Thumbs up for salmon Kool Stop brake pads

[Gooserider]

I had a rainy commute home a couple of weeks ago, and my stock Ultegra brake
pads were very disappointing. Poor stopping power in the rain, and they
disintegrated to the point that my rims were covered in black gritty ****!
On the recommendation of the BoBlist, I bought some salmon Kool Stops, the
ones for wet weather. I commuted in good weather all week, and the dry
stopping power was much better. It was like switching from a car with drums
to a car with discs. I got caught in the rain today, and had to ride the
last 10 miles in a driving Florida rainstorm. Braking power was very good,
much improved over the Shimanos. Plus, when I got home my rims were CLEAN.
No mess. Clean as a whistle! If you haven't switched to Kool Stops, you
should. Why Shimano specs such horrible pads is beyond me.

 

[richard]

On Thu, 1 Feb 2007 18:43:57 -0500, "Gooserider"
<[email protected]> wrote:

>I had a rainy commute home a couple of weeks ago, and my stock Ultegra brake
>pads were very disappointing. Poor stopping power in the rain, and they
>disintegrated to the point that my rims were covered in black gritty ****!
>On the recommendation of the BoBlist, I bought some salmon Kool Stops, the
>ones for wet weather. I commuted in good weather all week, and the dry
>stopping power was much better. It was like switching from a car with drums
>to a car with discs. I got caught in the rain today, and had to ride the
>last 10 miles in a driving Florida rainstorm. Braking power was very good,
>much improved over the Shimanos. Plus, when I got home my rims were CLEAN.
>No mess. Clean as a whistle! If you haven't switched to Kool Stops, you
>should. Why Shimano specs such horrible pads is beyond me.

I've installed the Kool Stops on all my bikes and couldn't be happier.
Although they're "supposed to be" for wet riding, I've found their
stopping power, in any weather, far superior to any other pads. As
you've said, no fuss, no muss.
>

 

[Matt O'Toole]

On Thu, 01 Feb 2007 20:48:30 -0500, richard wrote:

> On Thu, 1 Feb 2007 18:43:57 -0500, "Gooserider"
> <[email protected]> wrote:
>
>>I had a rainy commute home a couple of weeks ago, and my stock Ultegra brake
>>pads were very disappointing. Poor stopping power in the rain, and they
>>disintegrated to the point that my rims were covered in black gritty ****!
>>On the recommendation of the BoBlist, I bought some salmon Kool Stops, the
>>ones for wet weather. I commuted in good weather all week, and the dry
>>stopping power was much better. It was like switching from a car with drums
>>to a car with discs. I got caught in the rain today, and had to ride the
>>last 10 miles in a driving Florida rainstorm. Braking power was very good,
>>much improved over the Shimanos. Plus, when I got home my rims were CLEAN.
>>No mess. Clean as a whistle! If you haven't switched to Kool Stops, you
>>should. Why Shimano specs such horrible pads is beyond me.
>
> I've installed the Kool Stops on all my bikes and couldn't be happier.
> Although they're "supposed to be" for wet riding, I've found their
> stopping power, in any weather, far superior to any other pads. As
> you've said, no fuss, no muss.

I really noticed the difference on a long mountain descent recently,
braking from 40mph into the hairpins. The fingertip control and
modulation was was so much better it made the stock pads feel like junk.
The difference in cleanliness is amazing too.

I don't understand why Shimano has such junky pads. But even more, I
don't understand why almost no bike shops carry the Koolstop ones, and if
they carry the brand they don't carry the salmon.

Matt O.