Roadbike brake pads- recommendations

Any that are particularly good in cold weather/rain?

I have swissstop pads on my best road bike, blue ones to match the bike. They do work well too though.

swissstop pads

Wheres the best (cough cheep) place for them?

Kool Stops Salmon work well for me

Definitely SwissStop. Got my last lot from Merlin for just over £20. Bear in mind they come in packs of 4 (2 pairs) if you just need the inserts so actually not as eyewateringly expensive as you might first think!

Can’t remember where I bought mine and can’t find the order email but they were around £20 for a full set, pads only.

Cheers- just ordered Swisstop full flashpro BXP 😀

😉

Hope they match your bike 🙂

So I take it ‘full’ means pad and holder then? Rather than just the pad.

Ah ok. Thats a good thing? Brakes are Ultegra 6800

Bit late but Kool Stop Salmon are brilliant.

Ah ok. Thats a good thing? Brakes are Ultegra 6800

They just need inserts IIRC

Another Swissstop user here, the BXP (Blue) are better then the Green GHP II, next time I need some, will go for the Flash Evo

koolstop salmon here. Cheapest were wiggle when I got mine.

Don’t get the BBB blue ones. They work well but I got through a set in one 70mile wet race.

Ultegra 6800
They just need inserts IIRC

Yup, just inserts.

Thick question- what are inserts?

The pad, so just the blue bit. I think you may have also bought the holder, the silver bit, which you don’t need.

Have a look at your brakes. There’s a little bolt (3mm i think) near the back of the pad holder. Undo that and the pad will slide out the holder. The pad is the “insert”.

When inserting back into the insert, add some washing up liquid to act as a lube, makes the pad slide in real easy.

Here’s an Ozzy with a budgie on his head showing them and the process to change them

When inserting back into the insert, add some washing up liquid to act as a lube, makes the pad slide in real easy.

I’ve never had an issue sliding inserts in.

I just use standard Shimano Ultegra ones.
Are Swisssstop that much better?
and do they come in black?

Depends how you measure ‘that much better’, better yes.

Yup. Salmons were a wet weather revelation for me a few years back.

Swissstops on Alloys rims a bit of a waste of time IMO, but then you can get them cheap enough I guess.

They don’t wear very well on Alloy, you’ll get through them in under 300ks or so, so better get a few packs. There are better pad inserts out there like the Salmons mentioned.

If you are use carbon wheels then you’ll get nothing better than Swissstops, the new Grey ones replace the Yellows, the Green ones are better for racing and wear out too quickly.

All IMO of course.

(For ALLY rims.)

Swisstop Green compound (I think it’s called flash pro). I recommend them over kool stops (of all kind) for both dry and wet conditions.

Modulation is markedly improved over kool stop / generic shimano and they are, honestly, noticeably more powerful, and last a very long time. £20 odd quid for 2 pairs is a bargain, imo.

Swisstop Greens gave me a “Oh, Road bike brakes CAN actually slow you down” moment. And that was moving from Ultegra pads.

Green? Would it better getting

http://www.merlincycles.com/swissstop-flashpro-green-high-performance-pads-64944.html

The t’other ones only come as one pair- just checked

They don’t wear very well on Alloy, you’ll get through them in under 300ks or so, so better get a few packs.

300km? My Swissstop blue are still more than fine after over 3000km.

Coughed up yet Hora? If not save yourself some £ and get Clarks CPS240 Elite from CRC. Cheap and nearly as good as the Swissssstops.

Whatever you roll with, clean the rims and pads after every wet ride. That noise is your rims being worn away.

They don’t wear very well on Alloy, you’ll get through them in under 300ks or so, so better get a few packs. There are better pad inserts out there like the Salmons mentioned.

Mine have done over 2000km and have plenty of wear left. Mavic Open Pros.

Yep no way swissstop pads only last a couple of hundred miles of ‘normal’ use.

I’ve used Swissstop GHP2 (the green ones) and found them to be much better than KoolStop salmon and others particularly in the wet. Looks like the newer (blue) BXP compound version may be even better. Last at least a couple of thousand km.