Life In The Saddle

The market for disc brake pads for gravel bikes, mountain bikes and road bikes is saturated; there are hundreds of different brands producing disc brake pads claiming to last longer and perform better than the competition. So, what is the difference between a set of low cost disc brake pads from eBay/Amazon versus the high-end pads from SwissStop? Are SwissStop disc brake pads worth the extra money? To find out, I have been doing some extensive disc brake pad testing over the last few months. October to February is obviously a period of wet winter riding, and I have been testing the following list of brake pads on road, gravel and mountain bikes—to create the ultimate test for any disc brake set-up. The disc brake pads on test:  SwissStop Disc 34 RS (Shimano Road/Gravel)  SwissStop Disc 32 RS (SRAM Road/Gravel)  SwissStop Disc 31 E (MTB SRAM Avid)  Superstar Sintered Shimano Road Disc Brake Pads (Shimano Road/Gravel)  SOMMET Resin and Semi-Metallic Disc Brak...

The disc brake pads and disc brake rotors fitted to your bike play a significant role in braking power, modulation, and reliability. The pads supplied with your bike on purchase will only last around 5000 kilometres at most, so there comes a time when you will be shopping for after-market disc pads and considering replacing the disc rotors. In this ' Workshop Focus ' post, I look at the things to consider in this selection. Understanding Disc Brakes Disc brakes use a caliper mounted near the dropouts of the frame or fork of a bicycle. Two pads are housed inside the caliper, and pistons force these onto the rotating rotor; the resulting friction is what slows and stops the wheel. Pistons can be cable actuated or hydraulic powered. For a disc brake to be effective, the friction between the pad and the rotor needs to be strong enough; this is negatively affected by contaminants like grit, oil and mud — so it is vital to remove these to ensure consistent braking performanc...