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These will be going in some TRP HY-RD calipers on a bike that is a winter/commuter road bike and a sort of cross/'gravelesque' bike in the summer (it's a On One ti Cross - a sort of utility orientated CX bike that predates gravel bikes by about 10 years but is pretty much a gravel bike in modern parlance). It's heavy, I'm heavy (all muscle obvs) and in commute mode the panniers are often heavy too.
TRP HY-RD take Shimano 515/525 compatible pads so that means most third party brands do a version.
So where's the smart money in pads these days - not too fussed about what's on sale super cheap (brakes always feel like something you probably want to buy right rather than because its cheap) but obviously want brake nirvana of stopping power, longevity and silence.
ta.
Got those calipers amd have just brought some uberbike race matrix pads to go in them. Never used this particular compound before but generally seem to be liked by others.
Uberbike race matrix for me
You could go for shimano standard pads in that case - got the standard (finned) resin pads in my shimano road discs and they’re alright. Stop well / last well / don’t squeal too much. I’ve just opted to replace standard pads with more standard pads personally.
Other than that I’ve had good results with Uberbike race matrix on my mountain bikes.
Got 4 pairs of Kevlar ones from Disco Brakes for my Spyres, the cost seemed to work out pretty reasonable.
racematrix here.
although ive just seen my front disk is worn. thats not lasted long!
Shimano.
Galfer here..seem really good
Can't recommend Uberbike, they squeal like a stuck pig in my Codes. along with pretty much everything that's not standard OEM SRAM
Recently switched to Fibrax after using Race Matrix or Shimano. I've tried others and been unimpressed especially differences between pads from the same batch.
Still early days but impressed so far.
Depends what you want, Race Matrix still my go to;
+ Consistent feel
+ Good bite
+ Quick to bed in
+ Low noise
- Not always long lasting depending on conditions - one muddy wet enduro killed a new set - but I've not found another pad with all the other positives.
Uber Race matrix
Using discopads kevlar as cheap and do a decent job. If paying more / going to the alps, I really liked Rahox but their website is down - gone out of business?
Uberbike Kevlar FTW, race matrix have been a tad noisier at times and not as hard-wearing.
Uberbike race matrix for me
+1, as fooman said they seem to have hit upon the best compromise of power Vs pad life.
I thought they had more power than the kevlar version but it's always hard to tell as all pads feel crap until bedded in, then they're great, then they wear out/get contaminated/glaze and you replace them and the new pads which then feel great once bedded in, and the cycle goes on.
If you want some I think I've got several spare sets for those shimano brakes as I had them on my now sold singlespeed, so obviously they lasted longer than I expected!
Also reminds me I need to order some more for my other bikes.
Swisstop RS seemed to get a great review from road.cc for low noise with similar power to Shimano. I just couldn't tell if they did them for my current generation Deore 2-pots or not...
https://road.cc/content/review/270779-swissstop-disc-34-rs-pads
Uberbike kevlar for me til recently, they're very good.
I can't really call this a recommendation, because I've only tried them in one type of brakes and I'd hate to think of someone else buying them and then being horribly killed, but, I've switched now to Bikein ceramics from aliexpress, which cost £7.90 for 4 pairs, but seem just as good as all the obviously-made-cheaply-in-china UK rebranding companies' products anyway. I was cautious, then I did a week in the alps including the mega with them, and a chunk of winter scottish #enduro, now I am not cautious.