Using carbon brake pads on alu wheels

[rudycyclist]

I raced on some of the teams carbon wheels this weekend and we really don't use carbon brake pads. They screach really bad with the normal pads on and have no stopping power at all. If I changed my pads to the "carbon" specific brake pads, could I still use those on my everyday training wheels? What are the disadvantages to riding around on my training wheels with carbon brake pads? I'm not concerned that they wear very quickly.

 

[stansman]

Use Zipp pads. They should be fine on the reynolds wheels and are fine for aluminum too. They have quite a bit more stopping power on aluminum rims than my stock sram pads and they don't melt under long hard braking on my Zipps like the stockers did (the smell of burning rubber going down Brasstown Bald is awesome). Just don't use anything but cork if you're running Bontrager rims that aren't made by HED. Apparently Bontrager used crappy resin that melts under lots of heat. Hence the use of HED rims on all of their new wheels.

 

[alienator]

Do NOT use the same set of pads on both aluminum wheels and CF wheels. Change pads between the two. Aluminum wheels tend to live bits of aluminum in the pads, and these bits of aluminum will accelerate wear on CF rim brake tracks.

I use Swissstop yellow pads on my Stratus DV's and green Swissstops on my aluminum rims. In the dry, the CF rims actually provide better braking. In the wet, the aluminum rims are slightly better, but the yellow Swissstops and CF rims in the wet are in no way bad. Quite good, actually.

 

[sogood]

Is brake track wear the prime determinant of CF wheelset's usage life?

 

[alienator]

Is brake track wear the prime determinant of CF wheelset's usage life?

Depends on the wheel, but brake track wear is in important consideration on any set of wheels.

 

[stansman]

That is a good point. I've never had issues with getting metal in my pads but I know a few people who have. I think it depends on the wheels that you're riding. That being the case, I just check the condition of my pads whenever I put my Zipps on.

Do NOT use the same set of pads on both aluminum wheels and CF wheels. Change pads between the two. Aluminum wheels tend to live bits of aluminum in the pads, and these bits of aluminum will accelerate wear on CF rim brake tracks.

 

[ewitz]

Do NOT use the same set of pads on both aluminum wheels and CF wheels. Change pads between the two. Aluminum wheels tend to live bits of aluminum in the pads, and these bits of aluminum will accelerate wear on CF rim brake tracks.

I use Swissstop yellow pads on my Stratus DV's and green Swissstops on my aluminum rims. In the dry, the CF rims actually provide better braking. In the wet, the aluminum rims are slightly better, but the yellow Swissstops and CF rims in the wet are in no way bad. Quite good, actually.

I use the same Swiss Stop yellows on Ksyrium SL's, Stratus DV Carbon Clinchers and Lightweight Standards. I wouldn't worry about it, I have had no problems with accelerated wear. Just can't be bothered to start switching pads every time I want to switch wheels.

 

[alienator]

I use the same Swiss Stop yellows on Ksyrium SL's, Stratus DV Carbon Clinchers and Lightweight Standards. I wouldn't worry about it, I have had no problems with accelerated wear. Just can't be bothered to start switching pads every time I want to switch wheels.

Yeah, I know what you mean. That extra 5 minutes that it takes to change pads or pad holders just blows the whole day, especially given how often ya have to do it.

You might be lucky. Or you might not. Or you may not have used the pads long enough to see the wear. In any case, I'll bow to the suggestions of the people who make the CF things, since they likely know more about CF than you or I, especially when those people are MacLean Composites, the owners of Reynolds. Stephan, at Carbon Sports, also is in favor of switching pads when switching between alloy rims and Lightweight rims. Zipp suggests the same, as does Campy. In fact, I'm not sure that there's a manufacturer of CF rims that says that it's okay to run the same pads on alloy and CF rims.

Given the expense of CF rims, obvious common sense dictates that a person ought to change pads in order to maximize the useful life of his or her CF investment.

 

[hd reynolds]

I agree with Alienator, using the pads w/ your carbon wheels after using them with your AL wheels can ruin your carbon wheels braking surface.

These pads are cheaper and less headache than ruining a more expensive set of carbon wheels.