[Closed] Off brand brake pads? (or another problem)

Whatever is cheap on Ebay.

Ususally Uberbbike in Sintered, but recently another random company

i've never bought any Shimano pads for any of my Shimano brakes.

The Uberbike Kevlar/Race are bloody great though.

Always Shimano for me. I don't go through them so quickly that I'd be saving much by looking at cheaper alternatives and they always work predictably

Chuck them. Fit Shimano.

I've had decent and crap pads from Superstar, Uberbike, and elsewhere. There's two issues - consistency, and the fact that even when you get good ones they aren't the best.

Only ever had really good ones from Shimano or Rahox. Both excellent, but if I had to choose a favourite Shimano sintered would be it.

In many way's I think it's lack of consistency ... I got 4 sets in the sale and some just seem better than others.

Partly though I'm wondering if that is more the case with resin. (Is it harder to get just right for manufacture?) but the planet X ones the spring was unusable... not a major disaster in itself but did make me wonder about quality.

I've got some Shimano bedded in on the XC bike so I might swap them over just to compare..though they have a 160mm rotor ... (so perhaps might not really be fair if they are worn in with a 160??? )

The rotor size is irrelevant. The contact patch on the pad will be the same

It totally baffles me that people happily put a product that is known to have highly dubious QA near their brakes. Most odd.

ehrob - Member

It totally baffles me that people happily put a product that is known to have highly dubious QA near their brakes. Most odd.

Which ? Uberbikes ? Superstars ? etc ?

[i]known to have highly dubious QA[/i]

Known? Where?

As i say in every brake pad thread. Rahox.

Thank me later 🙂

After having 3 sets of superstar pads where the friction material separated from the backing plate I will only use genuine hope pads on the mtbs and shimano on the road now. The price saved isn't worth the lack of confidence or potential crash. The superstar also felt like blocks of wood compared to the genuine hopes. The real pads last long enough that its not worth considering anything else.

not a fan of the shimano semi metallic compound, seems to glaze very quickly front or rear, same goes for uberbike sintered. racematrix compound performance is poor while Kevlar have been hit and miss. currently using shimano organic ice-tec pads in my saints, lewis has been fine with Kevlar in his SLX brakes.

As stated. Superstar and Uberbike. And Discobrakes. Perhaps known is too strong? It wasn't my intention to sling mud.

With all of the above (a mix of Kevlar, semi-metallic, and organic pads), I have varying degrees of quality in the same lot of pads I bought. For me that's a QA issue. In addition to my own experience, I am aware that I'm not an isolated case - both people I know in real life, and am aware of online have experienced similar. For me therefore its a known issue. I accept that whether it is known or not for other people is up to them.

The difference in price between these pads, and more expensive pads, is in my mind likely to be accounted for at least partially by better QA. I am not an expert on how these things are made so have no idea if the material costs for Shimano or Rahox are higher, and if so by how much.

IME cheap pads are a total false economy. They seem to last a fraction of the time, and they generally perform poorly by comparison to OE.

Stocked up on Guide pads when they were in the sale.

The only exception I have found over the years is Goodridge stuff, but then they cost as much as OE.

I’ve settled on Superstar Kevlar pads as I like the feel. I can’t compare lifespans with the original Formula organic and sintered pads, as they’re a different material, but they last for ages and I tend to buy them in bulk when the sales are on so they’re also pretty cheap. I have R0’s on one bike and The Ones on another. Many moons ago I used Disco pads but I had a couple of pairs fall apart in Spain one year and I never really looked at them again, a similar story to those affected by Superstar pad issues a few years ago I guess. Also tried Racematrix pads from Uber but they made my brakes feel funny (bite point was inconsistent), plus I had to take a Stanley knife to them to trim excess glue and fibres before the spring holder would fit.

I replaced my stock M8000 XT pads with Fibrax, they last just as long and stop just as well and cost a fair chunk less.

Plus they're made over here so it's a bit of a boost for local economies.

Just ordered some Fibrax pads for my Zee's as I've been through enough cheapy eBay ones. Hopefully they're decent.
Half price code 'GOMAYHEM17' made it seem worth it over the Shimano ones. Unsure if it's still active..

IME cheap pads are a total false economy. They seem to last a fraction of the time,