Drop some rim-brake pad knowledge on me...

See this thread. http://www.ridemonkey.com/forums/showthread.php?t=187237&highlight=990+brakes

Specifically this post: http://www.ridemonkey.com/forums/showpost.php?p=2648191&postcount=6

Worked for me.

If you're running bare aluminum rims just get a good set of MTB v-brake pads. That's been serving me well.

From my experiences for chrome use black kool stops and for black rims use salmon kool stops. I also had pretty good luck with the green fiesta pads on black rims too.

I put some kool stops on my bmx with an anodized rim, and it helped out a bit.
Compressionless cable housing will also help. The ody linear are pretty cheap.
I also upgraded to a better cable hanger, from the little square block that come stock to a wider one.

I have tried probably every pad made and believe it or not....the threaded v-brake pads from Wal-mart work the best. Dont knock them before you try them. You will be pleasantly surprised at how well they grab.
Another thing, yes chrome rims work great but I have incredible stopping power/grab on a white powder-coated Eastern rim so the "chrome or nothing" argument is blown out of the water.
A few other things you can do...
-quality linear cable
-use a billet hanger (as stated above)
-make the straddle cable as short as possible = increased mechanical leverage
-use washers and space out the brakes as far as you can = once again, increased mechanical advantage

As a compairison, my stock 990 setup feels better and grabs better than my buddies Fly brakes.
Hope this is helpful

Make sure the cable hanger is as close to the brake as possible. The better leverage makes a big difference.

The 990's are better than I thought when they are dialed in.

salmon colored koolstops.

the only pads that will stop my BMX with authority.

Why don't you quit being a pansy, get hip to the times, and go brakeless?

Bikeguide has a bible on dialing in brakes on their site that worked for me. Before you get new pads, you might try sanding down your existing ones and using some Simple Green on your rims.

http://www.bikeguide.org/how-to/brakes/brakes.php

Cru Jones said:

Why don't you quit being a pansy, get hip to the times, and go brakeless?

Click to expand...

He pretty much already does.
Get a sick as$ hydrolic brake, and put it on a 26" West Coast Shotta!!!

WestCoastHucker said:

ok, so i haven't been hip to the BMX scene for over 15 years now since i've been pretty much exculsively been riding mtb since '95. i've switched to a bmx cruiser as my new dj/street rig. i know i should also go to a chrome rim and i plan to in the near future. but for now i am running the stock tektro brake. i assume it's a 990 or a u-brake (don't know if there is a difference) it's on the underside of my seatstay. either way, there is absolutely no stopping power there compared to most of the other bmx bikes i've ridden. someone suggested i get some new brake pads, but i have no idea what the difference between any of them are or what brand even makes the pads...

edit: after doing a little looking, the pads have the threaded studs on them...

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Ditch the tektro trash!

I just recently went through the EXACT same process. My conclusion was that those tektro brakes suck chode. Here's why:

I tried new cable housing.

I tried different brakes pads.

I tried different rims.

I tried adjusting the brakes (with & without toe-in, long and short straddle cable, etc.

None of these things made much more than a marginal improvement of my braking.

In the end I picked up new calipers and a new lever (odyssey evolution II and ody trigger). Best money I ever spent on my bike! Brakes are A LOT more powerful and actually have some modulation.

ferday said:

salmon colored koolstops.

the only pads that will stop my BMX with authority.

Click to expand...

yuup, thats what i got, and a good cable hanger.