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Im off to the Alps in July for 8 days for some uplift assisted riding. what brake pads should i look at whats the minimum number of sets i should take? brakes are SLX m675 180mm front,160mm rear (these may both go up 20mm each yet)on an orange alpine.
I've always used superstar and never got through a set
New ones, and take some spares - sintered work well for me
Kevlar, kevlar, kevlar.
Sintered work and last, but in the alps they'll be squealing like hell with the long runs and will overheat quick.
Organic is good, but you'll go through those fast and remember it can rain in the alps in the summer. They'll be destroyed in a day in the wet. In fact I destroyed kevlars last year in two days in Morzine, but one of those days was biblical level of rain and mud. Went through to the backing plate. Wasn't squealing much though, but the sintered guys were making a hell of a racket.
And +1 for Superstar kevlar. Their sintered may not be amazing, but the kevlar are great, and you can get 4 for the price of one set of original branded pads.
just checked the original pads which have done a fair few rides in all conditions(mostly wet) and theres still loads of life left! should of checked before asking on here really but seeing as they have lasted this long ill go for more of those i reckon.
not tried superstar pads yet but the 4 pack deals do look tempting.
Last thing you want to do is buy any while you are there, unless you take a credit card with a high limit, or take a bank loan out before you go.
I just use Avid Organic pads for my Elixers and they've always been fine.
I've opted for SS Kevlar for this yrs trip to Spain due to a fair bit of squeezing last year. Hope Tech M4's if it matters with 183mm F&R
Staying with the same type as last year - Shimano M985 sintered finned pads on nice big (Shimano) discs.
Resin and Kevlar just wear out too fast and I've never noticed any appreciable increase in brake performance.
SLX F&R with 203mm 'standard' steel disc/alloy carrier (not Ice Tech) for me.
I agree with Dain_Bramaged: My Shimano finned/sintered lasted 2 alps trips + multiple Enduro races last year with no issues. Running F203, R180 'normal' disks. Took loads of spare pads as heard nightmares about brake wear - didn't need them!
Now using SS kevlar front, Uberbikes sintered rear - Would happily use Shimano sintered again, but 4 pairs for the price of 1 pair of shimano was too good a deal to pass up on.
From my experience, the Shimano finned and sintered should be fine.
I use superstar kevlar for pretty much everything, probably not the best but never too bad. I figure on replacing pads in an alps trip but I can't really fault that- that's changing a little early instead of risking running them low, and taking a decent amount home. (I think I milked a full week out of a set the first time, on account of I took 4 sets of spares for the wrong bike...)
Did try Uberbike race matrix last year, binned them very quickly, they didn't seem to be able to cope with the heat- went very inconsistent. But ymmv, they get good reviews, I was bummed.
Depends how and what you ride. I've always put a new set on and never needed another but I'm in the slow and steady rather than the ripper category. Biggest issue I had was dragging the rear brake constantly and overheating the fluid, operator error. Take a spare set for sure but IMO one is enough.