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Good Pads in 2023

norbar

KESSLER PROBLEM. Just cause
Jun 7, 2007
11,371
1,609
Warsaw :/
Since we have a good rotors thread. What companies make decent brake pads in 2023? I've been a bit out of the loop but in the good old days EBC and Goodridge were my choice. Now I'm completely lost who makes something that won't be problematic
 
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Jm_

sled dog's bollocks
Jan 14, 2002
19,013
9,672
AK
I have hope pads that say gaffer on the backing.
 

jayblackll

Chimp
Apr 27, 2012
10
13
Galfer confuses me with their colors. Which color is what? Purple are what material for the pad?
All of their pads are semi-metallic. The ones that are worth buying are green and purple. Purple is longer lasting without noticeable drop in power compared to green. Similar bite to Trick stuff power+ but longer lasting imho. Also quieter than sram metallic pads.
 

Cerberus75

Monkey
Feb 18, 2017
520
194
All of their pads are semi-metallic. The ones that are worth buying are green and purple. Purple is longer lasting without noticeable drop in power compared to green. Similar bite to Trick stuff power+ but longer lasting imho. Also quieter than sram metallic pads.
I love the greens, so I'll give the purple a try if they last longer.
 

Electric_City

Torture wrench
Apr 14, 2007
1,999
716

I bought 8 pair for my V4's on all 3 bikes. Ithey look exactly like the Hope/galfer pads they came with from the factory and I noticed no difference.

The fact that the pads sell for $10 for 1 pair or $25 for 4 alone is a selling point. The other companies are just plain ripping you off. I've used these for 3 years and absolutely no issues.

You're welcome.
 
Feb 21, 2020
838
1,175
SoCo Western Slope
I just installed the gold MTX pads in my Hope E4 rear caliper. Anyone used them?
Been running MTX for a few years now, big fan.

Gold with big rotors have some serious bite. I have those on the DH bike, everything else gets red pads.

Only issue I ever had was with one certain set of Shimano ice tech rotors, they never got along with MTX pads. For some reason they would never stay bed in, would just get polished and stop working. :confused:
 

toodles

ridiculously corgi proportioned
Aug 24, 2004
5,528
4,793
Australia
Only issue I ever had was with one certain set of Shimano ice tech rotors, they never got along with MTX pads. For some reason they would never stay bed in, would just get polished and stop working. :confused:
So randomly - I recommended the green Galfers to someone and they got back to me saying they weren't stoked with them. I'd run them (on Hope floating rotors) and rated them highly. Couldn't understand why - then I tried a set of green Galfers another bike that had Shimano Ice Tech rotors (RT86, 203mm) and was totally underwhelmed. The rotors weren't fresh with those pads or anything so maybe there was a bedding contaminant or something, but I ended up putting that brake on a different rotor and result was much better. And I'm using those Shimano Ice Tech rotors with Dominion A4s now and they're fine.

No idea why, I never really had an issue with the Shimano RT86 on other pads but they really didn't seem to mesh with the Galfer green for some reason.
 

Inclag

Turbo Monkey
Sep 9, 2001
2,752
442
MA

I bought 8 pair for my V4's on all 3 bikes. Ithey look exactly like the Hope/galfer pads they came with from the factory and I noticed no difference.

The fact that the pads sell for $10 for 1 pair or $25 for 4 alone is a selling point. The other companies are just plain ripping you off. I've used these for 3 years and absolutely no issues.

You're welcome.
Glad you had good luck with them. I cannot recommend their pads. Insta-glazed when used for DH over the course of 3-4 runs.

You get what you pay for with these. May be usable for less demanding applications, but would not consider them a quality product.
 

Milleratio

Chimp
Oct 24, 2021
83
62
Let’s put it other way: Why should I use anything else than sintered Shimano pads in my Saints? Is there anything serious to achieve? I’m a little skeptical here :brow:
 

Westy

the teste
Nov 22, 2002
54,480
20,284
Sleazattle
Been running MTX for a few years now, big fan.

Gold with big rotors have some serious bite. I have those on the DH bike, everything else gets red pads.

Only issue I ever had was with one certain set of Shimano ice tech rotors, they never got along with MTX pads. For some reason they would never stay bed in, would just get polished and stop working. :confused:
My only issue with the MTX pads is that they have zero bite the first time you used them on a ride. There have been a few times where at the beginning of a ride it almost feels like they have been contaminated, but after a few stops they work great. I don't know if it is a temperature thing but I haven't noticed this during a ride say after a long climb in cold weather for a second lap.
 

toodles

ridiculously corgi proportioned
Aug 24, 2004
5,528
4,793
Australia
Let’s put it other way: Why should I use anything else than sintered Shimano pads in my Saints? Is there anything serious to achieve? I’m a little skeptical here :brow:
Those Shimano sintereds did nothing wrong by me the whole time I ran Saints. I would bother playing around too much unless they're doing something to annoy you.
 

canadmos

Cake Tease
May 29, 2011
20,561
19,591
Canaderp
Yeah Shimano pads seem fairly decent to me, I ran Shimano brakes with their metal pads (finned and nonfinned) for the last few years with no complaints. Even just dual piston XTs with 203mm rotors were good enough for my fatass at places like Bromont, MSA and Killington.

Only reason I see to not use Shimano pads would be if you have some of the lower tier stuff that only had resin pads available.


Still waiting to give these Hayes Dominions with metal pads a workout. Is everyone just using the Hayes pads?
 

canadmos

Cake Tease
May 29, 2011
20,561
19,591
Canaderp
I'd have to confirm, but according to rocky mountains bike archive, my fat bike has Shimano m447 brakes on it which use the B03S pads. I've not ever found a metal version for then.
 

Andeh

Customer Title
Mar 3, 2020
1,028
998
Still waiting to give these Hayes Dominions with metal pads a workout. Is everyone just using the Hayes pads?
Yeah (the T100 with copper colored backer plate), they're remarkably long lasting. Hayes says they're good until 2.75mm thickness (pad + backer), and my rear pads are still 3.5mm after ~1,000 miles.
 

toodles

ridiculously corgi proportioned
Aug 24, 2004
5,528
4,793
Australia
Yeah (the T100 with copper colored backer plate), they're remarkably long lasting. Hayes says they're good until 2.75mm thickness (pad + backer), and my rear pads are still 3.5mm after ~1,000 miles.
You find they have a little less initial bite? I'n running them in the rear on one bike and they're great.

The stock semi-metallic/organic ones are bonkers for both bite, and complete lack of any bed-in time.
 

canadmos

Cake Tease
May 29, 2011
20,561
19,591
Canaderp
You find they have a little less initial bite? I'n running them in the rear on one bike and they're great.

The stock semi-metallic/organic ones are bonkers for both bite, and complete lack of any bed-in time.
What's the life like on the semi ones?
 

Andeh

Customer Title
Mar 3, 2020
1,028
998
You find they have a little less initial bite? I'n running them in the rear on one bike and they're great.

The stock semi-metallic/organic ones are bonkers for both bite, and complete lack of any bed-in time.
You know, I never tried the T106s... my buddy who got me to try the Dominions said to just go straight to the metallics, so that's what I did. Maybe next year (lol) when I finally kill the rear metallics I'll try the organics.
 

sethimus

neu bizutch
Feb 5, 2006
4,985
2,190
not in Whistler anymore :/
B05S compatibility:

BR-C501, BR-M575, BR-M525, BR-M495, BR-M486, BR-M485, BR-M475, BR-M465, BR-M447, BR-M446, BR-M445, BR-M416, BR-M416A, BR-M415, BR-M4050, BR-M3050, BR-M395, BR-M375, BR-M365, BR-M355, BR-M315, BR-T675, BR-T615, BR-TX805, BR-MT500, BR-MT410, BR-MT400, BR-MT200, BR-UR300
E01S compatibility:

BR-M575, BR-M486, BR-M485
same size, fits

just don’t use em with the 5x rotor series
 

toodles

ridiculously corgi proportioned
Aug 24, 2004
5,528
4,793
Australia
What's the life like on the semi ones?
Not quite as long as full sintered but comparable to any other decent pad. Given how much bite they had I expected them to be gone super quick but not the case.

When I bought the brakes I got two pairs of sintereds as well, not knowing the box included both semi and full sintered sets. Now I've got like two years supply of brake pads. I still want to try the Galfer option as well because science but between the two stock options I seem to have my bases covered for most conditions.
 

toodles

ridiculously corgi proportioned
Aug 24, 2004
5,528
4,793
Australia
I don't know. Shimano brakes are delicate flowers, I wouldn't want to upset them.
I googled those brakes and holy hell. I've never seen this before in a brake manual haha

"Designed for resin pad only (B01S)"

"Do not use a 203mm rotor. This will excessively increase the braking force, which could cause you to lose control of the bicycle, fall and be seriously injured"

I'm going to assume these brakes aren't intended for use outside of kids bikes or something?
 

canadmos

Cake Tease
May 29, 2011
20,561
19,591
Canaderp
I googled those brakes and holy hell. I've never seen this before in a brake manual haha

"Designed for resin pad only (B01S)"

"Do not use a 203mm rotor. This will excessively increase the braking force, which could cause you to lose control of the bicycle, fall and be seriously injured"

I'm going to assume these brakes aren't intended for use outside of kids bikes or something?
Hah never read that but yeah what the heck. They are on my fat bike, so they don't actually need to work that hard on the snow; there's only so much traction before you end up on your back.
 

Jozz

Joe Dalton
Apr 18, 2002
5,893
7,440
SADL
Not quite as long as full sintered but comparable to any other decent pad. Given how much bite they had I expected them to be gone super quick but not the case.

When I bought the brakes I got two pairs of sintereds as well, not knowing the box included both semi and full sintered sets. Now I've got like two years supply of brake pads. I still want to try the Galfer option as well because science but between the two stock options I seem to have my bases covered for most conditions.
Same, ordered extra sets of pads. Now got a box full of them. They seem to last a long time.