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Brake Pad Advice
Hi,
Can someone please recommend a good disc brake pad for my MTB? Are disc brake pads a universal fit or does every brand have their own pad? I have 'Hayes Stroker Trail' disc brakes with 200mm rotors front and rear.
My issue is:
- I've had my bike (purchased new with these brakes) for 18months now. When I first got it with very little pressure on the brake levers I could lock up the rear tyre on bitumen, which also meant that they were very touchy offroad (which I prefer it this way).
- Then I had my bike serviced for the 1st time, and I didn't think that a brake pad change was done, but afterwards the brakes needed maybe 3-4times the pressure to lock up the rear tyre on bitumen (so I assume that the pads were changed maybe to a differnet compound or something)... I did not like this but as my bike doesn't spend much time on bitumen and I could still lock up the rear on dirt if I wanted to I didn't worry about it too much and just thought to myself I'll sort it out when I need to replace the pads.
- Now the other day I put new tyres on my bike (Maxxis Ignitor's) and they grip like crazy compared to the worn out standard Kenda's that were on the bike since new. These tyres grip so much that on my recent ride at Forsyth's Mill (first ride with the new tyres) I could not lock the rear tyre unless I was squeezing the brake lever as hard as I could! Which brings me back to wanting to change my brake pads!
My brakes were awesome when I first got the bike, and I just want to go back to having confidence in my braking again without getting surprised by my lack of braking performance everytime I grab for them and then having sore hands from squeezing the levers as hard as I can everytime I want to stop in a hurry..!
Thanks for you responses.
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It sounds like the brake pads were contaminated when the bike was serviced.
I personally dont wast my money on branded pads ie Hayes pads for stroker. I usually but a generic brand for my brakes.
They work just aswell and cost less than 1/4 of the price!
Agree with VTSS350. Would suggest having a word with whoever serviced your bike and see about getting them to replace the pads they contaminated at their cost. If they kick up a stink then I guess you know where not to get your bike serviced again.
Interesting comments on them being touchy - I'd wondered for awhile whether they'd improved their progressiveness since the old HFX Nines, which were known and not much liked for being very "sudden" and "on-off". I guess that means the answer is no.
I don't bother with the non OEM pads anymore.
Case in point...first set of standard XT front pads on my Rallon lasted 9 months. This included the wet summer we just had. Bought some generic replacements from the LBS. ~$20 vs. ~$30 for the originals.
First thing I noticed was the smaller pad size, and a corresponding lack of performance. 2nd thing was one was down to nearly metal 6 weeks later. Other pad was not much more. Ditched the cheapies and picked up Shimano ones. Braking performance is back and the false economy is gone.
I've had good results with cheap aftermarket pads from Superstar. In my case they worked better than the OEM Shimano pads. At $30-$40 for 4 pairs, there's not much to lose.
Having said that, if you liked your brakes with the stock pads, just pick some more of those up. You can also try sanding back the pads a bit to try and remove the contaminated section, just don't take too much off otherwise it could get unsafe. I've had mixed results with this.
Some Freon spray is good for cleaning oil off pads and disk.
Isn't that stuff banned these days under international CFC protocols?
Yeah but it cleans pads good.
You're talking Shimano, he's talking Hayes. Quite different.
I agree re: Shimanos, I only use OEM pads for them as well, although A2Z's I'd definitely consider but they're hard to find.
I've got Hayes Stroker Trails and really like them I think they are running Alligator pads, I actually prefer the feel over my Avid Exilir CRs (they Hayes are more sensitive)
As for OEM vs 3rd party. Writing 3rd party pads off based on only one cheapie brand is hardly fair. I've had good experiences with cheap pads (A2Z, Alligator) but there are heaps of others and at the price if a set wears out prematurely I'll buy another brand (look at the Discobrake website). There are also high end 3rd party pads (Swisstop, Clarks, Goodridge etc.) some have a very good reputation.
I had a similar experience with non genuine pads for the Hayes I had on a previous bike.
I doubt any non-genuine pad would do better than the Shimano originals. They are simply a good product, and that's the decider in my book.
Wow thanks for the replies!
I should have checked back more often as I just purchased some aftermarket 'OBE' branded 'kevlar' pads online (x4 pack)... So hopefully they work out for me...
The contamination definaitley sounds to me my prob. I should have thought of that as I am aware that this happens to car brakes as well!
I have to mention that I actually have 'Hayes Stroker Ryde' brakes not the 'Stroker Trail' as mentioned initially. Sorry was at work at the time of posting and couldn't check my bike, just remembered that the brakes were white so had a look on the Hayes website and the Stroker Trail's were the only 'white' ones... doh.
Now to work out how to fit them when they arrive... I have the manual but the manual is for the 'magnetic' version, whereas I have the 'springs' version...
Cheers
Great pads, great price, nuff said
I have Hayes Stroker Trails on my bike. I have just replaced the pads with Hayes ones - Aluminium backed ones, twice the price but they don't fade at all compared with the regular ones.
I have has a couple of maintenance items needed on mine, first was a sticky lever (quite common) - easy fix with the right grease (if you need some Bike Addiction in Manly have some in their workshop), second was a bent piston post - a replacement piston was $8 from CRC - one of the easiest jobs I have ever done! Finally, at the Convict last weekend my front brake lost pressure (as you describe) - did a bleed yesterday and not only was there some air in there, but the oil was really grimy, not a hard job to do a full bleed and push fresh fluid through the whole system, now it feels like new again.
If you need, I have a spare Hayes Pro Bleed kit (ordered two by mistake) - think they are about $30 off CRC, so would take $25? (It literally arrived last week), PM me if interested.