Quick query

Sintered, organic or kevlar? What’s the difference?

I ride on muddy usually wet trails, have used the kevlar ones up to now but they don’t offer much in the way of stopping power

I’m on Hope tech x2 if that makes any difference

Thanks in advance, box of ‘virtual’ jaffa cakes for any help

Was looking into this recently.
Organic = great stopping, lower pad life in abrasive conditions
Kevlar = good stooping, longer pad life (may squeal)
Sintered = good stopping, even longer pad life.

I had my 1st ride on the Organics last night on the Malverns. Once bedded in the power was very noticeably more than original Hope sintered. Initial impressions are good…can’t comment on pad wear as only did about 15 miles.

For £18/4 pairs you can’t go wrong IMO

edit: I’m running Tech M4’s

For the price of SS pads and the stopping power the Organics give, thats the way I go… I did a week of using the Kevlars in the Alps and back home and they were excellent but having re-ordered some more afterwards, they never offered anywhere near the stopping power of the originals. Weird…

I find the sintered great in both my Ones and SLX.

Kevlar for me, (in formulas) tbh there’s something not right if your stopping power isn’t good with kevlar pads and Tech X2s. Lifespan depends on your flavour of mud- I’ve never had any issues but I gather some really gritty areas can wear them very fast.

That said, Hope pads are expensive but they’re very good, just about the only OEM I’d ever be tempted to use.

Hmmm, given the low cost, long pad life isn’t a problem. So it’s sintered or organic then

Edging towards organic.

Cheers all

Did you ‘bed’ the Kevlars in properly?

Think so, flat out sprint then jam the brakes on without locking the wheel, repeat until feeling sick 🙂

Did you pour water on them to check for steam? 😆

Having run all 3 types I think I can help!
Sintered good power, good pad life, best if its wet / muddy. All year round use. A little more noisy than org / kevlar.
Organic most powerful, decent pad life if its dry. Wet, dont last too long. Prob best for dry / summer conditions.
Kevlar, similar power to organic, bit more resistant to wear. Good for spring / autumn conditions.

Er, no, but the tinking sound and smell told me it would have happened anyway, does the water do anything extra?

For bedding in I ride down the longest hill I can find, get up to 20mph then brake hard to a stop, repeat 4 or 5 times. Getting them properly warm is the key.

Edging towards sintered now, the description you’ve given for the conditions organic work in don’t exist, in my experience, unless you live in Arizona. I’m in Stoke, it’s perma-wet and muddy

Personally I wouldn’t go with their Organics unless you like changing pads regularly. Never had any problems with stopping but they wear out very quickly – they’ve only lasted a max of a couple of rides around the Chase for me.

Their sintered pads seem to last forever though.

Organic for me @ £16 for four sets pad life is not really an issue, though they do still last ok. Stopping power is noticeably better than the other compounds IME.

I’m in Stoke, it’s perma-wet and muddy

Sintered for you then!

Pad life is more about hassle than cost IMO- more spannering time, more risk of running out of pad mid ride.

it would be a start if I could log on to my account. Struggling here.

I’ve use the organic and sintered for a couple of years on different bikes, either are good value vs the alternatives.

The organic give the best feel in dry conditions, and are cheap if you buy 4 pairs. In manky conditions they can be destroyed quickly (<1 ride). They last for ages used in dry-ish conditions.

The sintered last for ages in normal UK conditions, but aren’t quite as powerful and make a little more noise. Alegedly cause the brakes to overheat more quickly, but it’s never really been an issue for me on the bike they’re on.

I’ve got four pairs of the Kevlar to try out, but not used them yet.

Sintered or Semi-metallic here for all riding apart from Alps – Kevlar

“I’m in Stoke, it’s perma-wet and muddy”

They will be fine for Hanchurch 😉

Mrs Yak has just killed 2 sets of kevlars – front and rear in about 3 weeks of wet gritty/sandy riding. Properly bedded in. Bit disappointed really as I have done a similar amount of riding using Clarkes sintered and theres plenty of life left in those.

Andy – I guess it down to whether your mud is sandy/gritty or claggy. If gritty definitely go for sintered.

Hanchurch mud (where I spend most of my time) is kind of non-sticky, washes off easily. Not too gritty. I’m tempted to try organic if I could get on the bloody site

andybloomer – Member
it would be a start if I could log on to my account. Struggling here.

Yep, I’m having the same problem at the mo’, keeps telling the SQL server doesn’t want to play.

Shame ‘cos I’m trying to buy a bar from them a the moment. Should have got it that same time I bought the stem yesterday, but thought I’d look around first.

Hey ho…

Thread Hijack –
What’s Hanchurch like at the moment? Last time I was there they were doing a load of foresting and all the trails along the top had gone.

Trails along the top are mainly back, trails down the side of the road are being logged. Still plenty of good stuff to play on though, perimeter is grand, bomb hole is death on a stick after al the rain last year but the one 50 yards down with the log to jump off is better anyway in my opinion.

I’M ON!

It’s taken that long I’ve forgotten what I wanted 🙂

I’m on Hope tech x2 if that makes any difference

Yep.

That’s the problem.

😀

The sintered Avid elixir squeel horribly with my CR SL’s, but others I know swear by them. Organic’s much nicer but definitely notice the shorter lifespan.

Currently running UberBikeComponents Race matrix pad, best I’ve ever had. Great bite from new, can’t comment on longevity but highly recommended so far.

At the dudes of hazard enduro it was very wet and gritty. I wore out a brand new set of SS organic pads in less than the days practice. I put sintered ones in for race day and I don’t think I have changed the pads since. Not noticed less braking power since changing either.

I was a happy Superstar kevlar Hope X2 user until I mentioned to LBS that a full bleed and service kit hadn’t improved my braking power/feel, they said to try the Hope pads.
The Superstar work, but the Hope work better – back plate is visibly thicker (so assume more rigid, better heat dispersal ?) and power of breaking is notably stronger.
Yes the Hope pads are 3-4 times the price but I be going back to SS

Cheers andy, might have to head there again soon (only about 20 miles down the road).

I know what you mean about the bombhole – that big step was a bit of a surprise last time I was there.

Got somewhere between 1200-1500 miles out of my original Hope pads. Replaced them a couple of months ago with some Kevlar SS that I bought cheap last year and they are worn down already. Mainly very wet, muddy, gritty commuting. Will definitely be going back to Hope pads.

I experienced dreadful squealing with the sintered on my Oro’s. Tried a couple of sets and then went back to Formula sintered – problem eliminated. It’s a shame as they are excellent value and stopped well enough, but the din really was appalling.

Ive been using super star sintered for a few months and found them really squeely on the SLX and XT brakes so changed to uber bike components. More expensive (race pads 8.99 an end) but still half price of shimano pads.

First impressions, two rides, very good and no noise so very happy.

On their website, I can’t see kevlar pads for the new XTR/XT/SLX…

KEVLAR.

Awesome power, last for ages, but the clincher is they’re coloured RED. Like the Ferrari I haven’t got.

used all three types, organic have best stopping power, but sinterered lasted a full week in Morzine last year. using kevlar at the moment as a happy medium, better stopping than sintered( just ), but longer lasting than organic.

Use sintered SS pads. Been faultless for me.