreaction and people were dissin the hope pads and biggin up the febrax, but like you say the it its all down to riding style and you get the new pins n clips in the hope box

Thanks again I will be back later to talk about tyres , tyre pressures and whats best the best for the peaks on a wet windy day 😉

Andy

Got E4s on the xc bike and running the same sintered pads for two years. Don't have much in the way of sand where I ride but the worst experience was an 8 hour stretch with the M4s on my dh bike in wet gritty conditions.

Well on my two rides over the weekend all the singletracks were just running with water, as you rode you could just hear all the sand and grit munching away at the bike 🙁

(the rotors are 183 hope jobbies)

also are any of the pad compounds worse than others for eating through rotors ?

sorry for all the questions i have been a long time away from riding and just gettin back into it

cheers

Andy

Just started using superstar kevlar pads with my M4s, and pretty impressed with them. Stood up to 91km on the Passportes du Soleil very well indeed.

the superstar ones get good reviews. Organic are good for grip but sintered are almost as good but last a hell of a lot longer. I order hope ones rather than fibrax or other cheap alternatiives. Never have problems.