Disc Brake Pads - What's Best for Stopping Power

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jeffy
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by jeffy

http://www.bikeradar.com/gear/article/h ... ion-38110/

lockup is usually not a good thing and anyone who argues that their current brakes "can lock up a wheel just fine" is tacitly admitting that they don't work as well as they could.

Brake modulation is the ability to precisely and accurately control the amount of clamp force on a rotor (or rim, which in some ways is just a big rotor, anyway) with a given amount of lever input.

In other words, it means you can scrub off as much or as little speed as you want without breaking traction


Peak braking power comes just prior to lockup and it's the ability to flirt with that limit that makes modulation so important. Whereas a lesser brake might unpredictably vacillate between moderate braking force and lockup — thus, skipping that all-critical peak in deceleration — a brake with excellent modulation will allow you to consistently peg that mark over and over again.


from a performance standpoint, better brake modulation means you can actually go faster, confident in your ability to reduce your speed at precisely the last moment so as to waste as little time as possible.

MichaelB
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by MichaelB

robo wrote:SwissStop pads work for me, I've found them consistently powerful and better performance-wise than Shimano pads. HTH.


Which material though ? There are many different types

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bm0p700f
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by bm0p700f

What rotors size do you use mr gib.

When i jam on my disc brakes i slow very quickly. I dont dare lock my front wheel ever nothing good comes from that.

I have 160mm rotors on my road commutor and use ebc sintered pads and all is well. My mtb with xtr brakes and 180/160mm rotors stops me so quickly i feel the decelleration.

If you measure the stopping distance you will find with disc brakes you stop just as qucikly. Once you lock your wheels your stopping distance increases so it not a desirable thing anyway.

Without measurements you are guessong basedon feel and you can be fooled.

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ms6073
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by ms6073

Mr.Gib wrote:The caliper is TRP HyRd which have been great.

Is that with the stock TRP rotors? Our cross bikes have with DA 9000 shifters paired with JuinTech mechanical to hydraulic (slightly lighter cousin of the TRP Hyrd) and Shimano IceTech 6-bolt rotors. I would describe braking with this setup as okay since the pad adjustment is limited, modulation is not great due to the thickness of the rotors and it takes very little lever throw to engage and this makes it difficult to judge full lock. My road bike by comparison has Di2 R785 hydraulic with BR-RS805 calipers and IceTech Centerlock rotors and I would describe the braking as amazing with significantly more modulation, but never a question about whether the bike will stop regardless of whether I use front, rear, or both!
- Michael
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tomee
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by tomee

Mr.Gib wrote:Its an interesting situation. There are points with the discs where it feels like I couldn't lock the front wheel if I wanted to..


As an assumption, id say your TRP brakes are the cause here.
I've had the hy/rd brakes on my old bike and set them up with yokozuna compressionless cables and overfilled the reservoir as advised by the tektro guys to get a shorter lever throw and no matter how hard i pressed the levers the calipers just never grabbed hard enough.

i got rid of them and went to Shimano r785 and havent looked back

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CBJ
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by CBJ

Yes, full hydro is the way to go.

Nefarious86
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by Nefarious86

Are the Swisstop Exotherm pads worth a go in R785s? Are the Catalyst discs available yet?
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bm0p700f
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by bm0p700f

I would say the spyres grab just as well as the hy/rd's but half the price. I would agree shimano hydraulic systems are superb.

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