What brake pads do you use? If any

these ones

Or these ones

IME Kool Stop salmon work very well and are quieter but maybe wear a bit quicker than the Swissstops. Roughly the same price. However, I ran my stock Shimano (Ultegra 6600 SL brakes) pads in an absolute deluge earlier this year and they performed admirably, which surprised me as the stock pads in a Shimano R650 brake I had were rubbish in the wet.

I tend to go for the Kool Stops these days. It's worth it.

yeah I looked at those but Salmon or Black? I guess the salmon ones won't be any worse than my generic pads in the dry but considerably better in the wet?

The other advantage of Swisstop is that apparently the greens are fine on carbon rims so if I decide to use my race wheels then I don't have to fanny about with pads. Is this also true of the Kool stops?

Salmon all the way. Only downside is they wear quickly (and wear the rim quicker, I guess). I wouldn't use them on carbon rims, though (Koolstop do a carbon-specific pad). The Swissstop greens are definitely designed to be usable on carbon rims, yup, but I've no idea how they compare to dedicated carbon rim pads like the Swissstop yellow or Reynolds blue.

I tried swisstop greens and will never go back, wet weather braking is phenomenal. They last ages so the cost isn't important. Never tried the kool ones so cant comment on the relative performance.

I tried swisstop greens and will never go back, wet weather braking is phenomenal. They last ages so the cost isn't important. Never tried the kool ones so cant comment on the relative performance.

Yep, I fitted a set of greens after the black ones that came with my bike were worn. Even if they only last a couple of months ill stick with them as they are fantastic. As you say, in the wet they are amazing.

£22 for the best safety improvement you can make to a bike is cheap!

Planet-X are always a good source;

http://www.planet-x-bikes.co.uk/i/q/BSSWFLPRO/swissstop_flash_pro_brake_pads

£18.99 at the moment. I've used both Swiss Stop and Kool Stop and go for the former every time now as they last significantly longer and offer better modulation.

I tried swisstop greens and will never go back, wet weather braking is phenomenal. They last ages so the cost isn't important. Never tried the kool ones so cant comment on the relative performance.

This.

I can't comment on the swiss stop ones, but I use fibrax, and they are a huge improvement over stock pads.

They are also very cheap. However they do wear quite quickly.

The other advantage of Swisstop is that apparently the greens are fine on carbon rims so if I decide to use my race wheels then I don't have to fanny about with pads.

They maybe fine but what you're talking about is not!

Brake pads on Alloy rims pick up minute aluminium particles which get into the pad every time you brake. If you then run the same pad on a carbon rim those aluminium particles grind the carbon brake track every time you brake ..

how kind are they to anodized surfaces?

Swiss stop reds, awesome pads! kind on rims! Great stopping power

http://www.probikekit.com/uk/components/brakes-and-pads/trp-by-swissstop-brake-pads.html

Ta for the advice, I went for Swisstop greens in the end.

adoubletap speaks the obvious truth, but I just used the pads that came in the shoes... I still regret it every-time my nose points downhill.

They maybe fine but what you're talking about is not!

Brake pads on Alloy rims pick up minute aluminium particles which get into the pad every time you brake. If you then run the same pad on a carbon rim those aluminium particles grind the carbon brake track every time you brake ..

Thanks for the heads up. The frequency with which I use my race wheels on the road bike is so low that swapping the pads is only a minor inconvenience. More common is training wheels on the TT bike but that's already moved into hibernation on the Turbo and won't emerge till spring - even so I'll bear this in mind! I bought the fancy kit when I had a job and now have to make sure I take extra special care of what I've got as there is no way I could replace it. Thanks!

quick dredge..

Currently running swiss stop greens with open sup ceramics. Stopping in the dry is brilliant, but in the wet it can get a bit hit & miss (or just shit)....I notice that wiggle do shimano ceramic specific pads. Are they any good / improvement on swiss stops ?

If the general feeling is that swiss stop & ceramic is the best option, then mine could just be worn past the point of being effective.

Recommendations ?

swiss stop do a ceramic specific pad (Blue Sky) http://www.swissstop.ch/Compounds.aspx

^^I've got a brand new set of the Shimano ceramic pads you can have for a few quid, if you wanted to try them? Got bought them as a present but I don't have ceramic rims.

The Shimano ceramics were great especially when wet, till I realised there was nothing left on the pads after said week of heavy rain.

swiss stop do a ceramic specific pad (Blue Sky) http://www.swissstop.ch/Compounds.aspx

Cheers, I had a lok through their site but did not see these....think I will give them a bash.

^^I've got a brand new set of the Shimano ceramic pads you can have for a few quid, if you wanted to try them? Got bought them as a present but I don't have ceramic rims.

Thanks, i'll PM you.....nothing ventured, nothing gained and all that.

Cheers all

Any recommendation in brake pads that don't eat the rim? Current, stock ones tend to get chunks of aluminium embedded

http://www.wiggle.co.uk/swissstop-flash-pro-green-high-performance-pads/

went with the Clarks 55mm Caliper Brake Shoe (on sale for £5 from Chain Reaction ) for me Charge Plug Tektros (358s)

appreciate the thread recommendation for Swiss stopping power,

.. maybe for the road bicycles.. :-)

Swissstop greens are still the go-to pad for aluminium rims, right?

Blue are the new best, I think.