Kool Stop Salmon pads best for all around?



On Thu, 16 Feb 2006 09:09:05 -0500, Peter Cole wrote:

> Mike Jacoubowsky wrote:
>
>>
>> Matt: There's an alternative explanation. Our shop sells both Salmon and
>> Black, but for vanity reasons, it seems a lot of our customers prefer the
>> black. But here's the kicker- as much as I read about the differences
>> between the black and salmon pads, well, I've gone through quite a few of
>> each on my road bike (I don't avoid riding in the rain) and... forgive me
>> for saying this... but... I don't find a difference. Actually, I *think*
>> it's possible that the black ones wear faster, but I'm not going to be
>> convinced of anything until I see some actual testing.


At least you make the effort to offer the well-reputed model.

> It's more of an issue of how much the pads wear the rims than how fast
> the pads wear. When I ride with a group in the rain I can often hear a
> distinct difference in brake noise (you know *that* noise) when we brake
> multiple times in quick succession. Other pads seem to be still making
> that "grit" noise long after mine stopped.
>
> I had some original Shimano black cantilever pads that were about the
> worst. I would take them off and find lots of aluminum shavings embedded
> in them, often with a little hard piece of grit in the middle.


They're awful. The sound they make is scary, like your rims are being
shaved at an alarming rate -- which they are. I went through a set of MTB
rims in 18 months with original Shimano pads, then five years from the
next set w/ KS salmon, under the same riding conditions.

> I think hard pads like KS salmons tend to squeal more, but I'll take
> that over rim eating.


Maybe, but any change in regular braking habit and wear pattern can cause
squeal -- just like with a car or motorcycle. The black KS pads on my MTB
can squeal like crazy after a couple of months of nothing but short trips.
A dry spell after a lot of wet winter conditions will do it too. I
haven't noticed the salmon ones to be any worse (or better). Play on the
brake studs seems to make a difference too though.

Matt O.
 
In article <[email protected]>, [email protected]
says...
>
>
>I have a set of the black Kool stop pads on my road bike, generic (probably
>Techro) brakes but they work fine and the Kool stop pads make a difference.
>Kool Stop markets the Salmon colored as for use in wet weather, but Sheldon's
>site/Harris Cyclery like the Salmon pads for all use.
>
>All comments welcome on those that have used both the black and salmon pads on
>a road bike.


I use the salmon pads and they work noticeably better than the black pads.
-------------
Alex
 
In article <[email protected]>,
[email protected] says...

>Since almost no bike shops ever carry the Salmon ones, and claim to have
>"never hearda that," I've usually had the black ones. Why bike
>shops aren't more proactive in offering the best products is beyond me.
>Could this be why they're losing business to mail order?


I'm happy to say that a few of the bike shops here in NYC do carry the salmon
pads. They have both the inserts and the pad/insert.
--------------
Alex
 
On Thu, 16 Feb 2006 19:48:59 -0500, John Forrest Tomlinson wrote:

> Are some Ritchey pads made by Kool Stop?


I believe so, but they're obviously not the same as KS. The red Ritchey
pads I tried were really lousy. I don't know about the black ones.

Matt O.
 
We had a MTB with ceramic rims whose front brake started squealing. Neither
Kool Stop green or orange pads made this go away, nor did overhauling the V
brake pivots. A $10 IRD brake bridge solved the problem (but the $50 Salsa
carbon didn't).

I'm not sure why the problem started in the first place. We installed a SID
fork in place of the original Judy, but I can't remember if the squeal was
immediate or not. I think it wasn't.

-Dion

"Matt O'Toole" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:p[email protected]...
> On Thu, 16 Feb 2006 09:09:05 -0500, Peter Cole wrote:


> Maybe, but any change in regular braking habit and wear pattern can cause
> squeal -- just like with a car or motorcycle. The black KS pads on my MTB
> can squeal like crazy after a couple of months of nothing but short trips.
> A dry spell after a lot of wet winter conditions will do it too. I
> haven't noticed the salmon ones to be any worse (or better). Play on the
> brake studs seems to make a difference too though.
>
> Matt O.
>
 
David L. Johnson wrote:
> On Wed, 15 Feb 2006 01:37:13 -0600, rs wrote:
>
> The main benefit of the salmon pads, as others have said, is that they do
> not trap crud in them which then eats your rims.


that's not my experience:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/38636024@N00/101935519/

those pads have been scrubbed and de-gritted, but you can see the points
where embedding took place.

> They don't stop
> particularly well in the rain,


that's my experience as well - alarmingly so in fact. i switched back
to original black campy brake pads because of it. k.s. don't impress
me. in fact, i think they're down right dangerous in the wet because
they just don't grip. great in the dry, but that's not their advertised
application.

> but for me the ones that do stop well in
> the rain do so since they are full of said crud and stop you by shaving
> off parts of the rim. Salmon pads also last a long time, much longer than
> stock Shimano or Campy.
>
 
jim beam wrote:

> http://www.flickr.com/photos/38636024@N00/101935519/
>
> those pads have been scrubbed and de-gritted, but you can see the points
> where embedding took place.
>


Can't argue with that photo, that's what pads look like when you dig
out grit.

I've used black and grey for years and years, and had maybe one bit of
grit that I remember stick in the pad.

Perhaps you got a "stale" set that gripped the grit better as they were
harder or something?

Worst pad I've ridden is the Shimano compatible Bontrager cartridge
road shoes. I couldn't ride more than a quarter mile in the city
without getting embedded grit. Just amazingly horrible. Expensive too.
An email to Bongtrader indicated that my complaint had been forwarded
to the "engineers". As if.

Curious, have you had more than this set get embedded? Lots of us swear
by the KS pads because they seem virtually immune from
embedding--sounds like a freak occurance.
 
Art Harris wrote:
> > Kool Stop markets the Salmon colored as for use in wet weather, but Sheldon's

> site/Harris Cyclery like the Salmon pads for all use.
>
> Has anyone tried the silver/grey Continentals? I see them cheap on
> eBay.
>
> http://tinyurl.com/bs6hh
>


I've had a set mounted up on some vintage 600 sidepulls for 18 months
now. They brake perfectly, silently, and w/o picking up grit. I got
them from the guy on Ebay--really fast shipping and honest service.

Then ended up being $12 for front and rears, with shipping.

Highly recommend them, I think they're just the same as the black, tbh.

Next step is getting the ones shaped like the classic Vans sneakers. :-D
 
landotter wrote:
> jim beam wrote:
>
>
>>http://www.flickr.com/photos/38636024@N00/101935519/
>>
>>those pads have been scrubbed and de-gritted, but you can see the points
>>where embedding took place.
>>

>
>
> Can't argue with that photo, that's what pads look like when you dig
> out grit.
>
> I've used black and grey for years and years, and had maybe one bit of
> grit that I remember stick in the pad.
>
> Perhaps you got a "stale" set that gripped the grit better as they were
> harder or something?


maybe, but that doesn't change the fact that these pads are
scary-ineffective in the wet.

>
> Worst pad I've ridden is the Shimano compatible Bontrager cartridge
> road shoes. I couldn't ride more than a quarter mile in the city
> without getting embedded grit. Just amazingly horrible. Expensive too.
> An email to Bongtrader indicated that my complaint had been forwarded
> to the "engineers". As if.
>
> Curious, have you had more than this set get embedded? Lots of us swear
> by the KS pads because they seem virtually immune from
> embedding--sounds like a freak occurance.
>

i've had a set on my della santa. that's got cd rims, and they squealed
like pigs, to i took them off. then i tried them on my commuter/rain
bike - with the results you see. the only other machine i've used them
on is my fixie, but i don't ride that in the wet.

none of my bikes embed grit in the dry, but then i don't use fixed-toe
shimano calipers without retrofitting with adjustable toe pads. [fixed
toe are /designed/ to trap grit - and i release a couple of times to let
grit "float" out if i here scraping.] i set the adjustable shoes to
zero toe.
 

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