Article Bargain pads? No panic when it comes to Disco

[TheBikePilot]

Heading into winter in the UK means one of a few things for most people, most notably: 



1: It’s the end of the riding season2: I’ll only ride on a nice day, on my terms, with the sun shining and no rain for a few weeks (go get a lottery ticket if you are waiting for that)3: Bring it on this is what I bought the bike for!



UK winter is notoriously harsh on all the wearable parts of your bike. Bearings, brake pads and drive trains take a beating. If you have had summer on your pads, most likely they won’t see you through the whole winter. 



In any case, if you’ve been riding your bike more than you’ve been seeing your nearest and dearest lately, as is the case with any eMTB, it’s probably about time you checked your brake pads for wear.



Now, most people opt straight for manufacturers own brand for max compatibility and peace of mind. There are of course many other aftermarket brands to choose from. You, of course, pay a premium for SRAM’s own pads but these are a...

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[RoJo]

I've been running Disco pads on all my bikes recently and agree completely with your review.
Yes, they're a little bit too fat, but honestly it doesn't take me any longer to fit them. I just put up with a tiny bit of brake drag for the first couple of rides, then they're perfect.
Performance, as you say is average and wear life is good for the cheapest semi-metallic compound, and for the price I'm not sure you can beat them.
I recently tried their kevlar compound (because they'd run out of my go-to semi-metallic cheapskate option), and they do offer a decent chunk more stopping power as advertised, with no noticeable downsides.
I don't look for a pad to give me more stopping power, as going up 20mm on rotor size is guaranteed ~10% more power, whereas getting performance pads might cause inconsistent performance (I'd rather have consistently average, than occasionally brilliant), however if you do want more performance, then the Kevlar option does seem to work. I would quite like to try Ceramic Hard, but they never have them in stock.

 

[118]

Ceramic hard? Will they not wear out your rotors, before you run out of pad?

 

[RoJo]

Perhaps that's why they don't sell them?!

 

[steve_sordy]

It comes as shock to some people that rotors do wear out. But even for those that know they wear, it can still come as a shock just how fast they can wear.

On my Norco Sight 1 clockwork bike, I had original equipment Shimano XT IceTech RT-81 discs with finned resin pads, 180mm & 160mm.

I have a "G" type micrometer so I can measure into the centre of the area of the disc that is swept by the pads. After just over two sets of pads, the front disc was worn down to the limit of 1.5mm on a 2.5mm thick disc (ie 40% wear). After about two and half sets of pads, the rear disc was worn down to below the 1.5mm level and was scrap. That was after 2306 miles on the bike. I replaced both discs.

I only thought to measure the discs because I could feel a ridge with my thumb nail that was much bigger than I thought it should be. The "F" type calipers would be useless for this type of measurement.

 

[RoJo]

Apparently the ceramic pads have low rotor wear:


Red Ceramic Compound - Hard

Also known as Compound D (Ceramic Hard)

Harder than ordinary pads. This is the highest density, hardest, ceramic compound for performance and longer lifetime. These organic disc brake pads contain a high amount of ceramic fiber, which insulate the brake system from friction heat up to 400oC.

Advantages: Better performing and longer lasting than medium pads

Details
Upgrade on original fitted pads
DIN 79100 Standard Approved
Organic Compound contains no metal material
Reduces damage to rotor
Carbonized compound reduces brake fading
Ceramic Fiber insulates brake system from friction heat


Advantages: Longer lasting than Black Ceramic pads
Disadvantages: More expensive than Black Ceramic pads and not as grippy
Suitable For: XC, DH (low brake use)
Conclusion: Advantages of a Ceramic Pad with Longer Life

Rotors: Ceramic pads cause less damage to rotors than metallic compound pads.

 

[118]

Apparently the ceramic pads have low rotor wear:

Suitable For: XC, DH (low brake use)

.. wouldn't any pads, have the same effect, with the above usage? Why specify low brake use? Is this to stop the rotors from glazing, or warping, should you hang onto them for too long? They may create less brake dust, however do they create less 'rotor' dust?

Personally, I wouldn't use anything ceramic, whether it be black, red, or even sky blue pink, given what ceramic does, within bearings. Ceramic is more durable, as it eats whatever it is, surrounding it, in terms of races etc. I appreciate, bearings and rotors, are completely different entities entirely though..

 

[Rich-EMTB-UK]

been riding with disc brakes for years at least 15 and never thought to check the rotors for wear TBH. Oh well new thing to get paranoid about

 

[Zimmerframe]

I have some Noah and Theo "ceramic" pads waiting to go on when I've finished my "ScReAM" testing.

I skipped my usual weeks of procrastinating and research and just clicked "Buy" ... it was lovely.

Apparently they're semi metallic ceramic sintered pads ... so they might be crap .. and they might destroy my disks ... but in this case, I'm going for ignorance is bliss

 

[118]

I have some Noah and Theo "ceramic" pads waiting to go on when I've finished my "ScReAM" testing.

I skipped my usual weeks of procrastinating and research and just clicked "Buy" ... it was lovely.

Apparently they're semi metallic ceramic sintered pads ... so they might be crap .. and they might destroy my disks ... but in this case, I'm going for ignorance is bliss

Oh man.. Why didn't you opt for the, semi organic metallic ceramic sintered pads, that were (probably) only one click away, from your lack of procrastinating, choice above?

 

[Zimmerframe]

Oh man.. Why didn't you opt for the, semi organic metallic ceramic sintered pads, that were (probably) only one click away, from your lack of procrastinating, choice above?

I probably should have ... But I thought they said "semi orgasmic" and I have enough trouble staying on the bike as it is ??

 

[118]

You might have done well to consider, that with the added enhancement of your semi, it may prevent you going OTB, when you are next venturing out? Given that the weather is also on the turn, it well be just enough to act as an impromptu handlebar 'anchor' & save you, from getting your glasses knocked off, mid flight..

 

[Zimmerframe]

You might have done well to consider, that with the added enhancement of your semi, it may prevent you going OTB, when you are next venturing out? Given that the weather is also on the turn, it well be just enough to act as an impromptu handlebar 'anchor' & save you, from getting your glasses knocked off, mid flight..

You are wise OB118 !

At least semi orgasmic pads won't be as messy as fully orgasmic pads. I'll have to give this more thought, maybe bringing my 5th limb into a more proactive riding role could, as you suggest, save me from a few off's !

 

[Master Link]

If you want great pads at a great price then have a look at Uberbikes site.

 

[RoJo]

been riding with disc brakes for years at least 15 and never thought to check the rotors for wear TBH. Oh well new thing to get paranoid about

Haha. Join the club. To be fair if you're running solid steel rotors you've got a lot less to worry about than IceTech which contain Aluminium cheese in the middle.

 

[RoJo]

.. wouldn't any pads, have the same effect, with the above usage? Why specify low brake use? Is this to stop the rotors from glazing, or warping, should you hang onto them for too long? They may create less brake dust, however do they create less 'rotor' dust?

Personally, I wouldn't use anything ceramic, whether it be black, red, or even sky blue pink, given what ceramic does, within bearings. Ceramic is more durable, as it eats whatever it is, surrounding it, in terms of races etc. I appreciate, bearings and rotors, are completely different entities entirely though..

It's true that things just don't add up...
Is it just an insulating layer of ceramic near the backing plate? Maybe that would explain why it is advertised as kind to the rotors.
I don't get why they advertise the superior heat insulation properties when the use case is XC/light DH. I'll stay clear of them and stick to the semi-metallic ones which have never let me down.

 

[paquo]

I use the sintered because they seem to last way longer especially in the wet. I have bad technique and use the rear more so the sintered work well for that. On the front the kevlar are stronger and more responsive, currently i have the soft ceramics on the front and they are fine, both are quiet. It does require fiddling to install, but i just bleed and clean/move the pistons and it works with no sanding

 

[renedis]

Lol, i buy mine sintered (gold) from AliExpress brand “Bikein”. They are good for regular trails and the cheapest ever. Not suited for enduro/DH.

The sintered doesnt make any noise, brake good in all conditions and last pretty long.

 

[Rusty]

The comments on Ceramic pads are interesting. There are many different formulas for ceramic pads just like there are for conventional pads, and again if one was to look at carbon fibre pads they too have different compounds.
MTB pad technology is really not too different from what is currently used in many other sports.
We tried CF pads and disks on GP motorcycles years back and found they were not a viable option as they did not keep enough heat even with disk covers (today with the heavier MotoGP bikes that is not as much of an issue. However with CF pads and carbon-steel rotors we achieved significant gains over the conventional pad materials. At that stage ceramics were slightly more powerful than conventional materials but had less feel. Today that is not the case and ceramic pads have power and feel. Ceramics are actually used on many automobiles today so you don't get the horrible brake dust on your nice, shiny mag wheels.

With MTB I think there is a lot of misinformation around pads.
I see organic, sintered and semi-metallic listed and while that is mostly correct there is often little explaination.
All conventional brake pads are based on 'organic' material. Sintered are basically organics with fine metallic 'dust' (or grains) included in the compound. Semi-metallics are a blend just like sintered, but use a much higher percentage of metal and the grains are of a much larger size. It is not uncommon for some semi-metallics to be referred to as Metallics as they use the larger metallic grains added to the sintered compound.

With Ceramic pads, instead of adding metal to achieve a harder and more wear resistant pad they change the compound to allow higher temperatures.

With brake pads the basic guidelines are:
Organic: Softer material that gives better 'feel', however they wear a lot faster - especially in winter conditions.
Sintered: A harder material that gives slightly less feel that organics, but give much better performance when doing lots of braking from high speeds (such as downhill ... or using a heavier bike such as an eMTB).
Semi-metallic: Harder then sintered these tend to squeal a lot more, but are much better in gritty, muddy conditions.

Remember - the harder the pad the quicker they will wear out your rotors.

 

[Singletrack Scene]

Excellent review. I too am a proponent of Disco pads. I also recommend Swiss Stop.