 You don't need to be an 'investor' to invest in Singletrack: 6 days left: 95% of target - Find out more
has anyone else had this problem with Shimano genuine pads, I purchased a new bike a couple of months back with Shimano slx brakes which are fantastic. My problem is the life of the pads I have literally spent a fortune on genuine pad replacement to a point where the pads are literally worn out in 3 rides. I thought if you buy the genuine stuff it will last better than the cheaper options from ss Uber and so on, I have used disco brakes on previous bikes but they were just as bad. My Sram guide brake pads on my full sus have lasted very well and have always purchased genuine for SRAM, Is this a normal Shimano thing do they use cheap materials they work well but do not last 5 min. What would you guys and girls recommend thanks in advance
Which pads? The finned sintered ones outlast pretty much everything else out there for most people.
Are you bedding them in first?
Shimano genuine pads last 12 mths or so of fairly regular use in my slxs!
Yes I the finned pads are what I'm talking about the resin i forgot to say i don't like using sintered pads either as i cant stand the noise they make or the feel from them.
You need to bed them in. Its a 3 stage process - curing the pads with heat and pressure and conforming them to the disc plus getting a smear of pad material on the disc. My guess is they are never getting hot enough to cure so are remaining very soft and / or you are getting mainly abrasive friction not adherent friction.
They need to get very hot. Hundreds of degrees hot. Ride downhill with the brake dragging and pedalling.
some folks riding styles mean they bed them in in normal use. some folk have to deliberately bed them in. I can tell from the change in feel when new pads are properly bedded in although I get thousands of miles out of pads
^^^
It's just like the old days. I've never 'bedded' in a set of pads in my life and most sets last for months and many hundreds of miles.
Are you a brake dragger? That kills pads faster than anything in my opinion...
Jambo - which is why I said some folks riding styles mean they don't have to deliberately bed them in - cos folk like you don't. I do otherwise I get rubbish braking for a long time until they get bedded in.
I can't believe people are still spouting this "smear of pad material on the disc" tripe. In the gritty conditions round here anything on the disc is ground off in about three wheel revolutions. 🙄
Dibbs - its the truth tho - its the only way you get proper braking from your discs. Its called adherent friction - read up on it. I have. Its how disc brakes work. If this layer gets ground off quicker than it forms thats when you get the high wear rates 'cos then you are relying on abrasive friction that means the pads wear away.
Last time I used organic pads, they lasted about 10 minutes of a muddy, sandy descent. I've always used sintered pads since then. They last for months. As a bonus, I like the noise they make.
Sintered can also disappear in a single decent if not bedded. I tend now to carry a part worn set as spares instead of brand new ones since wearing a brand new set out very quickly (< 1/2 hour) on a wet ride.
This only happens to me with genuine Shimano pads I have a bike with Magura mt brakes that I have had for a few months on my single speed that have lasted using Gorilla brake pads which are cheap my cube stereo has guide semi pads in that have lasted well , I spoke to a guy today at the local bike shop and he said the same OEM Shimano pads for his customers are really poor and he says use sintered Shimano they last a lot better . he also said Shimano are cheap good brakes at a cheap price so the pads that come with them are cheap , if this is true I'm not sure but I'm going to order some cheap pads from Gb to see how they last .