Brake shoes

[johnridley]

The brake shoes on my bike were looking very thin, but when I removed them to replace them yesterday, they still mic'd at just a hair over 3mm, which is the replacement point. I'll leave them in for a while longer. It looks like they went in somewhere around 11,800 miles, and I'm at 14,500 now, so probably 3000 miles on a set. Of course, the ones I'm replacing it with are generics, not Avids, so they may wear differently.

Comments

[c0nsumer.livejournal.com]

I'd just worry about the olds somehow allowing metal to rub on the caliper, although that probably wouldn't be a huge problem.

[johnridley.livejournal.com]

I'm still in spec for the shoes, and the metal tab is missing the rotor by a millimeter or so; it was only missing by about 2 when new.

I do need to look at the alignment; they're wearing a bit wedge-shaped, I'll try to fix that when I put on the new pads so I should get a bit more life out of the next set. That invalidates my wear testing ($20 Avid versus $6 chinese knockoff pads) but I don't care that much. If I get 1000 or 5000 miles out of the next set, that's pretty clear anyway. If I get 2500 to 3500, then it's not.

[johnridley.livejournal.com]

It's still about 0.1mm over 3mm, and they were only 4mm when new, so I think I've got a while.
I'm sure not overly impressed with the factory pads. They're spalled and uneven and look horrendous. Of course, they're in a very dirty, salty environment, but they haven't been magic.

OTOH, these brakes are great, very responsive and crisp.

[c0nsumer.livejournal.com]

I'm finding that the newer design BB7 that I have feels better than the one I got on clearance at REI. I may just need to crank the tension / return up on them, but now that they are bedded in (well, they are almost there) they feel really nice. Last Saturday I only needed to do one panic stop, and it was no problem at all.

[erikvolson.livejournal.com]

There's KoolStop pads, and there's crap, IMHO.

N.B.: I don't ride disc brakes. They may suck there, but given how much better they are on rim brakes, I doubt it.

[johnridley.livejournal.com]

I've used koolstop, I'm now running Nashbar shoes with replacable pads. I don't notice that much difference.
These pads re on the front, for my discs. There's no comparison, the discs are much better brakes than the rims. Also as you know, rim brakes for my ride are death on the rims; within a mile the pads (and the rest of the brakes) are coated with sand, and it doesn't take long to wreck a rim when you're sandpapering it every time you touch the brakes.

Most of the time rim brakes are OK, but once in a while they'll have ice on them or something, and they'll be almost nonexistant. It only takes that happening once to convince you of the need for something better.