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Went out for the first ride since fitting a fresh set of Shimano pads to my Shimano (105) rim brakes and I was pretty underwhelmed with the performance.
Nothing else apart from the pads had been changed other than a proper clean up of the (aluminium) rims.
They worked but I really had to put more effort into the levers and where the previous pads (not totally sure probably BBB or Clarks, whichever was cheap at the time) had plenty of grip on the rims these shimanos are really 'wooden' feeling and I don't reckon I could have locked up the rear wheel where my old pads would do it no trouble...
So what's the consensus on road bike, rim pads these days, I want affordable but decent (Shimano are now off the list).
Swiss Stop - I use them with Bontrager Speed Limit callipers on an alloy Hunt wheel set.
My riding is in the lakes - so steep descents and pretty dodgy roads - they've been great with reasonable longevity too!
I just bought an old road bike which had the standard 105 pads on it. Swapped them for some Swisstop blue I had and in the dry at least haven't noticed any difference. Both stop me as quickly as I could ever need to stop within the limits of the narrow tyres.
If you are finding that you can't stop quickly with 105 brakes then something is wrong somewhere. Do the pads need some heavy braking to remove any surface material or is that just a disc thing?
Koolstop Salmon were my go to. Softer pads wear down faster but they worked well.
Well adjusted brakes, clean pads and clean rims are important too. I used disc brake cleaner on the rims to remove grime. Spray on a cloth and wipe. I had an enamel rubber too which I used periodically. Gave the pads a scrub when cleaning the bike.
Koolstop Salmon or EagleClaw 2 is my go to pad.
But stock shimano pads are excellent as well.
If you are finding that you can’t stop quickly with 105 brakes then something is wrong somewhere.
Usually cack in the cables. Usually redo inners yearly, and outers if the inners come out particularly manky. Or if i feel like it.
Do the pads need some heavy braking to remove any surface material or is that just a disc thing?
Disc only really. Though pads can get contaminated, or "go off" if they are left somewhere daft (window ledge in the sun for a couple of years.)
Second the Swiss stop, Shimano callipers, hunt wheels, tyres will lose traction if I give it enough.
Making sure cables and housing are smooth as poss makes a massive difference to braking power.
Surprised if stock Shimano pads don't cut it, they're usually pretty good but I think wear faster (or wear rims faster!) than the likes of Swissstop.
I'm Swissstop Blue on any bike likely to see moisture or mud, and stock Ultegra pads on summer road bike.
Note if you're recabling, the new Ultegra brake cables are astonishingly good. I think they have the polymer coating though which is apparently a bit delicate so be careful when installing.
I find the Clarke's pads very good. They even do a triple compound too.
Swiss stop +1 again, although recent Shimano are better than they were 15 years ago.
And +1 again for checking the setup, road brakes work under more cable tension than V-brakes so cable quality has more of an impact. And check the actual caliper setup, there's 3 adjusters on shimano, the main bolt, the spring adjuster and the 2nd pivot adjuster, if you adjust them correctly it makes a massive difference over just eyeballing the pad gap and leaving it at that.
Another vote for SwissStop blue. My other half runs them on her road bike with 105 calipers/levers and ali rims. They work very well and are more consistent than the stock Shimano pads. They last well too despite some mucky, year-round riding.
Shimano R55C4 rim brake pads are excellent in my experience, and I've tried Swisstops and Exalith pads too.
Seems incredibly unlikely the pad compound is stopping you from locking a wheel.
Biggest difference for me, was using Swissstop cleaning block on the rims. Surprised how much stuff came off newish rims and there was a definite bite to the brakes after cleaning, there is also a video on how to use the block.
Biggest difference for me, was using Swissstop cleaning block on the rims
Interesting! I bought one but almost immediately gave up on it, seemed quite fiddly and labour intensive... Easier just to use some fine wet+dry
Maybe try running as bit of sandpaper over the shimano pads to take off the glossy finish?
I've got Zipp wheels and you can only run their own pads or certain Swissstop. All are great than £30 a pair 🙁