how long roughly do your pads last in the peak district in winter weather? just trying to gauge whether its normal or not, whether my rotor needs changing, bad pads etc

i just managed around 4 extremely wet white peak rides (and i mean wet/gritty/muddy rides and a trip to CYB (the longest beast run in the wet/grit/mud etc) before pretty much the leading edge of the pads is all but done for (maybe a ride or 2 left in them)

pads are discobrakes sintered (which i like as they are silent in the wet unlike superstar)

my rotor is around 4 years old so could be worn causing the leading edges of the pads to wear a bit more quickly than the top part

also could just be totally normal and that amount of rides is acceptable given how shite the weathers been?

Shouldn’t the trailing edge (rearmost or lowest edge) be the one thats worn down. Unless you ride backwards most of the time.
Sounds a little odd, as my pads tend to wear pretty evenly both ends.

im probably not explaining it correctly…when you look down on top loading pads, the pad life looks fine like its near new (looking down on the pads fitted to the bike), but when you take the pads out, the bottom half of the pads (i thought was leading edge?) are where the wear is?

Can’t speak for Peak District riding, but I live in the Black Mountains where in the past I’ve had probs with pads wearing through pretty quick. I’ve been using Uberbike sintered on Shimano M675s for a while now and I’m impressed with their longevity.

It’s not impossible to that in the peaks. I find genuine hope last longer through the winter but only really any use to you if you have hope brakes.

the thing is ive never noticed particularly pad pad life before, organic in summer last ages…..i always had sintered in winter riding the same stuff and cant say as i ever noticed getting through a set of pads in 2 weeks just over….maybe it is the rotor that causing the wear a little more

My superstar sintered pads were lasting 3-4 months in the summer, they were nigh on indestructible .

Then the rain came and we’re back to about a set a month. Riding 2-3 times a week

I’ve had my Hope OEM pads on for about 12 months now, riding in all weathers at least once a week, usually 3 times, that’s around Calderdale/Kirklees and the Peak district. They’re just about worn out now.

Tbh oscillate, there are so many variables it probably isn’t one thing. Pick from not bedded in, rotor wear, dragging the brakes a bit, lots of riding, lots of braking, manufacturer process a bit slack….

Caveat. I have ridden in the White Peak once. It was extremely wet, boggy, muddy, claggy etc. I hardly used my brakes as I had to pedal downhill. Suspect its a set up issue and/or brake dragging.

Believe it or not in some right pissy conditions in the Peaks I’ve gone through some sintered pads in less than 2 rides (IE replaced pads, ridden a 55k route, got back and realized if they wear as much again on the next ride they’ll be nothing left mid ride) !!!

Once that gritty shite gets in between the pads it can grind them down in next to no time, even worse when it’s icy !

I’d say you’ve done well with 4 rides in recent conditions.

It doesn’t sound too bad to me. Peaks grit very abrasive.

I’ve gone through a set in two rides previously.

I think the wear pattern that you are getting, with the top portion of the pads not wearing, is that your disc is slightly smaller in diameter (or your caliper adapter is holding the caliper slightly high).

I think Hope state 183mm and Shimano are 180mm for example. This has never bothered me.

I use mainly EBC sintered (I bought a load on special offer a while ago) and Disco sintered.

I killed a new set of Hope sintered pads at a wet sandy Afan one weekend. 😯

nickc – there are a few too many variables, but just gaining a few responses gives me a rough idea, rotor is old and is defo a bit worn so that will be changed, they were bedded in and performed great from new…there are lots of braky descents (cheeky 😉 ) and its steep stuff with grit/mud etc on the routes we do so i probably do drag a touch to much, but the weather has been super super bleak and ive ridden in constant rain (heavy!!) for the last 2 rides with around 2-3 hours riding each time, CYB had lots of standing water and grit/mud too and obviously a lot of braking on sections i dont know to well

excitable1 – given i know you ride the same stuff as me 😉 i guess its not that uncommon then, like i said they are not done yet, was more concerned about the uneven wear initially but now thinking thats just the rotor thats causing that, if it wore the same as the top half of the pad id actually still have like new pads lol…..i reckon ive got another 2 rides worth of shitty weather before they are kapput…..new rotor is on its way, hopefully will help somewhat

mary – i use a hope 180mm floating rotor on 180mm formula adpators, so should be aligned ok im guessing?

So looking along the length of the pads they look like
|/ || \|
(|/ = left pad, \| = right pad, || = Disc) yes?
If so, 2 possibilities.
1) Rotor is worn so is tapered to the outer edge
2) Pads aren’t hitting rotor square. Misaligned caliper would not wear like this, so poss both pistons not hitting pads (and therefore rotor) square.

bigyinn the wear is on the lower part looking down on top loading pads , ie you look at them on the bike (top loading) and think they are ok and wearing fine, but then pull them out and the bottom section on both sides is worn down more so than the visible top loading pad

Try baking the pads at around 200?C for 30 minutes or so before using. It does seem to help. The bottom line with the Dark Peak is simply that, it eats pads at a ridiculous rate. I use mostly Superstar sintered over winter and change them when they wear out, which is fairly often.

Then again a ‘ride’ isn’t a particularly precise measure of use. I can do anywhere between 5 miles and 60 miles plus on a ride, four of the former would be appalling, four of the latter, less so. It’s like measuring the life of components in ‘years’ or ‘months’ when it there’s a big variation in how often people ride and when they ride.

Oh, and stay away from the Longdendale Trail in the wet, it is made entirely of finely ground diamond particles I think… The Roman Road above Hope comes a close second.