|   cartridge vs. standard pads; modulation vs power? | Mossy
Nov 20, 2002 1:48 PM | | I've been playing with different pads on my Avid SD Tis, switching between standard (no holder) Kool-Stop MTB dual-compound pads and the cartridge-type WTB Razor Blades duals.
Seems to me that the thinner, more rigid (Im assuming) cartridge-style seems to have more pure power because they dont flex as much as the standard ones.
Conversely, the standard ones seem to have better modulation.
Has anyone else noticed this? Which setup did you ultimately settle on? Im kind of edging back to the modulation side of things... |
| re: cartridge vs. standard pads; modulation vs power? | uber-stupid
Nov 20, 2002 11:03 PM | | Hadn't really noticed it, but it makes sense, I guess. I did notice more modulation with avid levers screwed to more leverage, becuase it takes more cable throw to move the pad the same amount, meaning (conversely) the same lever throw made less/slower movement at teh caliper, meaning more control. Brake boosters are important for this, too. The boosters keep the bosses from moving, which gives you more control, too, otherwise the small increases in pressure get lost in frame/fork flex.
Personally, my brakes (on my everyday bike) are as follows:
front: SD7, salsa brake booster. Cartridge pad, but that's becuase I'm running a ceramic rim. Incredible stopping power, even in the rain, but you need special pads, which I've only really seen in cartridge style.
Rear: cheap shimano promax junk, tektro brake booster. Koolmax dual compound brake pad (non-cartridge style)
levers are older Avid 1.9s with speed dial.
Since my front brake is generally my primary brake. This is changing some lately due to leaves everywhere... the front wheel almost washed on me today. So I don't use the rear so much, which is why it's not so built up. When the front's all the way on, the rear is unloaded, so it just locks up, uselessly.
The speed dial levers dialed all the way in make for a lot of modulation.
As for the ceramic pads, (if you're at all interested) there are two different compounds you can use. Shimano XTR ceramics are insanely hard. You can actually break them when installing if you're not careful. Koolmax ceramic pads are a lot softer; the same pad can go in either pad holder, left or right, because they're so flexible. Koolmax also makes the green ceramic avid rim wrangler pads, by the way, they're just more expensive. I have the koolmax on my other bike, which runs full ceramic/SD7 front and rear, and levers, too. The softer Koolmax gets a lot more modulation, (probably due to the factors you described!) and a lot more stopping power when they're whomped on. I use the koolmax in front, and XTR in the rear.
I bought extra XTR pads before I discovered the Koolmax, else I'd have koolmax front and rear. In the meantime I'm trying to use the XTRs up... or trying to get tired of them so I don't mind having the $15 in insert pads just sitting there in the toolbox. They work pretty well, to be honest, but the Koolmax works better. |
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