http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ CityCyclingEdinburgh Forum » Topic: V brake pads - Clarks/Kool Stop/Something else? en Wed, 13 May 2026 05:09:44 +0000 http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=12030#post-139663 Mon, 13 Jan 2014 21:19:42 +0000 Nelly 139663@http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ <p>I thought I had a bit of grit in my pads last week - turns out I was down to the metal in one (eeks) not good for the rim!</p> <p>Easy swap out for spare Clarks and picked up new ones at TBW last week. I know they are about 40% cheaper on t'internet but the overall cost is peanuts plus don't want LBS to go out of business. </p> http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=12030#post-139642 Mon, 13 Jan 2014 18:05:37 +0000 allebong 139642@http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ <p>Salmons it is, thanks for the responses.</p> <p>The pads that came with the brake (Acera) were okay but not great. Good in the dry, bad in the wet, and I do think they wore the rim pretty quickly. Clarks were a major improvement all round. The worst pads I've seen recently came on a cheap mini V brake. Think hard plastic, think a grating sandpaper noise during braking even in the dry, think completely and utterly useless in the wet. Wasted no time getting those swapped out. </p> http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=12030#post-139619 Mon, 13 Jan 2014 15:22:17 +0000 crowriver 139619@http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ <p>Squealing cantis in the dry are either poorly adjusted (try toeing in the pads) or contaminated with oil.</p> <p>Haven't needed to derivate from Clarks pads, they work just fine. </p> http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=12030#post-139609 Mon, 13 Jan 2014 14:38:17 +0000 Arellcat 139609@http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ <p>Shimano brake pads are grippy but they are scouring pads and will destroy your rims.</p> <p>I've used regular black Kool Stops for years and years; the wet performance is tolerable but is better than Clarke. I did try the salmon Kool Stops once and noticed no improvement at all over the black ones.</p> <p>Incidentally, if you have Avid V-brake cartridge pads (SD-7, Ultimate, etc.) don't buy the Kool Stops for Avid - they're fractionally oversized and don't fit properly. Buy the Shimano-compatible ones.</p> <p>If you are used to Clarke or Ashima cartridge pads, don't buy Kool Stop which are thinner, otherwise you'll need to realign the pads on the rim. </p> http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=12030#post-139594 Mon, 13 Jan 2014 13:02:14 +0000 kaputnik 139594@http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ <p>Aztec do a version of Salmon pads, for sale in TBW. Seem to work too. </p> http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=12030#post-139592 Mon, 13 Jan 2014 12:43:36 +0000 wingpig 139592@http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ <p>Sparebike has canti-type salmon flavour and normalbike has calipers. They work in the wet and they only make horrible rim-abrading sounds when there's a lot of gritty paste underwheel, whereas black pads seem to make that noise all the time. </p> http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=12030#post-139591 Mon, 13 Jan 2014 12:41:44 +0000 Bhachgen 139591@http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ <p>Kool Stop Salmon very good. Nice balance between stopping power (in both dry and wet), and lifespan.</p> <p>With some googling you can find them for various obsolete/obscure braking systems too. </p> http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=12030#post-139588 Mon, 13 Jan 2014 12:33:44 +0000 EddieD 139588@http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ <p>And another for Kool Stop Salmons here, I use them on the 'bent (for the HS33 brakes) and they were all I used on my old MTB. </p> http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=12030#post-139549 Mon, 13 Jan 2014 08:57:49 +0000 kaputnik 139549@http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ <p>+1 for Kool Stop salmons. Used them on the tourer with no problems, they were certainly a big improvement over the squeally, slippy Shimano nonsense </p> http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=12030#post-139535 Sun, 12 Jan 2014 23:12:43 +0000 allebong 139535@http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ <p>Front brake pads on the town beater are in need of replacement soon. They are a set of Clarks triple contours that have done very well for nearly a full year. Dry performance is great, wet performance not so much. I know I can't expect too much from rims but I've seen Kool Stop Salmon pads endlessly recommended for wet performance. Found them for a shade under <a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Kool-Stop-Mountain-Threaded-Linear-Salmon/dp/B001CJZ0Q2/ref=sr_1_2?s=sports&amp;ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1389564168&amp;sr=1-2&amp;keywords=kool+stop+salmon">£10</a> on Amazon (1 left at the time of writing as well!). Against £6 or so for another set of Clarks they seem like a good choice if the reviews are to be believed.</p> <p>So, has anyone used Kool Stops, or has any other recommendations for pads that will be seeing plenty of hard use in slop and filth? </p>