Uber bike pads

When they work they're great, however I've had all sorts of problems with them in the past year. Not sure if they've changed factory or formula but the latest batch glaze over really easily and I get terrible resonance through the frame and fork under hard braking. Switched back to OEM Shimano resin pads and all good again.

I’ve had all sorts of problems with them in the past year

me too. I've used them for years but something has changed in the past year. A noticeable lack of power despite using the same compound I always have. Switched to Hope's own pads and the difference was phenomenal

I’ve had all sorts of problems with them in the past year

Same as me, i had some old ones in some 2 pot xt brakes and were awesome, so i bought some more for the hopes on my enduro rig, and they were awful, squeeling and glazed really easily.

Swapped them out for hopes own sintered pads and they are silent and work.

I find their e-bike pads superior to race matrix.

I’ve had all sorts of problems with them in the past year

I don’t discriminate by years, they have always been utter shyte for me.

They are my last resort when I haven’t been able to get OEM sintered bad (which last multiple times longer, perform consistently & are more powerful). That includes the Race ones & the Ebike pads.

If I can’t get OEM, then the only comparable pads I have found are Galfer, Trickstuff & Swissstop. Which cost as much as OEM anyway.

We use them a lot. Across 7 mtb's and 3 do it all bikes. We ride all over Scotland, have burnt them down alpine DH, raced enduro, pottered on the road, laden touring bikes etc etc.

The only issue we have is cold pads on the do it all bikes are noisy (not unique to UberBike) and one lot recently that just sqaurked on my sons mountain bike.

Other than that we have used them for 6-7 years now, likely x12-15 sets of pads a year or more

Well I don't think I'll have any issues with the cold 😂

🙂

I noticed yesterday - squeeled on the do it all / gravel bike as I started a local 200m road descent. By halfway down they were silent and grabbing really hard. We need 'road pads' as a compound - that are softer, quieter and bite hard to start with...

We need ‘road pads’ as a compound – that are softer, quieter and bite hard to start with…

Or 'UK road pads' that heat up super fast, in recognition that 95% of our descents are over before most pads get a chance to even get warm.

I was enjoying my stock moan in a shop the other day (they were politely asking why I was re-fitting rim brakes on to my CX bike) and they suggested EBC gold as a cold/wet weather pad. Although 'a bit' noisy by dint of being sintered, they said they were a massive improvement over organic for CX/winter road conditions.

Also, if someone wants some un-used still in the packet Uber-bike Race Matrix pads in TRP Spyre/old school Deore pattern, let me know...

I promised myself I was going to stop buying disc pads (literally spent over £100 on new pads recently) but I fell for it so now have some nice EBC gold pads to try out.

Glad it’s not just me then.  I was convinced I had calliper bleed on my front brake on my road bike it howled so much. Pad kept glazing even after multiple sand and bed in attempts. Switched back to shimano and all good again.  Rear one has been fine, as have the ones on my Mtb.

I also have some in my Spyres, they’re ok but a bit nosier than the originals they replaced.

I moved from Race Matrix to E Race Matrix which are better again IMO.

Haven't ordered this year though, cos of the order 4 pairs discount I have a stock, hopefully when I need to order they are just as good!

is there a decent alternative?

Also, if someone wants some un-used still in the packet Uber-bike Race Matrix pads in TRP Spyre/old school Deore pattern, let me know…

@13thfloormonk - I would happily exchange a beer token for them, we have two pairs of brakes that use them in the house.

All yours Matt, I also have some part used EBC red, some part used Swissstop Green (albeit with sipes dremmelled into them...) some part used Noah and Theo ceramic and some un-used Clarkes VRX.

Seems like an excuse to cross paths on trail/on road somewhere for a ride once I've gotten over my crippling shoulder spasm!

Being a cheapskate I never bought any fancy Uber pads but the incessant squealing drove me to try them. No better at all! They don't seem to stop any better and they're just as noisy as cheap eBay ones.

In the interests of muddying the waters even further, I've just this past week fitted a set of Race Matrix pads I bought 3 months ago to XT 4pots, 3 runs down the local road hill with 3-4 hard brakes on each run to an almost but not quite stop and by the last run they were locking up with very little effort.

Filthy run in the wet and mud round Glentress on Friday and they were silent, consistent and solid the whole time.  Matches my previous experience of them on Hope E4/X2 combo.  Other than the seemingly random terrible experiences on here I'd happily be recommending them to everyone.

PS. Riding buddy also has them on his 2 pot SLX and he hasn't complained about them either.

All I can say so far is they bedded in very easily and stop very well! Way better than the stick pads which were only 6 weeks old. It's a very noticeable e difference.

Wonder if disc size is a factor? I'm 200/180 big standard shimano centrelock. We're unlikely to see any moisture on the trails for the next four months. Fires, maybe.

Apologies for typo's. I seem to have selected the 'allo allo' dictionary.

I always say the same about the Race Matrixes, I really liked them for the handful of UK rides I did, really nice balance of control and power, and very consistent. Wear rate seemed good too. Then I took them out to France and on the first big descent they just went to shit, totally inconsistent- one stop it'd be stick in the spokes, the next and it'd be like having glass pads, outright dangerous. I binned them at the bottom of that descent and fitted my usual cheap kevlars and didn't have a single braking issue for the rest of the trip. But maybe I'd have never run into that issue with shorter less savage UK runs.

Uber's kevlars are as far as I can tell the same as everyone else's kevlars, ie noisy but otherwise excellent allrounders.

Now hear me out here, but, a couple of years back I got some of these, literally the cheapest brake pads I could find on the internet, really just out of curiosity
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005003187850486.html?spm=a2g0o.productlist.0.0.7f032254qJ7Q3j&algo_pvid=78c7bd9b-483e-4db4-b93f-09b88a642af2&algo_exp_id=78c7bd9b-483e-4db4-b93f-09b88a642af2-12&pdp_ext_f=%7B%22sku_id%22%3A%2212000024567520228%22%7D

Still using them in all my bikes- did 2 weeks in France and the Megavalanche, UK uplifts, snow days on the fatbike, an XC race, road miles. They're unspectacular but they're good, and if you've got good brakes you don't need any more. I like 'em more than plenty of more expensive pads and at this point I don't really think about them.

(I always think that if you're constantly looking for more performance from pads, you've just got the wrong brakes. Sure you can finetune feel but if you need more power then your brakes suck, go to the source. I have brakes I love and so I just need solid competent pads)

Exactly the same experience with race matrix as Northwind except for me it was Spain and Lake district.

Northwind - interestingly those say 'ceramic'.

I'd heard good things on here about ceramic pads (Noah and Theo in particular) so gave them a try. Thus far, whilst the horrible shrieking and noise in the wet still seems to occur, it seems to stop quicker, as if the rotor has dried quicker or something, which I don't quite believe. Am tempted to give them a bit more time (I would have ridden them several times since but have had a wee back issue to contend with) but if they seem in anyway better than normal I might be tempted to plump for these

https://mtxbraking.com/product/red-label-brake-pads/

which unfortunately come with a hefty 'shipping from the US' price tag.

However I wonder if your Ali-Express pads are similar too...

I've also had issues with the race matrix pads-

1) they seem thicker than other pads and rubbed even when pistons were fully retracted.
2) significant judder on the front brake under heavy braking.
3) over heating rear brake.

Swapped out for another brand and all the above problems dissppeared.

I wish this thread was started before I bought 4 pairs of them.
First impressions... Squeel like something out of 'Deliverance'
Will see how they fair in the gloop.

Not sure if they’ve changed factory or formula but the latest batch glaze over really easily and I get terrible resonance through the frame and fork under hard braking.

Pad kept glazing even after multiple sand and bed in attempts

+1 This was my experience as well,..glazed over horribly. Will stick to Galfer and Swiss stop

13thfloormonk
Full Member

Northwind – interestingly those say ‘ceramic’.

I like 'em but I can't really comment on noise- I subscribe to "bikes make noise" so it's not just that I'm not bothered by it, I don't really make any attempt to reduce it. So they make a bit of noise on mine but the alignment's probably not perfect etc.

They're definitely quieter than kevlar, but then kevlar in the wet are like using geese for brakes.

Pretty similar to a few comments on here, used them a while, last batch were terrible, always glazing, squealing in the wet, got bored of sanding them after every ride so switched out for some superstar ones, just wish OEM were cheaper.

I've just ridden into work this morning.

Zero squeal, judder, fad, lack of bite or power.

Are people generally finding them crap from the start, or they go crap?

Also zero issue with pad thickness - just used a brake wedge to push the pads/pistons back and a couple of level pulls to set them.

Perhaps there's been a bad batch aka Superstar-itus?

I hates my hope e4’s for months - zero power and confidence killing. Never clicked it could be the Uber race matrix pads. As a last attempt before selling them i thought i’d try hope pads.

Night and day. So much better and heaps more power.

Would never touch anything else except maybe Galfer - hopes are rebranded Galfer pads. Even have Galfer stamped on the back!

Galfer Green pads are the ultimate option for Hopes - OE quality (as they make the regular red Hope pads) but more bite which is what Hopes need.

See bottom of the page - Green 'competition' compound.

https://galfer.eu/bike/products/brake-pads/

Guess it's one of those YMMV things.

Or, I got the good pair from the latest batch 😉

Guess it’s one of those YMMV things.

I've used various UberBike pads on my bikes for years (10yrs+?) but know others who've been less than impressed.

Initially semi-metallic - worked very well, good power and bite, and great in the UK. A set lasted <2 days in the Alps though (Les Arcs, not PdS bike park style) even in the dry. They lasted months in the UK though. Tried OEM Shimano sintered but hated the noise. Swapped to Race Matrix which work even better but with benefit of lasting a lot longer. Repeat riding hol on same trails and pads still had meat left at the end of the week.

I swapped back to OEM Shimano resin pads for commuting though as I was glazing the Race Matrix with gentle braking. I still occasionally have glazing issues with these but easily solved.

I hates my hope e4’s for months – zero power and confidence killing. Never clicked it could be the Uber race matrix pads. As a last attempt before selling them i thought i’d try hope pads.

Night and day. So much better and heaps more power.

My exact experience with my E4s.

Think Superstar have 20% off at the moment?

After market is always an interesting one.

Big / worldwide Companies spend a fortune onR&D and yes cheaper alternatives can be found. BUT helmet (and i suppose skills) aside there are 2 main things that keep me out of hospital:
1) Ability of tyres to grip
2) Ability of brakes to stop me before that cliff or tree.

Yet these are the 2 most scrimped on things for a lot of people.

I used to. Once bitten twice shy! Tis fubar IMHO. Buy cheap buy twice….an expensive and alas occasionally painful lesson learned over time.

“I just off to put some cracking remoulds on my bugatti veyron….” 😁

silasgreenback
Full Member

Big / worldwide Companies spend a fortune onR&D and yes cheaper alternatives can be found.

The big thing is that the r&d is to develop what they think is the ideal component, it's not necessarily what you think is the ideal component. And they're targeting a huge number of users and situations. The OE pads for my brake- apart from being hard to find- are well made but they're really not good in a scottish winter. Probably only a small percentage of all riders will actually have a problem with that, so it doesn't make them bad, it just makes them less good for me than the aftermarket ones I like.

And yeah those pads happen to be very very cheap too but that's just a side benefit.

Maybe a good example for bikes is that spell when every Fox fork was super divey, because they were built so that they felt great when you bounce them in a shop, and so that fat accountants could go and buy an Ibis Mojo and ride it around a blue trail and use all the travel and think they were really extreme and totally using that 140mm travel. Fox put a lot of effort into those divey forks.

Northwind…as you say. You just have to find what works. Ideal via R&D is usually good all round. Jack of all master of none but good enough for most. I ride resin pads through gritstone slop winter and they last ages with great performance but i “should” apparently be using sintered!

When i used to runbrakes from the big s’s i found them too digital on…off…on…off so the reduction in braking power from non oem was great and made them feel way better. But hope arent the most powerful to start with so anything taking it down further is a disaster waiting.

Tried umpteen after market brands but IMHO none come close to the hope oem.

2 weeks in.

Not dead yet.

Brakes still working. Well.

No squeaks, judders performance issues.

Pads haven't fallen apart.

Current "batch" seems ok to me.

Further to the above, put a new set of race matrix pads in the front. Bedded in and working fine. Descended off the long Mynd at the weekend and they cooked and squealed like a banshee. Are now glazed and blued the rotor. This hasn't happened with any other pads. Will stay away from them for now on.