TJ on another thread: Why not bed your pads in? I get thousands of miles oust of a set of pads and it does seem to be one major factor affecting pad wear

see, I don't think it makes any difference at all (though I usually do it anyway).

Why don't some of those who ride a lot, or wear pads fast (and/or ST magazine – maybe they could sort out some sponsorship as well) please do a trial:

get several sets of same type. Bed in half of them and not the other ones. Get someone to put them into pairs and stick em into envelopes for you and number them "randomly". Use them in numerical order & record what happens to them. (study assumes you can fit without looking at the surfaces – or can get them put in by someone else)

then score for power & longevity (& other stuff – brand (brake & pads) &/region/bedding-in method etc – if you can be arsed)

Scardy pants – problem with that is there are too many variables

Disc size
Riding style
local soil / grit type
Disc drillings
Rider weight
pad type
etc etc/

Also some pads seem to bed in really easily in normal riding and some do not. Then you have two types of glazing to contend with
It would be very interesting to try to gather some good data on this tho.

TJ – if all those variables are significant, yes – we're knackered

(then again, ideally you could (if people could be arsed) collect pretty much all that – I just bet somebody's a dab hand at multivariate regression wibble)

But I'd guess that we could quickly establish whether a lot of people could TRULY see a difference if they genuinely ran the test blind. If they did, THEN you could do a posho version (or ask everyone for the extra detail)

Scaredy – I'd love some real data on this. So far all I have is anecdotal and most of that is in memory not written down. perhaps one of those on line questionnaire things could give trends.

hmmmm, I don't think you should trust other people's objectivity any more than your own – we;ve had so many "yes it is" "no it isn't" "you are" "YOU are" threads on almost all subjects that convince me that opinions are too well-set on here

Also, I guess we "all" do the same thing with almost every set of pads and probably have for some time, so recall of the true "problem" with any other method we've now abandoned would be hazy/jaundiced

TJ is always right avout everything. FACT.

I read it on Wikipedia.

CFH – don't be a nob 😉

this stuff i post about the brakes is accepted as non contentious in all other disc brake applications but MTBs

Plenty of well researched papers about it and info from the manufacturers

dunno, but every time I've replaced pads mid ride they have deteriorated again before th ened of the ride.

Every time I've found a great big f*** off hill and bedded the pads in untill the backing goes a funny colour and the rotors look scorched the pads have lasted 6+months in the Peak District, which as any Sheffield locals know will send your chain past the 1% stretch mark before youve even climbed Porters Clough.