Submitted by
darkmother
a Cross Country Rider
from
Date Reviewed: May 31, 2010
Strengths: Good stopping power.
Low cost.
Maintain stopping power well in wet conditions and at low temperature.
Weaknesses: Wear extremely quickly.
Become embedded with grit and cause rapid rim wear.
Bottom Line:
These pads were a favourite of mine for some time-until I realized how frequently I had to replace them. They are half the cost of kool stop pads, but wear out much more than twice as fast. They also wear your rim brake surface more quickly than any pad I have ever used-the pad surface quickly becomes loaded with abrasive grit, effectively machining aluminum off your expensive rims every time you brake. Not a good cost/benefit relationship for me.
Submitted by
Hank Jien
a Cross Country Rider
from Surrey, BC, Canada
Date Reviewed: August 6, 2006
Strengths: -stops well -cheap -lasts quite a while
Weaknesses: -squeaks very often
Bottom Line:
They stop very well but squeaks even when the weather is good. I think that MEC changes their suppliers quite often, so the older ones don't squeak. These are definitely worth it for the price. Norco house brand pads are the exact same and they sell for almost 2 times more expensive! Do not buy it if you don't like to hear constant squeaking noises.
Submitted by
Grover
a Cross Country Rider
from Saskatoon, CANADA
Date Reviewed: June 15, 2004
Strengths: A soft compound easy on the rims, and stopping is pretty good. GREAT product fot the price, easy to modulate, and all from a great CANADIAN outdoor gear store (shameless MEC plug)
Weaknesses: HOWWWWWWLLLLLL when even a little damp...and this is after playing with them every time it rains out. My bro couldn't use them, because of clearence issues.
Bottom Line:
Buy these pads. I have the one-piece product, and I suspect the cartridge pads stop just as good and give a little more clearence. For sheer bang-for-the-buck, these pads rock!!! If you're on a budget (and who isn't) these are a great way to save a lot of money (cheap pad, less rim wear!) or need a good stopper without turning your brakes into on/off switches, these are for you! I do like my JAGwires better, but I paid a lot more for the tri-compund, and will review them at a later date
Similar Products Used: JAGwire, KOOLSTOP, factory crap
Bike Setup: Trek 4500, misc goodies
Overall Rating:
Value Rating:
Submitted by
Mo
a Weekend Warrior
from Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
Date Reviewed: May 12, 2004
Strengths: Fantastic Product, just like all the MEC gear! Great in wet, but I can't say much about wear, I've only had then in one month; they do seem to have a little more wear than I would expect (probably 30 hours of city street use on them so far)
Weaknesses: Can't think of a single one.
Bottom Line:
Can't think of anyone who should not buy this product! Worst case scenario, for a racer, they last you only a couple of races.... THEY COST $5.00 Canadian (approx. $3.00USD)!!! As long as you know how to adjust your brake system *cough* Jason from TO *cough* these are AMAZING!!! But to be fair to Jason, yes, they are a touch thick and "should" be more easily to install. HOWEVER, if that's the one cost of having such a cheap and amazing product, sign me up every time. Now, where did I put my metic allen keys...
Favorite Trail: McCarthy Park Ottawa - Not exactly technically challenging, but relaxing and fun!
Duration Product Used: Less than 1 month
Price Paid:
$3.00
Purchased At: MEC Ottawa
Similar Products Used: Shimano V-brake pads, Koolstop pads...
Bike Setup: 99 Specialized Rockhopper, new casette, spd petals
Overall Rating:
Value Rating:
Submitted by
Gord L.
a Weekend Warrior
from Mississauga, Ontario, Canada
Date Reviewed: November 13, 2002
Strengths: They are cheap and have crazy stoping power.
Weaknesses: The pads wear very quickly.
Bottom Line:
If you swap pads before a race they keep this as your wet brake set. They don't wear badly in wet muddy conditions, but if it's dry out... keep a few pads with you. These pads are also awesome in the snow!
Similar Products Used: Shimano XT, XTR, Kool Stops (various models), etc...
Bike Setup: Intense Tracer, Manitou, XTR Brakes and drive, RaceFace, Chris King, ...
Overall Rating:
Value Rating:
Submitted by
Tom
a Cross Country Rider
from Sapporo, Japan
Date Reviewed: January 4, 2002
Strengths: Stop the bike better than anything I've ever used in winter and They stop the bike like its nobodys business. And of course the oft mentioned CHEAP.
Weaknesses: Will comment on that when I find it.
Bottom Line:
I dont usually place a review with only a month of riding but these brake pads are stopping me like crazy in the cold&dry cold&wet where other brake pads didn't stop me. The pads are thick but they fit. More importantly they perform in the various snow conditions some of you may have to ride thru yourselves.
Similar Products Used: Shimano V pads, WTB(dual compound), Japanese Mama Chari Brake Pads
Bike Setup: C'dale H'tail
Overall Rating:
Value Rating:
Submitted by
hmm ha
a Cross Country Rider
from victoria bc CANADA
Date Reviewed: January 2, 2002
Strengths: cheap, cheap, and cheap. The cartridge/holder setups are $8, still only half the price of a pair of koolstops. using these avoids the too-thick problem of the regular MEC pads. change your pads all the time, they're so cheap, and your rims will love you.
Weaknesses: the thickness of the regular pads was a little toward the ridiculous end of things... tough to make 'em fit with parallel-push LX v-brakes.
Bottom Line:
I've never been that impressed with koolstops; really, rim brakes in general leave me wanting discs. but I have v's, so might as well spare the rim a bit with these softer pads, change 'em lots, save a few bucks to get some avid mechanical discs someday.
So they wear a little fast, they are CHEAP. MEC always offers a quality product. Haven't had any squealing, good in the wet, easy on the rims. Not too much rim residue, handle the mud well, Overall, 4 chilli's cause they wear a LITTLE fast.
Strengths: Cheapest pad on the planet Last better than Shimano Grip better than Shimano
Weaknesses: Thickness causes some mounting problems
Bottom Line:
These are the best deal anywhere - something like 1/4 the price of the equivalent Shimano pad. Last forever in the dry, last better than Shimano in the wet, although no rim brake pad will last long in the wet (that's why I race with Hayes now). They are thicker than average, but they fit fine if you reverse the washers on your brake arms - put the thick washer on the outside, thin on the inside. Are you listening, Jason from T.O.?
Favorite Trail: The one that leads home after a long day at work.
Duration Product Used: 6 months
Similar Products Used: Koolstop, Shimano, Avid, Mathauser, Ritchey, etc.
Bike Setup: I run these on my beater bike with cheap-o Dia-Compe V-Brakes (which require a think brake pad -- with Koolstops, I had to use washers as spacers).
I'm having a lot of difficulty inserting Shimano XTR brake pad shoes into the brake cartridge. Anyone have any tips for making this process easier?
I've been using simple gree Read More »
My wife's ride needs the pads replaced, and we're looking to get here more performance. Technically that shouldn't be hard since we'll be replacing the stock pads from her Trek 450 Read More »
So it rained today during commute. Looks like the V-Brake pad 'bled' all over the rear rim. Instead of typical road grime- there appeared to be lots of gray gunk on the rear rim- Read More »
My kids just got Specialized A1 FSR 24" bikes that have Tektro V-brakes. The hubs aren't disc compatible, so I'm wondering if it is possible to upgrade the brake shoes and keep th Read More »
Just bought some V-Brake inserts (Salmon). The ones I had were the black Kool Stops and performed well. I thought I'd try Salmon this go around. However, it feels like they're made Read More »
