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forum
Disc pad recommendations
Hello everyone,
I recently took delivery of a shiny new winter and commuter bike complete with these new fangled disc brakes everyone's been talking about. Admittedly, they are cable actuated rather than hydraulic (TRP Spyres) but, having only ever ridden rims brakes (the new bike replaced a bike with Campag Centaur calipers), I was expecting my stopping power to be significantly increased. You will therefore understand my shock when I got to the end of the road by my house and almost overshot it because the brakes were nowhere near as good as the Centaurs.
The set up of the brakes seems fine - there's no rub and they fully engage with the rotor when they are activated. Is the reduced stopping power likely to be down to the stock pads which came with the bike? If so, what would people recommend that I replace them with? I will be using the bike for commuting to work in all weathers and weekend rides throughout the winter.
Thanks in advance.
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17 comments
when my Mtn bike disc brakes start to get a bit noisy I use Muc Off disc brake cleaner which works well
https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B002MXKGZC?ie=UTF8
They also say using copperslip grease between the back of the pad and the piston helps reduce noise.
Never bothered myself, quite like scaring the shit out of people who have crossed the road in front of me without looking when I haul the anchors on. Only really get noise in the wet anyway.
Hmm, I'm coming round to your first point, but there are plenty out there who claim theor disc brakes are quiet in the wet so I'm just trying to figure out what the common factor is.
As for the dodgy physics someone has been feeding you, you really think your rotor goes from ambient temperature to 100C so fast that the water flashes straight to steam between the pads? How fast are you going?? ; )
I have Spyres on my primary commuter and use Disco Brakes sintered pads.
I ride 14 miles per day from one side of Glasgow to the other all year round... Glasgow does not have a reputation for being dry and sunny, and I'd say at least 50% of my commuting is done in damp (or wetter) conditions.
I have 37 sets of traffic lights to pass through, which, because I'm a good boy, means a lot of stopping. I get through roughly two sets of pads a year.
How are they for noise (when wet)? What rotors do you use?
Sorry to repeat my question from above, just looking for as many opinions as possible before I spend any more money trying to stop mine squeeling in the wet.
Ta.
There is no silent braking just get used to it, this is down to simple Newtonian Physics Energy Friction Dissipation Heat and Sound. Brakes create friction they boil the water, creating bubbles/steam creating vibrtations which then resonate through the acoustic amplifier that is your wheel...or so it was described to me.
For instance I'm using Super lightweight rotors, aftermarket pads and XTR (Dura Ace) brakes on sub 8kg Mountain bike they howl like a mother fucker in the wet...proving it's not how much money you can throw at them. You can mitigate it to some degree by slightly dragging your brake to scrub off water before grabbing hard but I never bother I like the sound my wheels make.
If you're commuting in the wet, they will make a noise. Even a tiny amount of contamination prolongs the squealing, so riding in wet weather on roads covered in crud from cars will result in noise.
You just need to live with it.
What you can do though is, as you approach a set of lights, brake gently to clear the water off pad and rotor, release and then brake hard, to actually stop at the lights... As if you were breaking in the pads. Repeat as often as you like.
This will cut down on the noise, but if it's wet you won't eliminate it entirely as more cruddy water will land on the rotor and pads.
On a mountain bike in a forest, there are no large concentrations of minute hydrocarbon particles to deal with nor are you likely to be using mudguards which can result in more of said particles dripping onto pads and rotors. In my experience, this is what makes a difference noise-wise more than anything else outside of poor setup.
Rotors? I have Avid GS2 and the TRP rotors that came with the Spyres. I can't tell the difference between them.
With Spyres, I recommend using one of the pad setting tools available such as the Birzman Clam or the Hayes equivalent. Uneven pad contact will make discs squeal like F@(k !!!
Booo, that's a shame, the squeel bothers me so much I've found myself instinctively letting go of the levers or just avoiding braking altogether! Must have sensitive ear drums.
Will stick with rim brakes I guess, shame so few frames can take them these days...
If you want stopping power go organic, if you want longevity go sintered, if you never ever want to replace your pads ever again buy sintered and bake them in the over (Mike Hall once wrote a brilliant article on this).
Re Pads I'm currently using Widgets in XTR.
I have the Hy-Rds* which use the same pad shape and haven't really noticed much difference between the stock pads, shimano, clarks, uber brakes and life-line ones (all of them organic/resin pads). Yet to try Disco Brakes ones but they were recommended by quite a few people on a very similar thread to this on single track world and are dirt cheap. They have all improved after the first few rides but it isn't night and day. Would advise getting some isopropyl alcohol for cleaning rotors now and then. Just fitted compressionless housing to the front yesterday and they do seem a bit better for that, although I also installed new pads at the same time.
*Were also a bit lacklustre until 'overfilling' them with brake fluid.
How do they behave in the wet, quiet? What rotors do you use?
Am considering replacing pads and rotors on my Spyres, they're great in the dry but screech like banshees in the wet.
I fitted Shimano XT rotors - excellent, no noise at all, wet or dry.
You're not going to like this and, to be honest, I don't much like it myself. But after using cable discs for about ten years, and blindly defending them to all comers, I bought my first hydraulic bike about a year ago and the difference is literally night and day. In every respect, except cost, the hydraulics are superior; they set up easier, they brake infinitely better with much less finger pressure and they self-adjust. It's so good even I can tell.
I look back now to my days with Spyres and Avids and TRPs and realise how pointless it was to fiddle around with different pads and different cables and weekly adjustments and all for mediocre braking at best. My trouble was, having invested quite serious money in endless upgrades it was difficult to accept it was dosh down the drain. But that's exactly what it was.
Aah, there's no fool like an old fool.
I agree - I've been carrying out almost weekly faffing on my TRP Spyre mechanical brakes for about 2 years since I bought a winter/commuter/gravel bike. In that time I've replaced the cables (and outers) twice, the pads about 5 times and I'm still expecting to have to do it again before too long. The extra few hundred quid for the model with hydraulic brakes seemed too much at the time, but I've probably spent that and sworn a hell of a lot since. One major problem is water/grit/grime getting into the cable outer, especially on the rear brake which on my bike runs along the chainstay and the cable exits the housing in an upward bend, so anything which gets in there just sinks in and clogs it up. Each time I've removed the rear cable it's almost rusted.
It was when it snowed and I borrowed a mountain bike with hydraulics that made me realise how rubbish mechanical are: much more feel and graduated braking. Cable ones just grab but you're always wanting more grip/control.
I can't figure out why you have to spend at least £1200-£1500 for hydraulic brakes on a cx bike, but even the most entry level £500 mtb comes with hydraulic ones as standard.
Spyres have the Bo1S pads in .... so a swap out from Trp to Shimano could be a compromise.....but with disc brakes, they need to be used hard and bedded in..... around these parts (East Anglia) they never get used hard enough but I like to fit softer pads for "bite" for those who have discs and suffer contamination..... obvs in hilly areas the sintered types are better...when you are going to use the brakes harder...
Agree on the bedding in required.
I fitted Swissstop green pads to my Spyres from new - I figured the TRP pads were probably not going to be the best. They were excellent and braking was very good. Pads and rotors do have to be bedded in - look at the TRP site and google it generally.