Kool-Stop V-Type Salmon Brake Pads are threaded post design. For use on mountain and BMX V-Brake type brakes. All Weather High Performance brake pads. Height adjustment and automatic alignment to any rim angle. MADE IN THE USA.
Submitted by
HaveBlue
a Cross Country Rider
from Centennial, CO
Date Reviewed: September 10, 2009
Strengths: Excellent stopping power; Excellent wear; No groaning or squeeking; No grinding; Very quiet pad
Weaknesses: Made brakes feel a little softer. I prefer a firm brake lever. But this isn't detrimental to the use of the pads.
Bottom Line:
I bought the "salmon" pads from Amazon.com for $15 for all four pads. I used to be a Shimano-only pads kind of guy. But after reading numerous positive reviews about these pads, I decided to give them a try. I am VERY pleased with them and will not be converting back to Shimano anytime soon.
For comparison, I was contemplating dumping my whole XT v-brake setup and converting to Avid Single Digit 7s. My Specialized has the Avid setup and I really like them. They're quiet and powerful. I almost started to hate to ride my Trek only because of the grinding brakes. A set of $15 Kool Stops saved me a couple hundred in a new brake setup.
Similar Products Used: XT V-brakes; Avid Single Digit 7
Bike Setup: Trek 8500 hardtail setup for commuting
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Submitted by
Mark
a Weekend Warrior
from Hampshire, UK
Date Reviewed: July 14, 2007
Strengths: excellent braking characteristics superior power and modulation. Superior wet weather performance. Low rim wear rates.
Weaknesses: all good
Bottom Line:
these pads offer excellent braking wet or dry.
in the dry they offer better stopping power than any other pad that I've tried. Modulation is good too. In the dry they provide performance not too dissimilar to discs.
There is a performance degradation in the wet - but the fact that they manage to provide half decent braking when covered in thick slop is still something I marvel at - the plough tip certainly does it's job - my pads have nearly worn away the plough tip and wet weather braking has started to degrade.
Rim wear is excellent too - 6 months of muddy riding, my pads are fried, and I can't detect any rim wear - the front which I have now had to replace was polished extremely smooth by the koolstops.
the best rim brake pads period- worth every penny even if they were twice the price.
Weaknesses: Hard to find locally Can squeel sometimes but that's because there is some play in the brake pivots.
Bottom Line:
Have always used Shimano pads because cheaper ones wreck my rims. The XTR's are great but still have slight rim transfer. Threw some Kool Stop puppies in and noticed the change immediately. Using dual-compound and they brake really well rain or shine. No embedded alloy fragments from rim surface.
Submitted by
Marc
a Cross Country Rider
from Netherlands
Date Reviewed: December 26, 2006
Strengths: Had the triple compound blocks, labeled as bike-totaal brand. Durability, bite, noise free, price
Weaknesses: The brand under which they are sold is so low budget that you are almost afraid to show them ;-) (but the price is nice)
Bottom Line:
The past year, during the sorpetal marathon (hail, snow, rain etc) I got very disappointed by the XTR pads. There was metal sticking out onto the rim, destroying the rim. Furthermore they became very brittle and parts simple broke loose.
I was soo pissed off with these expensive pads that I went for the Koolstop triple compounds. Best choice ever. I was afraid they wouldn't last the SBM this summer, but no problem. They became really hot, but didn't fade or wear out. Also in the mud these winterdays they seem to live up well.
Best buy for the Vbrakes. For the value rating I would like to add a sixth chili, because they are way better than the XTRs and cost less than half.
Similar Products Used: XT, XTR (with the extra mm pad)
Bike Setup: Cannondale F500, Old shimano XT Vbrakes
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Submitted by
Darren Ling
a Cross Country Rider
from Fairfield, Ohio
Date Reviewed: August 2, 2006
Strengths: soft compound, excellent grip
Weaknesses: none
Bottom Line:
Salmon pad review: Just like all the other reviews say, these are so rim friendly. My rims were getting destroyed by shimano pads, with metal embedding into the pad, and then making this lovely sound on the rim. A friend recommended the salmon kool-stops and now my bike brakes quiet, and with almost the same power as my disc bikes. If you are a rim brake rider, get these. I only use them in dry conditions, but they work flawlessly, and are so easy to install on my xtr rim brakes. Love em.
Submitted by
Freddie
a Cross Country Rider
from Harbor City, CA USA
Date Reviewed: June 10, 2006
Strengths: Review is for the salmon colored pads. As others have mentioned, outstanding modulation, great stopping power, quiet operation, and yes, they totally protect your rims. After approximately 3 months of use, I have never seen or picked out one shard of metal from any of the pads. NO OTHER PADS I have tried can lay claim to this awesome trait. These pads are cheaper than others as well.
Similar Products Used: Ritchey reds and blacks (both rim gougers), shimano XT, Avid Rim Wranglers
Bike Setup: Santa Cruz Superlight with wheels built by Gravy Wheels (Mavic 517, Hugi 240S, DT Supercomp spokes). Pads (front and rear) are on Avid SD 7 brakes.
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Submitted by
David
a Cross Country Rider
from Denver, CO U.S.A.
Date Reviewed: October 29, 2005
Strengths: Very rim friendly (does not wear out the rim prematurely), quiet (much less squeeking and no grinding noise), smooth, and stops very well
Weaknesses: None that I can think of, especially compared to all the other brake pads on the market
Bottom Line:
Most all other pads I've tried have the nasty habit of, as you're braking, picking up small silver splinters from the rim's brake surface, embedding those small metal splinters into the pad, and then turning your nice smooth brake pads into coarse sand paper against your expensive alloy rims...thus wearing out your rims prematurely. This has happened with many different rims I've tried...including Mavic. Kool-Stop pads are the absolute best at protecting your rims against this occurance. Their compound does the best at not picking up any metal slivers. Kool-Stop pads are a must for all those serious riders who invest a lot of money into good wheels and want their rims to last as long as they can.
Similar Products Used: Shimano XT, LX and some lower ends; Avid; Delta
Bike Setup: Schwinn Homegrown Pro (2000), 2004 XT cranks, Avid brakes and levers, American Classic hubs, XTR shifters, Shimano M540 pedals, Thomson seat post, Specialized Telluride saddle
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Submitted by
Bill
a Weekend Warrior
from San Jose, CA USA
Date Reviewed: December 18, 2004
Strengths: Quiet, powerful, do not make a sound, do not heat up and growl at you, no fade, absolutely fantastic!!!! I'd rate them 10 if I could!!! I got the SALMON / ORANGE / MANGO color!! Think the different colors have different compounds!!!
Weaknesses: Get 'um wet and they take a bit more squeezing, but that's normal for brake pads
Bottom Line:
Don't leave home without them!! You will love the quiet power and absolutely NO fade!! I gave them the hardest treatment I could on Hicks road, about 1.3 mile downhill at 14 - 18% grade and was merciless! They were fantastic!!!
Similar Products Used: What came on my Gary Fisher Utopia, and another common brand name, can't remember it, but they both made noise and galled up and growled at you when hot!!!
Bike Setup: Stock Gary Fisher Utopia
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Submitted by
Witold Wilk
a Cross Country Rider
from Tychy, Poland
Date Reviewed: March 17, 2004
Strengths: excellent modulation, great "softness" feeling while braking, durable, yet soft. they don't wear off the rim. all conditions - excellent handling.
Weaknesses: they just cost 4 times more than shimano's in poland, though "what You pay is what You get". nothing more.
Bottom Line:
excellent product. all in all - the best pads I've had. half a year, most in winter, 3000km, braking with front everytime - and what can I say? they have made a real breakthrough in braking for me. will definitely buy more. excellent quality, though for a steep price... but worth every penny...
Similar Products Used: noname (tektro, sacoon, logan), shimano.
Bike Setup: XC machine, pads used with the excellent sram 9.0 levers, koolstops have been shipped with 9.0's.
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Submitted by
GG
a Cross Country Rider
from Annapolis
Date Reviewed: February 15, 2004
Strengths: Koolstop Salmon has superb braking, no squeal, recovers quick in wet, no residue on rims.
Weaknesses: Not as good as disk brakes in wet or mud
Bottom Line:
Koolstop Salmon pads in XTR brakes are super in the dry but disks are better in wet conditions. They recover fast when wet or muddy. Much easier to set up squeal-free than Shimano pads.
Similar Products Used: Shimano & Avid V-brake pads, old canti's, Avid disks
Bike Setup: Cannondale, XTR V-brakes
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Submitted by
Nikolas
a Weekend Warrior
from Greece
Date Reviewed: January 5, 2004
Strengths: Everything
Weaknesses: none
Bottom Line:
Very nice.I tried out theese and the dualcompount model.both will stop at a dime no mater what conditions wet,dry anything.Excelent durability even after long rides down the mountain they will never loose their performance or over-heat(like discs)I have lx v-brekas,avid sd5 levers,boosters and jagwire cables.They work great but i changed to swissstop just to see the difference.There was none.Both pads are top of the line.Feels very good to see disc brakes walk-out and overheat while you keep going down.5 flamin chilies-they diserve 6
Submitted by
Alan
a Weekend Warrior
from Blacksburg, VA
Date Reviewed: October 13, 2003
Strengths: Excellent stopping power. Almost as good as disc-brakes
Weaknesses: None.
Bottom Line:
Just slapped these on today and noted dramatic improvements. These pads will literatly send you over your bike if you press too hard. They do feel a bit softer than my previous pads, but the stopping power is just incredible. Got them at prices that even your el-cheapos can't compete with, you can't go wrong.
Similar Products Used: Cannondale Expert Cartridge Pads
Bike Setup: Cannondale F400 w/ Ritchey V3 pedals
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Submitted by
stripes
a Cross Country Rider
from Pasadena, CA
Date Reviewed: August 27, 2003
Strengths: No matter what condition you ride in (dry, wet, rock, etc), these things will stop you. That's what brake pads are supposed to do. Also, they do not wear out very quickly and tend to last.
Weaknesses: None.
Bottom Line:
I love these brake pads. I've used the Koolstops for years, and it's because they do what they are supposed to do--they stop you. They perform better than the XTR crap or any other Shimano pad for that matter.
I started using Koolstops back East because of the wet trails, but with all the creek crossings in SoCal, they make sense to use out here too.
Also, they are priced fairly well (half as much as the XTR) and the work 10 times better. I won't use any other brake pad.
Similar Products Used: XTR V-brake pads (total crap), and Koolstop Eagle IIs with my old canties.
Bike Setup: Big Sur Genesisters, XT/XTR mix, Fox Float RLC, etc.
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Submitted by
George F
a Cross Country Rider
from Orleans, Ont. Canada
Date Reviewed: July 21, 2003
Strengths: Very powerful stops. Cool colors.
Weaknesses: None
Bottom Line:
Great pads, colors to choose from from a well known company, cheap and works great. Highly recomend these pads if you want awesome brakes at a good price.
Similar Products Used: Eagle claws, Pro Max, Shimano XT pads.
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Submitted by
Trevor Adams
a Downhiller
from Canada
Date Reviewed: April 5, 2003
Strengths: Good modulation, and they won't eat your rims! Kool colors And they have good stopping power.
Weaknesses: I found my brake lever felt softer because, well the pads are softer. I managed to get use to it though.
Bottom Line:
I ride trials, and when I'm in a jam, and can't afford Plasmatic pads. I found that these pads are a good back up. I guess you could say that they are the poor mans plasmatics.
