Currently using Deore brakes with standard pads, they are ok but could do with a bit more initial bite, are sintered any better, and/or different make? Ta for any pointers.

Organic (normal?) are softer pads so should have better bite. Sintered have more metal in them and are harder wearing if you’re in lots of wet gritty conditions.
You could try Kevlar which are quite good from superstar components.

I rate superstar’s kevlars too

SS organics gave my M4’s much more bite and lasted well. Will be getting some for my Formula brakes when the time comes to replace the standard pads..

are they clean, bled and properly bedded in?
sintered last longer
organic/semi metallic bite better
kevlar and ceramic, cost more and do lasting/biting better
discobrakes is where brake pads come from

cant believe folk on here still use SS.

Just ordered a pair of race matrix from uberbike. Supposed to better than sintered or kevlar….time will tell!

EBC red (downhill) pads are excellent.

Thanks all for the ideas, will have a think.

Been running race matrix for a while now in my slx brakes. Very, very impressed. Shed load of bite and very reasonable price too.

Ebc reds are very good also but more expensive.

My racematrixes were shite tbh. Did a couple of test rides, no bother, felt good. Took ’em to the alps and they were all over the place, going from grabby to glazed feeling from one corner to the next. Think they just can’t deal with hard use- replaced with a set of superstar kevlars which had no probs.

Thanks Northwind…you may have just saved me some money! Although uberbike label them as what steve pete uses on dh?!

Peaty probably brakes a lot less than me 😆 I was really pleased with them for the rides at home, it’s always possible I had a bad set or something to be fair. It was the inconsistency that made them so hard to deal with.

I wasn’t impressed by the quality of my race matrix pads. Both pairs needed the edges of the pad material trimmed with a Stanley knife to make the metal spring retainer fit, and there was also some excess glue that had to be cut away, so not a great start as these are the first Uberbike bikes pads I’ve bought. The performance has been good so far though, so I might buy a couple more pairs to see if the quality issue is just a one off. I’m also a big fan of Superstar Kevlar pads, but they can sometimes squeal when wet.

I run A2Z pads on my OEM deore ( the little spade shaped ones ) and recon theirs about a about 35% improvement over standard.Much more bite and power.I drag them lots to build up heat when bedding in. Their cheap too.

Whatever pads you run I’d recommend doing a proper (15-20 times) series of get up to speed/stops to bed them in properly. It makes a big difference to how they feel, ime.