What type of brake pads to buy?
- Thread starter just4fn
- Start date
indianajo
Well-Known Member
The bike parts shops (modernbike , universalcycle, thebikeshopstore) have thousands of pads that do not say what they are made of. Color and style seem to be important to bike shops. Semi-metallic pads are great for downhill racers, and require elite class hand grip in cable pull handles to make them stop. Organic pads stop pretty easily and the front pair wears out in a scandalous 4000 miles. That is about 2 years on my bike. The only way I have found to get organic pads is to buy them off e-bay. Ebay listings don't describe material either, but for $10 I probably am not getting premium parts. Ebay does push the cheapest listing to the top, which does not make me wade through 2000 listings to find organic ones.
If you are exceeding 25 mph and weigh over 250 lb, perhaps you should get the semi-metallic pads, and buy the $$$ hydraulic calipers to make them stop.
If you are exceeding 25 mph and weigh over 250 lb, perhaps you should get the semi-metallic pads, and buy the $$$ hydraulic calipers to make them stop.
Last edited:
Shifty Shane
Member
- Region
- Canada
- City
- Trail
I have a Biktrix Juggernaut Ultra FS Pro 3 which uses the same brake pads as a Radrunner 2 with Aries brake calipers (rectangular shaped brake pads).
It came stock with Tektro A10.11 organic brake pads. I upgraded my front brake rotors from 180mm to 203mm and installed Loam Goat sintered semi-metallic pads. After the first 10km break-in, they squealed like crazy, I removed them, sanded my original pads down and installed them while I waited for a pair of Tektro E10.11 organic pads to arrive. The semi-metallic pads are best for downhill riding and wet weather. They need to get heated up before they start working well, and they have a tendency to be noisy. The E10.11 pads are a low noise upgrade from the OEM A10.11 pads. They also have P20.11 metal/ceramic pads which have more braking power and longer lifespan, but potentially noisier. Whatever brake pads you get, be sure to break them in properly, and ideally you should replace the rotors at the same time, or at least sand them lightly with 220 grit sandpaper and clean with isopropyl alcohol, to remove any old brake pad material or contaminants.
