About to pull the trigger on some disc brake pads for Alpine duties but not sure which outlet to get them from. Discobrakes, Superstar and Uberbike very similar price-wise but who has the better product?
I can't get kevlar XT on Uber whereas I can on the others. All waaaaaaaay cheaper than CRC etc but I do actually want to stop with no dramas and no squealing 😉
4 packs are a no-brainer but which ones?
FWIW it's a Commencal Meta with 203mm out back and 180mm up front (don't ask!) with a 15 stone lump on top!
Cheers
4 pack of Kevlar pads from Superstar.
Use discount code JULY25 for 25% off.
Have a loot at their discs and calliper mounts whilst you're there - they're 25% off too.
Very happy with my SS kevlar pads on my Formula brakes. Great stopping with no squeal
edit: also the best part of 15st when kitted up
Superstar were fine for me in the alps last year. A week and a half of horrible mud and brake dragging saw me go through a pair at the front and back. Perfectly reasonable given the mud and my brake dragging.
Superstar kevlar for me- they work well, all the time, basically. Though they can be squealey, in the cold or wet. I figure on changing one set in a week in the alps, though I got through a week with white room with just one change (not by careful use or owt, I accidentally took a bunch of pads for the brakes on my commuter, and 1 set for my big bike, genius. Both ends were more or less transparent by the end of the week 😆 But SS pad backs are quite grippy)
Disco sintered are alright but not as good. Uber race matrix were appalling in the alps for me, great on easy stuff back home though.
Rahox are getting really good writeups though
discobrakes-cheap and good quality
Uberbike sintered pads are good I thought they were very loud and squeally but since having changed to Shimano I have the same noisy result. So in conclusion they work well and save you money - as to why my brakes squeal so badly I'll have to find another solution - Isopropyl Alcohol most likely.
SS Kevlars FTW!
Use discount code JULY25 for 25% off.
Balls! Just ordered 12 sets for an upcoming alps trip - that could have saved me nearly £20 🙁
After trying all the above and finding some of them fall part, some wear far to quickly and almost all squeal very loudly I've gone back to shimano, if you shop around you can get them at very decent prices from shops on the continent with the decent exchange rate
Superstar sintered for me (and all my mates) riding in gritstone central.
Plenty of power and I've actually changed my wheels more than I've changed my pads this year :/
Im trying to order some superstar sintered pads now but can't work out witch ones fit my deore m615. please help
There's a chart of all the shapes on the SS site
Just saw that cheers
My 4 x kevlar sets were waiting on the doormat for me tonight, complete with stickers (!), a brochure and Haribo - ordered late Mon night and all for £18.75....can't argue with that! Just hope they do the job in Morzine 😆
Having more luck with Disco's at the moment. Ubers used to be pads of choice and like their floating discs, but matrix pads for me were crap on a couple of different bikes. Standard Shimano are working well on a set of XT brakes, although Zee ones seem to glaze, so the disco kevlars are on and work great so far. So budget pads = Discos for me. Ordered Sunday evening on my work desk Tuesday am with the usual cable ends and sticker and a money off voucher, meaning buy 4 sets of pads get another free.
Having started this thread I thought I'd update it.
5 days riding saw me go through 3.5 sets of pads!
A half-worn set of organics lasted a day, so a new set of rear Superstar kevlars went in and lasted.....a day.
Another set lasted 4 runs in Chatel (is WAS raining but that's quite ridiculous).
Not saying it was the fact that they were S'star - maybe the kevlar compound just isn't very hard-wearing.
They stopped fine and didn't make a sound - just changed them too often for my liking. Maybe not the best for long Alpine descents - especially if it's vaguely wet.
Had to buy some emergency Nukeproof sintered pads from Torico in Morzine and these had multiple long runs (in the dry admittedly) but still like new.
Did you bed the new sets in first each time and give them chance to cool before hammering the crap out of them? I have found that ten minutes bedding in pads makes them last way longer than just whacking a set in and riding the trails.
The other big difference I found for alpine/uplift riding is dual vented 203mm discs with Hope Stealth Tech Evo V4s.....pads last forever as they don't heat up anywhere near the same as single discs.
Über bike Race Marrix normally do me about a month of alpine riding (about 15 days), feel pretty good and are quiet. Tried Superstar Kevlar recently. Felt a bit better but genuinely only lasted two and a half days and squealed like a piggy (yes they were bedded in with clean rotors). Back to Race Matrix now and much happier.
I've tried lots of pads and have come to the conclusion (as the same with many a thing) buy cheap, buy twice. Have returned to Shimano for my Zee brakes but would give Rahox a go if they did them due to the reviews.
Shimano "metal" pads, work best and last longer then SS pads on my XT's
Should have just bought sintered from the start
Halfords 3 for 2 makes some Shimano pads well priced
Reserve for in store collection and if your a BC Member you get another 10% off
I've just bought some Clarks sintered pads from CRC - £4 per pair.
rascal - Member(is WAS raining but that's quite ridiculous).
Fresh pads, hard use and mud is just a bad combo to be fair.
The kevlars and race matrixes and probably some others do something a bit weird... some pads really need bedded in before they work, so you've got no choice. The kevlars and RMs make good power and feel straight away... But they really still need bedded in to last well. So it feels like you can just jump on and ride, but that ends up causing problems. I do the same break-in I'd do for anything else, even though they don't feel like they need it, and I reckon it makes a big difference
(I didn't bother one time recently, and burned a set of pads in 1 and a half wet days in wales. replaced with an identical set, they've done about 5 times more riding and don't even look very worn)