Which Kool Stop brake pads to get?

[spinningmagnets]

I've read many times that Kool Stop rim pads are the best, and I'm going to need rim pads on one of my ebikes soon. I went to their website and there are a couple dozen types...so which version do I get?

http://www.koolstop.com/english/rim_pads.html

edit: just Googled these posts from random anonymous internet forums:

Kool Stop offers their pads in three materials: salmon for wet conditions, black for normal, and another one for carbon rims. If you frequently ride in wet conditions, I'd go for the salmon ones, even if you also do a lot of riding in dry conditions. Shimano pads grind up the rims and get aluminum bits embedded in them which you ought to pick out frequently. They also don't stop as well as the Kool Stop ones do. Get the Kool Stop pads for better braking, better rim life, and less maintenance.

In my experience, the kool-stop (formerly, Mathauser) salmon-colored pads are noticeably "grippier" than the typical hard black blacks that come on shimano knock-off pads. I've read that the magic ingredient in the salmon kool-stops is actually iron-oxide (i.e., rust) but don't know any "why" beyond that. Whatever reason, they do a better job applying friction to the rim. Better enough in fact that I've also encountered problems where putting kool-stops in place of old cheap pads leads to squealing problems where there weren't any before. Of course, the bike also stops better, but if it's yowling all the way down the hill it can be a tough call to make

The best are the dual compound ones - just as effective as the salmon in wet, but harder wearing

 

[Ykick]

I go through so many rim brake pads that spending $12/set amounts to a lot of annual money. Plus, some riders like squealing brakes to let pedestrians know there’s a bike coming but I for one do not care for squealing brakes.

My Kool Stop experience(s) let me down on both of those criteria. The later, squealing, can often be dealt with using toe-in/toe-out adjustment but not always 100%. It’s just “one of those things” which can be very frustrating.

Especially frustrating after spending a premium amount of money and time setting everything up - only to be forced to mess up a perfectly aligned brake system to stop the squealing!

Do Kool Stop Salmon compound squeal more than generic black pads? Sometimes it seems that way but not always. There’s a large variation among generic black pads too. There’ve been times I could not get Kool Stop to quiet down but an old cheap black set from a Wally bike did the trick.

For those reasons, I often circulate through eBay looking for red “knock-offs” in the $2/set range. Sample ‘em and when I find some I really like, stock up. Some of ‘em are too soft or too hard for ideal braking but using practical comparisons, there’s so little real difference. At least in my experience.

For someone who might only change brake pads every couple years, $12/set and the mental confidence of “superior quality” Kool Stop brand might be worth it. But remember, any genuine practical gains in material performance will often be negated if/when you need to toe-in/toe-out mounting angle in order to quiet things down.

 

[amberwolf]

I use the salmon ones, even though it's almost always dry here. I tried the hybrid black/salmon and don't remember what the difference ended up being, but there was a little bit.

Partly I use the salmon ones for the unexpected lakes I run into now and then from leaky sprinkler systems some businesses/etc have that flood up to half a lane or more of a street (quite a few places still have poor or no drainage around the valley), and because of the infrequent rains we do have, where I need to still have good braking.



BTW, one of the more recent sets I used on CB2 were SINZ brand clones, and they worked well enough that I'm not sure I could tell the difference under the conditions I'm in most of the time.



Regarding abuse...surprisingly, the pad that was on the damaged side of this rim:
https://endless-sphere.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=12500&p=1230333#p1230333
before I had to adjust it out of the way of the outward-pressing area, and later actually had to remove it due to the bulge, is still perfectly usable and not nearly as worn-down as I'd expected.


Regarding noise...I was surprised, but found that on rims that are roughened up by grit in the pads (or a bit of sandpaper in one experiment), I didn't have squeling problems. The "newer" a rim is, it seems like the worse the squealing is, regardless of which pads I've used. The flinty dust here does a good job of sanding things down...whether you want them to or not. :/

This doesn't mean you should go sand your rims down to fix the squeal.

 

[spinningmagnets]

Thanks!

 

[aroundqube]

There is a good explanation of the different choices here : http://sheldonbrown.com/harris/brakeshoes.html#mountain With linear pull brakes and alloy rims I was getting a black compound build up on the rims from good stopping black brake pads. I find the Kool Stop Dual Comp Mtn with plow tip to be a good compromise , that keeps the rim clean. No squeaks. There is a BMX brake pad of soft clear comp by the name of Bachelor Pad that makes a lot of squeal ( and even smoke ) !

 

[LI-ghtcycle]

I'm a fan of Kool Stop, and I haven't had much issues with brake squeal myself, but I have mainly used the Salmon Pads, and we get a bit of rain here, so YMMV.

Another thought to consider, when getting new pads, you might want to get ones that are cartridge type, so when it comes time to replace, you can leave most of that annoying job of adjusting everything alone, and just replace the insert with minimal to no adjusting of the shoe alignment.

We've sold our beach cruiser to the main shop mechanic (he rides to work daily) so I can give you some feedback on the Rav X Thermafoil high temp pads if you're interested.

 

[spinningmagnets]

Sure, any information will be helpful.