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Brake Pads

Brake pads are the primary consumable in your braking system. Road disc pads come in resin (organic) and sintered (metallic) compounds — resin is quieter with better initial bite, sintered lasts longer in wet and gritty conditions. Rim brake pads from Swiss Stop, Kool Stop, and Shimano vary dramatically in wet-weather performance. Replacing pads is the cheapest and most impactful brake maintenance you can do. Carry a spare set on long rides — worn pads on a mountain descent is genuinely dangerous.

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Buying Guide

Road Brake Pad Buying Guide

Disc Brake Pads

Shimano road disc brakes use L-series pads: L03A (resin with cooling fins — best all-round), L05A (resin, previous generation), K03S (resin, budget). Sintered/metallic pads (Shimano D-series, aftermarket) last longer in wet and gritty conditions but are noisier and wear rotors faster. SRAM road pads are specific to their callipers — organic is the standard compound. Campagnolo disc pads fit their own callipers only. Aftermarket pads from SwissStop, Galfer, and Jagwire offer different compounds and price points. Always bed in new pads properly — 20-30 progressive stops from moderate speed.

Rim Brake Pads

Swiss Stop FlashPro BXP is the benchmark — transforms wet-weather braking on aluminium rims. Shimano R55C4 is the OEM standard on Dura-Ace/Ultegra callipers — decent dry performance, average in wet. Kool Stop Dura2 offers excellent wet braking and compound longevity. For carbon rims, you MUST use carbon-specific pads (Swiss Stop FlashPro Black Prince, Shimano R55C4 for carbon) — standard pads will destroy a carbon braking surface. Cork compound pads exist for carbon rims on older bikes. Pad holders: Shimano cartridge-style pads slide into holders, making replacement quick.

Buying Used Pads

Brake pads are cheap enough that buying new is usually sensible. However, used pads with significant life remaining (3mm+ pad material) are perfectly functional. Check for contamination — pads that have been exposed to oil, spray lubricant, or disc brake fluid should be discarded. Contaminated pads cause squealing and dramatically reduced stopping power that cannot be fixed. Inspect the pad backing plate for cracks on disc pads. Rim pads should have visible wear indicator grooves — once the grooves disappear, the pad is spent.