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Submitted by
steve holcomb
a Weekend Warrior
from tampa florida
Date Reviewed: March 30, 2007 | | Favorite Trail: | n/a | | Duration Product Used: | More than 3 years | | Strengths: | good stopping power/little effort. Mine have only made noise on several occasions, then I would clean the rim surface with alcohol and paper towel.....seems to work.
Keep your rims surfaces clean, if needed do it daily/hourly. | | Weaknesses: | I agree with others hear, they are "rim killers". When the
metal gets into the brake pad, man, it sends chills up my spine (my poor mavic517 rims !). Sometimes I get off the bike and manually clean the rims. Most of the time, and I have found that this works, lightly apply pressure to the brakes, lightly, hold this position for a while, release, and do it again, and one more time if necessary. This works for me and gets the shavings off the rims and pads...try it. | | Similar Products Used: | campy pads ?? not sure if these are simular | | Bike Setup: | doesn't matter | | Bottom Line: | When these pads "wear out" (or maybe sooner), I will not purchase these pads again.........I'm concerned about what they are/could be doing to my rims. | Value Rating: Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Matt Fehman
a Cross Country Rider
from Fort Wayne, In.
Date Reviewed: January 9, 2007 | | Favorite Trail: | The Red Trail | | Duration Product Used: | 2 Years | | Price Paid: |
$10.00 | | Purchased At: | LBS | | Strengths: | None. Zero. Nothing. | | Weaknesses: | The turn hard and bridle. They pick up metal slivers from the rim and then sound horid. | | Similar Products Used: | Kool Stop | | Bike Setup: | Specialized M4 Hardtail | | Bottom Line: | The reviews are 100% spot on. These pads are junk. I switched to Kool Stop and I have a whole new view of V-brakes | Value Rating: Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Glenn
a Cross Country Rider
from Norway
Date Reviewed: April 26, 2005 | | Duration Product Used: | Tested or demo'ed only | | Strengths: | Nothing! | | Weaknesses: | RIM SERIAL-KILLER! | | Bike Setup: | Cannondale F800 - Shimano XT and RaceFace components. | | Bottom Line: | Brand new MAVIC-rims more or less destroyed after _one trip_ with brand new XTR- pads! Pieces of aluminum from the rim got stuck in the rubber and cut deep trails in the rim, with a horrible sound when braking down! It happened on both wheels -- front and back. It costs a lot to have a wheel-builder change your rims, so if you want to support the wheel-builders and the rim producers economically, buy these pads! | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
II doggs
a Weekend Warrior
from guntersville, al usa
Date Reviewed: July 11, 2004 | | Favorite Trail: | iron legs | | Duration Product Used: | 3 months | | Price Paid: |
$5.00 | | Purchased At: | price point | | Strengths: | zero!!! i thought it was a good deal...Wrong! just spent money!!! | | Weaknesses: | squeel, bark and chatter from begining to end | | Similar Products Used: | jaguar, kool-stop, ritchey | | Bike Setup: | cannondale hardtail with XT/XTR | | Bottom Line: | shimano should be forced to refund everyones money!
sure does give the "componant god" a black eye, i thought the chatter would stop after some wear...Wrong! these and WTB pads are the worst i've ever used, and from the look at most other reviews, it's the concensus view.
| | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Andrew
a Cross Country Rider
from Melbourne, Australia
Date Reviewed: April 15, 2004 | | Favorite Trail: | All | | Duration Product Used: | 6 months | | Price Paid: |
$18.00 | | Purchased At: | LBS | | Strengths: | For ceramic pads-XTR caries some cred, Probably light weight. Last a long time maybe 'cause they are too hard. | | Weaknesses: | For ceramic pads-Too hard, Gunks up Rim with black Sh*t | | Similar Products Used: | For ceramic pads-Avids, No Name Brand (For ceramics @ $5.00US) | | Bike Setup: | Sugar 1 Stock setup | | Bottom Line: | For ceramic pads-I reckon these are crap. Too hard, no good in wet conditions, have trashed my Racelites (Ceramic), way to expensive (but have just bought a set in Tokyo for about $5.00US)
I gave these a low rating because Shimano is usually excellent stuff but expensive (U get what U pay for), in this instance they cost too much and don't work as I would expect from Shimano, especially XTR.
As for who should buy them, I can't answer that. Not anyone who live in wet areas for starters. | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Font9a Ninea
a Cross Country Rider
from Downieville
Date Reviewed: April 11, 2004 | | Favorite Trail: | 411 | | Duration Product Used: | More than 3 years | | Price Paid: |
$9.00 | | Purchased At: | lbs | | Strengths: | stops | | Weaknesses: | wears out | | Similar Products Used: | aztec | | Bike Setup: | hardtail xc bike. | | Bottom Line: | all you weenies complaining about the squeal -- it's the surface between you brake bosses and you brake arm fittings that is getting worn. Try lubing once in a while. It's good for you, it's good for her. And replace your too-long cables once a year at the very minimum. Keep your cables as short as possible, use no lube, keep them clean and your brakes will feel like little triple beam balances (precise).
Your pads are not the problem. Almost all quality pads will stop you lickity split if you take the time to treat your brake system right and give it the love it needs.
You will go faster if you can stop more quickly.
-- Font9a | Value Rating: Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
KIMO
a Weekend Warrior
from AIEA
Date Reviewed: October 10, 2003 | | Duration Product Used: | Less than 1 month | | Price Paid: |
$10.00 | | Purchased At: | PerformanceBike | | Strengths: | It stopped my chronic brake squeal. | | Weaknesses: | Expensive | | Similar Products Used: | Shimano XT, KoolStop | | Bike Setup: | GT XCR-4000; XT parallel-push calipers; Mavic D521 SUP rims | | Bottom Line: | This review is for the XTR "Ceramic" pads. I had this squeal for the longest time and tried everything to get rid of it. Tried toe settings, scuffing the rims and pads, tried KoolStop pads...nothing worked. Took a chance and tried ceramic pads thinking that all the pads I've tried had a "too-soft" rubber compound that's not compatible with the anodized brake surface on my rims. Happy to say that the brakes squeal no more! I guess the harder rubber doesn't flex as much and cancels out the vibrations that caused the squeal. Anyway, I'll have to give these pads good marks because they finally stopped the squeal. If anybody has brake squeal give these pads (or any ceramic pad) a try before going nuts! Probably last a lot longer, too. | Value Rating: Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Skippy
a Cross Country Rider
from The First State
Date Reviewed: September 28, 2003 | | Duration Product Used: | 3 months | | Price Paid: |
$9.00 | | Strengths: | They support the Japanese economy. | | Weaknesses: | Squeal unrelentingly, will waste your time and money | | Similar Products Used: | WTB, Kool-stop, a tree | | Bike Setup: | Singlespeed, XTR linear pull brakes | | Bottom Line: | There is not a word in the English language which could accurately convey how stupid these things are. I wasted far too much time trying to get these to stop barking and squealing. The only way to get them to be quiet is to not use your brakes. I highly recommend that one does not buy these. I have since gone back to Kool-stop and my brakes are quiet and far less annoying. | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Oswald
a Cross Country Rider
from Belgium
Date Reviewed: September 1, 2003 | | Duration Product Used: | 3 months | | Strengths: | Good stopping power | | Weaknesses: | Wear fast, not good in wet conditions | | Similar Products Used: | Everything from cantis to discs | | Bike Setup: | GT I-drive Team, full xtr | | Bottom Line: | I only use these for XC races. They are not good for normal xc riding, because they wear too fast and are too expensive to boot. But even for racing I think they wear too fast. They don't provide any stopping power in the wet, and since it rains almost every day here in Belgium, I'm going to try something else.
Best brakes I've had so far were Magura discs, but the constant fiddling with spacers was driving me nuts, so I switched back to V's... | Value Rating: Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
stripes
a Cross Country Rider
from Pasadena, CA
Date Reviewed: August 27, 2003 | | Favorite Trail: | any with dirt | | Duration Product Used: | 3 months | | Purchased At: | LBS | | Strengths: | None, these things wear out and start squealing after the first ride. | | Weaknesses: |
crappy material, squeaky, and don't last at all. | | Similar Products Used: |
Koolstops. Never ride with anything else. There isn't a better brake pad.
| | Bike Setup: | Gary Fisher Sugar 3+ Genesisters, Fox Float RLC, XT/XTR mix.. | | Bottom Line: |
Don't get these, either as a replacement or stock with the XTR V-brakes. The V-brakes themselves are really powerful, but use a pad that works.
These things wore out after one ride!! After several adjustments and re-toeing, they were still constantly squeaking. Also, the braking power was gone.
When I replaced them with the Koolstops, no more squeaking, and I was able to stop again. When I looked at the XTR pads, they were already worn down considerably!! This is after a month of XC use too!
They're crap and very unsafe. Don't bother.
| | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Arne Bjørnvolden
a Cross Country Rider
from Norway
Date Reviewed: August 7, 2003 | | Duration Product Used: | 6 months | | Purchased At: | Glade Hjul | | Strengths: | Good stopping power. | | Weaknesses: | Eat up the rims. Big pieces of metal in the pads makes a terrible noice, and destroy the rims. | | Similar Products Used: | My C.dale F800 2000 model came with som red avid pads, they was much better. | | Bike Setup: | Cdal F800. mavic rims. | | Bottom Line: | After a few miles in a race, the terrible noice came from the back, it took me a long time too find out it was a BIG peace of metal inbedded in the pad. I did not think this was possible at all. Something must be wrong about this product. | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
John Moss
a
from San Francisco
Date Reviewed: June 5, 2003 | | Favorite Trail: | Skeggs Point | | Duration Product Used: | Less than 1 month | | Price Paid: |
$10.00 | | Purchased At: | Calamar's | | Strengths: | Not Sure | | Weaknesses: | Installing | | Bike Setup: | SL Santa Cruz with XTR | | Bottom Line: | Wish I could try them out but broke 2 pads installing them. A very tight fit. Of course I tried to force it and when I did, they broke in half. | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Sorni
a Cross Country Rider
from San Diego, CA USA Earth
Date Reviewed: April 7, 2003 | | Favorite Trail: | Last ride | | Duration Product Used: | Tested or demo'ed only | | Price Paid: |
$10.00 | | Purchased At: | Performance (local) | | Strengths: | Stopped the squealing on front wheel | | Weaknesses: | Didn't stop front wheel! | | Similar Products Used: | XTR (regular composition), Kool-stop (black compound). | | Bike Setup: | Titus Switchblade, XTR except where not... | | Bottom Line: | I bought a pair of CrossMax XL wheels (ceramic rims), and the front honked like a tortured goose with my Kool-stop pads -- both old ones and brand new.
So I purchased two sets of XTR Ceramic pads. Installed 'em on front, and they *DID* stop the squeal; however, they turned the rim black AND barely stopped the wheel. (Plus that grinding sound would truly suck after about 3 mins.)
I used to use regular XTR brake pads, and never had a complaint (wear seemed about same as other brands), so this review is ONLY for the Ceramic versions. THEY BAD!!! | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Steve
a
from Chunan, Korea
Date Reviewed: March 16, 2003 | | Duration Product Used: | Less than 1 month | | Strengths: | common - easy to find in stores | | Weaknesses: | wear very quickly | | Bottom Line: | If setup properly, they don't squeal.
The main problem with these pads is that they wear much too quickly. I've completely worn through a new set (front and rear) of these pads from two rides!!! Today's ride was a bit wet and muddy, but at the end of my three hour ride I found that I had worn the pads down to near the metal cartridge with a complete loss of braking power. The pads looked as though they had melted onto the rim. They wear very quickly. | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
jason
a Cross Country Rider
from germantown
Date Reviewed: January 23, 2003 | | Duration Product Used: | 6 months | | Price Paid: |
$15.00 | | Purchased At: | lbs | | Strengths: | stops verry well in all conditions, easy to install on xtr brakes | | Weaknesses: | wear very fast and squeak in any condition seem to be a little too soft | | Similar Products Used: | cheep stuff | | Bike Setup: | nice moots smoothie | | Bottom Line: | they r nice to have when they come stock, but i would not rebuy, use cool stops if u plan on upgrading | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Rulotac
a Weekend Warrior
from San Jose, Costa Rica
Date Reviewed: April 23, 2002 | | Duration Product Used: | Less than 1 month | | Price Paid: |
$4.00 | | Purchased At: | Store in San Jose | | Strengths: | Inexpensive, efficient and noiseless | | Weaknesses: | Ninguna (none) | | Similar Products Used: | Shimano XT pads (noisy ) | | Bike Setup: | Specialized Hardrock full XT. My breaks are Shimano XT V-type. | | Bottom Line: | The noise problem with the XT pads came abruptly to an end. After months of adjustments and headaches, I decided to change the pads. First I considered the Kool Stop Eagel II but I found the XTR in a store (at a ridiculous price) and decided to give them a try. The squealing problem stopped and now my bike is braking faster and better. Have no idea how long they will last, but as of now I am ver happy.
I give them the highest mark. By the way, I am an Economics teacher and have graded students, not brakes, many, many times. | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Andrew
a Cross Country Rider
from Australia
Date Reviewed: April 17, 2002 | | Favorite Trail: | lysterfield | | Duration Product Used: | 2 Years | | Price Paid: |
$10.00 | | Purchased At: | many a place I frequent | | Strengths: | Stopping power, wet or dry
No bollox stopping power
the SMELL of hot xtr pads :) | | Weaknesses: | none. | | Similar Products Used: | deore, lx, xt, kool stop | | Bike Setup: | one tricked out craftworks | | Bottom Line: | Some people say they eat rims, well sure they do a little. But Hell do they stop you FAST! These coupled with a good set of machined wall rims and you have a lot of stopping power. (oh yes, XTR v-brakes help too)
But I look at it this way - nothing lasts forever, things wear out. The rim is like the disc brake on a car, it gets worn away by the pad, it is this wearing that causes friction and this friction that makes the wheel stop turning.
The way some describe the abrasiveness of them you think they're akin to rubbing your rims on granite. It's not. Sure some wear will occur, but I give my rims a life expectancy of 2 years, then hell I'll just buy new rims.
Sure they may not last as long as those solid blocks black substance that come with Deore or theyre expensive.
I give them a life expetancy of about 12 months, thats enough for me. At under $1us a month, yeh I can handle that.
The way I see if, if you're going to use race quality gear, you have to expect shorter life & higher wear, its the nature of things (please done flame me :) )
cheers
| | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
William
a Weekend Warrior
from Australia
Date Reviewed: March 24, 2002 | | Duration Product Used: | Less than 1 month | | Price Paid: |
$10.00 | | Strengths: | pfft.. | | Weaknesses: | rip the crap out of rims! | | Similar Products Used: | Kool stops
Aztecs | | Bottom Line: | avoid at all costs!
When i tok the pads off, there were shards of metal in them which came from the rims cos the pad compound is too hard.
Kool stops are the only ay to go for V's. | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Ivan
a Weekend Warrior
from Brooklyn
Date Reviewed: January 23, 2002 | | Duration Product Used: | 3 months | | Strengths: | Great stoping power, give you giid modulation | | Weaknesses: | thay squeal like pigs but thatz my fault i spray them with the
car engine belt thingy to increase friction(that's y all trials bikes have squeaky brakes) | | Similar Products Used: | aztec- insane stopping power ang crappy modulation | | Bike Setup: | yep | | Bottom Line: | what the hell is every body talking about, these are the best brake pads from the best v- brakes, they are plain great.
i giv ethen five flamin' monkeys for their power and modulation | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
hmm ha
a Cross Country Rider
from victoria, bc, canada
Date Reviewed: January 2, 2002 | | Duration Product Used: | Tested or demo'ed only | | Purchased At: | $20ish | | Strengths: | didn't get a chance to find out... | | Weaknesses: | yes! very weak product; broke them installing the cartridge in the brake... never had a problem installing koolstops or even cheapo cartridges, just slid 'em in. these hardly fit, I guess because they are soft compound, whatever, tried all kinds of things to fit 'em. then broke 'em. | | Similar Products Used: | kool stop cartridges, MEC cartridges | | Bike Setup: | indestructible '98 trek 7000 | | Bottom Line: | I'm pretty disappointed that I didn't get to find out if these are as bad as most people report (it rains a lot here). the only cartridges at the shop were these, & I thought, what the hell, let's see what expensive pads are like. now I'm back on $2 cartridges from MEC, which install easily and work fine, and I still don't know what XTRs are like. (by the way, the cheapos are softer than koolstops but at $2 a pair, change 'em all the time, your rims will love you for it-- www.mec.ca). | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Anthony Lovatt
a Weekend Warrior
from Tokyo,Japan
Date Reviewed: November 16, 2001 | | Favorite Trail: | Edogawa river trail | | Duration Product Used: | 3 months | | Price Paid: |
$10.00 | | Purchased At: | 3Rensho | | Strengths: | None | | Weaknesses: | Shed your rims. | | Similar Products Used: | Avid,Pro-max | | Bike Setup: | Trek etc. | | Bottom Line: | Ifyou don't mind forking out for a new pair of rims every other month these could be for you.I was constantly picking ng pieces of my rim from out of the pads.I never had this problem with Avid.When I applied the brakes the noise from the bits of metal trapped in the pads and being forced against the rim was very disturbing | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Paul Lang
a Cross Country Rider
from Asia
Date Reviewed: August 29, 2001 | | Favorite Trail: | any trail. | | Duration Product Used: | 2 Years | | Purchased At: | LBS | | Strengths: | Great stopping power (for vees). | | Weaknesses: | Quick wearing (but like race tyres, what do you expect?) | | Similar Products Used: | Too many to mention. | | Bottom Line: | These pads work fantastic for me and I'm surprised at the low rating. Of course they wear fast due to the compound, but they stop you quicker. As for those who think they eat away your rims. I find 95% of riders never check and clean their brake pads once dialled in. Notice the grooves along your rim walls? Then look at your pads and you'll find pieces of stone, metal etc embedded in them. I find that this is the number one reason of rim wall wear. Just check often and pick the pieces out with something sharp and you'll find it stops better, quieter as well as having your rims last longer than you imagine. | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Nick Fenton
a Cross Country Rider
from Clinton
Date Reviewed: June 13, 2001 | | Favorite Trail: | Any one with rocks | | Duration Product Used: | 2 Years | | Price Paid: |
$25.00 | | Purchased At: | bike shop | | Strengths: | stops on a dime in any weather condition. | | Weaknesses: | wears fast, squishy feel at the lever from squishy pads | | Similar Products Used: | XT disk, and a pant load of other pads | | Bike Setup: | K2 race set up, Mavic 517 rims XTR brakes and Avid levers | | Bottom Line: | awsome pads, but if you have colored sidewalls, lik ethe old michelins it will stain them in horrible weather due to residue from the pads running off. I've never had any rim damage and i'v used these pads on my trials bike and my race bike with no problem, except i have broken a few pads when installing them. I love them and will continue to use them until disk brakes appear on road bikes (i like light weight!)my only real complaint is that the xtreme weather versions feel mushy due to their thickness compared to my XT disks on my specialized P3 but hey what can you do? | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
matt lepito
a Cross Country Rider
from maryland
Date Reviewed: March 2, 2001 | | Duration Product Used: | Less than 1 month | | Strengths: | good fast stopping | | Weaknesses: | wares fast | | Bottom Line: | these pads worked great for about a month. Then I noticed to my surprise, there was no pad left. I like to ride fast and hard, but not that hard. They should not have worn down in that short of time. XTR is supposed to be the top of the shimano line. Why are these pads so bad? If they can't make a decent pad, why don't they put something else on the brake systems they sell? | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Mark Rankenberg
a Racer
from The Netherlands
Date Reviewed: March 2, 2001 | | Duration Product Used: | 3 months | | Price Paid: |
$10.00 | | Strengths: | brakes good, doesn't wear your rim fast(because it wear's fast) | | Weaknesses: | fast wear | | Similar Products Used: | magura, much better!!! | | Bike Setup: | cannondale cad4 with XTR | | Bottom Line: | Actually they are outdated, Magura HS33 is the way to go.
BUT... I've heard that shimano is going to sell brake-pads of cork(this is not a joke!!!) Cork wears much less, brakes as good(in rain much better because you don't get a water-film between the pad and rim), also on carbon rims. And keeps rims much cleaner.
Groenendaal(world-champion cyclocross 2000) also uses brake-pads of cork, i've seen it myself. And the good news, you can also make them yourself with a sharp knive. I will try this also, but also try it! Just buy 1 replaceable shimano brake pad and make it just the same from a cork plate.
Please inform me if you have made it, i will try it when i've more time and found a good plate of cork. | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
RJ
a
from Austin TX
Date Reviewed: February 28, 2001 | | Duration Product Used: | Less than 1 month | | Price Paid: |
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$ 31.00
