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Just wondered what folk are using in their Zee brakes? Â Any good, cheap alternatives to Shimano out there at the moment? Â Not bothered about fins - just looking for great performance and longevity in all conditions. Thanks v much.
PS (coz I left it too late to edit) - are Clarke's pads any good?
always used shimano finned on Xt brakes. but just got some non finned uber bike.
just as good imo.
People say the finned ones rattle annoyingly and the non-finned don't. Only tried the finned so far (and they do rattle), but I'm not in the Alps so the non-finned should be fine heat-wise. Â I'm really just curious whether to stick with Shimano or try some much cheaper alternatives.
I used Uberbike race matrix, good pads and cheap when you buy a pack of 4 with the 15/20/25% off offers their regularly do. Their sintered pads, not so much, howled a lot.
I am a fan of "brake authority" burly or ceramic, they aren't really a cheaper option but are far superior.
Using the Uberbike Race Matrix in my Zees. They now do an XL version with more pad material (and thinner backing plate) which have been wearing well.
I imagine they will have some kind of sale on this bank holiday weekend
I found off-brand pads to be inconsistent.... I bought 4 sets of pads (planet X but... not sure that's the point) and 2 sets worked great.... perhaps not AS great but perfectly well... but of the other 2 one just didn't fit and rattled and the other just never seemed to grip like the other 2... (I don't think I contaminated any but can't say 100%) and perhaps it was say wet performance suffered??? Either way they just never really performed like the branded ones
As a result I reverted back to paying more... because suddenly having inconsistent braking is crap...
That said I have 10 sets of SLX/XT I maintain (not all my bikes) and so I tend to buy a whole load when discounted... I did consider Zee for one bike but the reason I didn't was just having ANOTHER type of pads to keep spare.
I've used both the Disco Brakes and the Shimano ones. Not much difference in performance for me tbh, but I find that the Shimano do seem to last longer so I tend to stick to them these days. (Zee's on 2 bikes)
Thanks all.
Tried a few different brands (usually half price of shimano) and they all didn't last as long and didn't have the same performance. Couldn't trust them racing so back to shimano I went.