Your Favorite V-Brake Pads?!

[Scott]

Hey, Bunch:

What v-brake pads are you running, and what are your thoughts about their function?

I've been running Shimano XTR pads and find they have a "hard" feel to them.

Happy holidays,

Scott in Montana

[Kim Hetzel]

Hi Scott,

I am running rim brake pads from PAUL Component Engineering on my Clem Smith Jr. "L". I removed the stock "V" brakes and installed Dia-Compe 980 cantilever brakes and levers. The pads stop solid and very well. Happy.

https://www.paulcomp.com/shop/service-parts/brake-pads/rim-brake-pads/

Kim Hetzel

Yelm, WA.

[Paul Clifton]

I like to dual compound pads from Kool Stop. The salmon pads squeal too much. The dual compound stop fantastically and set up easily and I like having the pads that slide into the holder.

www.koolstop.com/english/v_type2.html

http://www.koolstop.com/english/v_type2holder.html

I've tried a couple types of Jagwire and a couple types of Shimano and the plain Salmon kool stops and the dual compound v type 2 are leaps and bounds better than any other ones.

Paul in AR

[Pam Bikes]

Plus 1 for the dual kool stops.

[Joe Bernard]

I like these Kool Stop "ebike pads" on my Paul Motolites..they have that soft, easy to moderate feel you're looking for. But be warned they're pretty thick, my bike has a road-ish fork (not super wide) and I have to deflate my 47mm tire completely to pull it past the pads even with the cable released from the arm.  

https://www.rivbike.com/products/brake-pads-kool-stop-e-bike

Joe Bernard 

On Tuesday, November 29, 2022 at 5:56:57 PM UTC-8 Scott wrote:

[esoterica etc]



I've been really happy with the Kool Stop e-bike pads that Riv sells:  https://www.rivbike.com/products/brake-pads-kool-stop-e-bike

They're nicely grippy and have been completely silent for me so far (approximately 6-700 miles). They also seem to be thicker than regular Kool Stops so they should last longer. I originally had them on my Atlantis (since sold), but kept the v-brakes and put them on my BMC Monstercross when I first built it up to see how they'd feel on it. I thought I'd eventually want to switch over to cantis on the Monstercross but so far they've worked out great for me and they're still going strong with no complaints. 

~Mark

Raleigh, NC

On Nov 29, 2022, at 20:56, 'Scott' via RBW Owners Bunch <rbw-owne...@googlegroups.com> wrote:



Hey, Bunch:

What v-brake pads are you running, and what are your thoughts about their function?

I've been running Shimano XTR pads and find they have a "hard" feel to them.

Happy holidays,

Scott in Montana

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[Ryan Frahm]

Another vote for the Kool Stop dual compound v2 pads. They have been amazing in all conditions, even snow and freezing rain. 

[Eliot Balogh]

Isn’t the answer always kool stop?

[Glen]

Has anyone heard an update on Grant's short brake pad project with Kool Stop? He wrote about it in a blog post years ago. I'm old school and use a fork mount roof rack or I  remove my front wheel when loading into the back of my wagon. Being able to easily clear the pads with an inflated tire would be so nice and this shorted pad would make life easier.

https://www.rivbike.com/blogs/grant-petersens-blog/gbw-sign-up 

BRAKE PAD BUMMEROONIE might be ending soon

Beginning in about 1990, cantilever brake makers started flipping the shoepad from outside the arm to inside the arm, as a way to I don't know, maybe reduce leverage and flex that was never a problem, anyway? But in doing so, the pads moved so close to the seat stays and fork blades that when you release the pads to remove a wheel, sometimes you can't, because the pads don't open up enough. The frame may have plenty of room for, say, a 2.4mm tire, but the brake pads, blocked by the frame and fork, don't let the wheel come out.

Older cantilevers are better in that way. The only new one that works is the Shimano CX50. The CX70 is discontinued. The Dia-Compe canti works in the front, but is 2mm short in back.

We have faint hope but not zero hope that Shimano will redesign its V-brakes. And--let me say this and please go along with it---Shimano V-brakes are amazing and fantastic all in one, and this micro-bugger doesn't wreck them. I don't think they'll do anything, though. They're too market-driven, and the market wants discs.

BUT HERE'S SOME POSSIBLE GOOD NEWS: Kool-Stop (a brake shoepad maker in Washington state), is aware of the issue and has agreed to study it a bit and see how reasonable it would be to make a pad that clears with existing brakes. We carved up some pads to figure out the dimensions and sent along photos. They can do that themselves, but still--we are nearly begging them to do this, and that's where it sits. I'm torn between suggesting you contact Tim and Randy there to express your support, and NOT, out of concern for how irritating that might be, and how they might not want to do us any favors then, even tho it would be a favor to at least 50,000 other riders in the bargain.

FLASH: They got right on it, and we'll see some shoes in a few DAYS. Go, Tim and Randy!

[Steven Sweedler]

Glen, Kool Stop makes these City pads that will clear the fork blades. I have them on two bikes  and don’t notice a difference with the longer eagle claws that are on my other bikes. They are available in salmon.   Steve

To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/rbw-owners-bunch/234ad870-a191-44ba-ad3c-862177349df5n%40googlegroups.com.

--

Steven Sweedler
Plymouth, New Hampshire

[Nick Payne]

Ditto on the Kool Stop City pads in salmon. That's what I'm using with the V-brakes on my Appaloosa. As Steven says, they're short enough that they don't hit the fork blades when opening the brake for wheel removal, making it easy to drop out a fat-tyred wheel without deflating the tyre.

http://www.koolstop.com/english/city%20threaded.html

Nick

[Glen]

Thank you!

[brizbarn]

I have Kool Stop BMX (which are also a dual compound black/salmon) on my BMX bike. They are great, and based in Oregon (not sure if they are made in USA tho).   When the stock shimano pads on Vbrakes on my Riv wear out, I'll get some Kool Stops for that too.  I've had their MTB ones as well and they work great too.