I know, nearly as interesting as tyres (clutch sx ok for alps ? 😉 )
last batch of sintered s,star sqeeled orribly ,like the feel of the oem resin in my slx ,never been to the alps but am going .Probably doesnt matter but thought to ask the hive mind ,any reason not to buy the shimano (same price for 4 pairs of either )

I’m not overly fussy about brake pads since moving away from the Peak, anything other than sintered only lasted 5 minutes there due to the horrible acidic peaty water and gritstone.

I would use Organic pads, IMO they’re almost always more powerful and probably marginally better insulating than sintered. If I’m on holiday and it’s costing me £100 a day to be there, it seems silly to be bothered about getting through 3 sets rather than 2 in a week. When I go abroad I take as many pads as I can lay my hands on, one full set a day, then change them each evening. That way I’ve got either enough pads to get through the week in even the worst weather, or enough very well bedded in (after a run down an alp!) pads to last a year back home!

I’d take some harder pads as spares too, just in case it rains, because if it does you’ll be measuring pad life in hours.

I love my SS Red Kevlar pads. Same sort of friction as organic with the wear rate of sintered. Highly recommended.

My SS Kevlar are very squeely – I thought it was just me. 😆

I ran Superstar Kevlars for my first time in the alps 2 years ago, came on some hope m4’s i bought second hand, they did the job, last ages and never had a problem with them. Even with the O.E.M pads in my Slx’s i didn’t go through a pair of pads during the whole season so you’ll be fine with both

I wouldn’t take resin pads to the Alps as rain is a distinct possibility, and they could go in 1 descent! I’ve always taken Kevlar ss pads.

And have a spare pair in your backpack!!!

I like the uberbike race kevlar pads. They are silent for me, good power and modulation and seem to last well. I havnt taken them to the alps, but run them on my DH bike.

thanks for your replies will take a selection then now …. just tyres to fret over …..clutch sx ? 😉

Funny, as SS specifically don’t recommend kevlar pads for long alpine descents, citing risk of damage to rotors.

I normally go for sintered or organic when i buy pads, it was just because the kevlar pads came with the brakes. Sintered pads last me a long time anyway so i don’t see the necessary extra cost in buying kevlar

I’ve had superstar kevlars (in formula the ones- different brakes do like different pads) for the last couple of years in the alps, perfect really. They can be noisy especially in the cold/wet but no matter where I ride em I get decent life and good performance. Just consistent and reliable and pretty unfussed about heat, all good.

(uberbike’s race matrix don’t seem to cut it with prolonged descents, fwiw, I liked them in the UK but they were just awful even on relatively tame alps stuff, terribly inconsistent, stopped at the bottom of a descent and binned em before they were even cool.)

Oh and clutch sx good too unless you’re someone that really need a dualply, and easy tubeless too, but could be stickier.