Kool stop MTB salmon brake pads help

MarkJohnston

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Mar 25, 2021
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Hi,

I just bought my second pair of Kool stop MTB salmons. They have good stopping power but it's about the same as the Jag pads I had on before which were a 1/3 the price. Also as you can see they wore super weird from the picture. how can I get perfect wear? Also these were really expensive and got ruined pretty quick, faster than I was hoping for with all that was promised with their compounds and all that BS. I bought a second pair because I want a second try. I think they got ruined because of oil and contamination from riding without fenders in the rain, which is what I hope, because I have fenders now and don't want these destroyed.

Can anybody help me and tell me how to set these up so they don't wear at angles? also why are image size capped now ? super annoying, making me compress photos and cut the quality.
 

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My 2 cents:
Normally contamination doesn’t come from rain or gravel but from the chain or something oily so fenders or no fenders won’t make a difference, it’s probably worse with fenders than without since without more crud is thrown straight off the tire and away from the pads.

Then why the wear is angled: depends on the toe in, the brake mount stiffness and on the installed angle when the pad hits the rim. On parallellogram V-brakes you can set this angle correctly once and for all but for most other brakes you have to set it at a correct angle when the pad is new and adjust the pad angle vs the rim as the pad thickness wears down. I’ve seen poor pad alignment on most bikes in the stores, even on 5000$ bikes, so most often you need to fix it yourself.

If pad width is not centered around the mounting bolt the shorter end should point forward. Pretty obvious for most but then again, i’ve seen the opposite on many bikes.

I haven’t tried the kool stop salmon but sheldon brown favours them so i trust they are good. Pads that are more directed at stopping power (which these seem to be) will normally wear faster than harder pads with longer life. When i worked as a bike messenger i would wear a set of softer pads down in a few days in wet conditions.

The wear tracks on the pads on your pictures indicate that there could be worn grooves in the rim, if you find this then try to measure the thickness on the thinnest part. In the end you wear off enough material for the rim to explode, if it’s worn in a groove then that can happen quickly. Tried this myself a few times when i had to squeeze every last mile out of my bikes. Not nice.

One thing to also check is the overall status of your rims, if the seam of the rim has an edge or if there are cuts in the braking surface. Any such defects will quickly destroy your pads as they function like small grinders on the pad.
 
I've run KS Salmon since 2014 when Chalo suggested them. But now I run the KoolStop eBike pads and they're even better. Your look completely polluted and I can see why they're not responding well with whatever that grey dust coating is.I wouldn't leave the garage with pads in that condition. But I'm anal as braking goes.
 
It must've been the wet. God damn these things went so fast in rainy conditions. Great. So I need cheaper pads for the rainy season. I ride 50 miles a day in the rain for a week straight sometimes
 
MarkJohnston said:
It must've been the wet. God damn these things went so fast in rainy conditions. Great. So I need cheaper pads for the rainy season. I ride 50 miles a day in the rain for a week straight sometimes

I'd apply some light sanding to get rid of that glaze.
 
MarkJohnston said:
Also these were really expensive and got ruined pretty quick, faster than I was hoping for with all that was promised with their compounds and all that BS.
Higher stopping power and long life do not (most often do not) go hand in hand. Think about it. :wink:
Meaning you get one or the other.

That gray paste on the pads almost looks like aluminum slurry, most likely from the rim. (Where else could it be from?)(Unless maybe you are riding on clay surfaces?) What is the rim quality? Is it showing signs of excessive wear on the braking surface?

Also, from the wear pattern, looks like you did not set up enough toe-in of the pads.

Don't you use regen braking? That reduces brake wear a lot for me.
 
Can't do regen. Yeah tons of clay run off around here. Tons.

Getting the toe in set is hard by myself. I need a third hand. F it. I think I'm gonna slap on a cheap pair for all that clay running off fenders.
 
Setting toe in is easier if you torque the screw tight but light enough to manipulate the pad in place with your hand, when you’re satisfied you keep the pad holder in place with one hand and torque it slowly to full torque. If it’s hard to keep the position then you can remove the wheel after you’ve done the initial positioning to allow more space for your hand (normally not needed if you increase torque slowly enough for it to “bite” more than rotate the pad holder)
 
MarkJohnston said:
Can't do regen. Yeah tons of clay run off around here. Tons.

Getting the toe in set is hard by myself. I need a third hand. F it. I think I'm gonna slap on a cheap pair for all that clay running off fenders.

When I used rim brakes, I put a toothpick between the rim and pad's trailing edge, then squeezed the brake lever, while tightening the nut. That was enough toe in for me, but you could use a matchstick or something thicker or thinner to get it to your preference.
 
I have trouble run the dual color right now I just put a new set on the rear and I got it dialed in it's hard to get it dialed in but new brake lever new brake cable new brake cable housing and use the old little j tube thing and use the same rear brake arms. For some reason they work pretty good or as best I can expect for rear brakes I don't get around to hook it up region on my left hand brake. Also running mountain bike pads on the front but somebody donated to me XTR brake arms with an additional chewing lever in between they work great. So keep your eyes out in the neighborhood because people change from rim brakes to disc brakes and they don't want their high-end XTR arms that are about 20 years old.

You can also send your rim and if you use a block sander you can find out if there's a flat spot or a crease in your rim you know. Build a truing stand I did with a 4-inch grinder and a bed frame for free one weld if you get the right frame.
 
Where can I buy DECENT brake pads in bulk? Ali baba? I burn through V brake pads so f'n fast it's not even funny.
 
Kool stop are good pads.

The grey stuff on them is aluminium removed from your rim.

Wet conditions cause rapid pad and rim wear, there’s no avoiding it.

The solution for winter bikes is roller or drum brakes.

The benefits besides longer run cost savings are quietness, reduced likelihood of mechanical failure, reduced maintenance intervals, and no need to bother cleaning rims.

You might as well have a generator incorporated, for no significant price or weight penalty.

Shimano DH-C6000-2R would be perfect for your application.
 
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