Set of XT's arrived today but came with the sintered/finned pads. I've always preferred the smoother feel of resin pads. Any down sides to putting resin pads in the XT's?
Shimano XT with resin pads
Mr Pig
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Mr. Pig, you know everyone has their opinions, but if you prefer the resins and the level of modulation they provide you, then go for it. However, I have always used the metal. Suggestion would be to use what you have and give them a solid work out. Then make a decision based on your more recent findings. I really didn't answer your question though.
I switched to resins on my XTs on the Epic and never looked back. You already know the pros and cons to resin pads and I've never had a problem with fade even with the smaller (than my Trance) 160/180mm rotors but that bike doesn't see as much downhill action. Still, I'm 240lbs and they work great. That bike has the regular Shimano rotors (the ones my Trance came with, no aluminum center, no Ice Tech) and the resins are finned for what it's worth.
Metal on one bike, resin on the other. If you prefer better modulation resin is the way. Found metalic pads with ice-techs are not that bad modulation wise but still not as good as the resin. As far a braking power goes, metalic pads feel more powerful even though they might not be. They just bite quicker once they warm up a bit.
With previous brakes, primarily formulas, the difference between resin and metal was noticeable. The resins were overal weaker in power, and especially sucked in the rain. The semi-metallic, sintered, whatever, were better in all conditions but maybe howled a bit more when wet. Also, I never noticed a difference in braking power between wet and dry.
I'm running saints with 200mm rotors front and rear, and I notice a significant decrease in braking power in the wet using metallic pads. Planning to switch back to resin pads, but wondering if anyone else had expriecned this ?
I'm running saints with 200mm rotors front and rear, and I notice a significant decrease in braking power in the wet using metallic pads. Planning to switch back to resin pads, but wondering if anyone else had expriecned this ?
I think it mostly comes down to the pad composition. I forget the exact numbers but for cars, to be called "ceramic", a pad only has to have something like 20-40% ceramic content or something like that. Same with metallic and semi-metallic. There's a huge variation between pads with the same name.
I've noticed the Shimano "resin" pads for the Zee/Saints have a large metal content. I'm sure they could be called semi-metallics if they wanted to. IMO, these pads are the best (or worst) of all worlds depending on how you look at it. They're gentler on the rotors, make less noise, have better modulation, less change in power or bite over temperature, and have a higher operating temp until fade (over most other straight resin or organic pads. The sintered pads should have less fade and wear slower but I've never gotten either to fade so I can't say from experience.
The way I look at these particular pads is sintered for downhill racing, resin for everything else. That's just an opinion but I firmly believe the Zee/Saint resin pads are awesome. While I'm a novice and nowhere near skilled downhiller, considering the additional 100lbs my brakes have to stop compared to the average weight rider, I'm probably just as demanding on them as the higher skilled guys.
The thing that made me originally try the resins with the Zee brakes is that the brakes lost all power once the bike sat more than a day or two. It's not temperature related, I would have to drag them for literally 5 minutes to get anything resembling power. I almost ran over my own dog when he ran in front of me. It was an easy stop but I could barely lock the rear wheel with these powerful brakes. The front was no better. The resins stop the same whether hot or cold and whether the bike has sat for 5 minutes or a week. The resins have stopped fine the few times they've been wet but they do make noise for the first second or two of application.
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Yes it was. I suspect it was a bad batch, although quite a large one it seems, but I agree. What's the point of using a more complex assembly of parts that increases the likelihood of failure if you don't need to.
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