I can't say enough nice things about these shoes. Except I never imagined a set of middling no-name brakes on my street bike could stop so well. Such a difference from the old pads; When I first applied them I almost threw myself. Thought I'd also have to clean the rims to get good results. Ha! I bet I could oil them up and still stop fine. They just really grab the rim. They don't seem to care how how wet, or how cold, or how dark ;) out it is. My style of riding is mostly as a life-long reasonably aggressive transportation street rider in Manhattan NYC. So brakes are a good thing. I've had them on for a few weeks in various conditions. All good. Cool looking too. And to me they seem very well priced for what they are. Solid hardware. Kool Stop Bicycle V-Type Holder with Brake Pads (Dual Compound)
Initially I had nothing but good things to say about these pads. Today, I was caught in my first downpour since installing them and my opinion has changed.
These are installed on Avid Shorty 6 cantilever brakes, on a bike with 700c Mavic rims. They replaced the stock Avid pads. The old pads worked alright. They were neither great nor terrible. My main annoyance was mediocre power and squealing whenever the rim was wet. When I first installed the Kool Stops, I noticed a slight increase in braking power. Nothing extraordinary, but better than the Avid pads. Changing out the link wire on the front brake for a much shorter wire (lowering the yoke height) substantially increased the power, to the level of most v-brakes I've used. They also squealed much less than the Avid pads, left the rims clean, and were super easy to install.
I didn't have any super wet days until today to test them, and since riding in today's rain I have lowered my opinion somewhat. They were as quiet as before, but with such wet conditions, the black compound rubbed off onto the rims and the braking power dropped substantially. I could still stop them when I squeezed hard, but didn't experience the amazing wet performance everyone raves about with Kool Stops. I suspect that a switch to salmon-only pads may help, so I'll report back after these pads wear out.
Overall, not as amazing as I had hoped, but noticeably better than the stock Avid pads.
A great set of brake pads. I only have a couple of rides on them and so far no complaints. These pads really grab the rim, great stopping power. I have not had them in the wet so I can not comment on their ability to work when wet. Inserts are made to be replaceable when worn, nice feature.
I like this brakes because one can replace the pads without having to throw also the pad holder.
The breaking is strong and very smooth compared with my stock tektro pads. Slightly noisy when breaking a low speed.
My loss is everyone else gain... in my little review that is! Fortunately my misfortune allowed me to experiment these brake pads with 3 different rim types, thanks to some bike wheel thief that stole my back rim (front was locked only) 4 days after I installed them. So for this review I will break it down to 3 segments!
1. Original stock rims that came on my Diamondback Insight 3 (Freedom Aero Racine 2.0 by WTB). They are machine braked and feel pretty rough. The Kool Stop pads worked pretty good actually, pretty silent and felt smooth when I stopped. But 4 days into using them my rear wheel got stolen and that ended the extent of my experience with rim set 1.
2. Old school rims from a Trek Hybrid are next. I bought them for $40 off a man who was desperate for money (and I was desperate for rims right away). They were 27 inch instead of 700c and NOT machine braked. I had this heavy wheel set for over 2 weeks and complained how I could not go as fast and how they were not aerodynamic. BUT I did not realize until I got my new wheel set (see review 3) that the brake pads worked the best on the smooth surface of these rims, including in rainy days. I was amazed how lightly I would press the levers and how silky smooth my bike would come to a stop. If I wanted to stop on the dime, a little harder of course. AND ABSOLUTELY NO NOISE!!!
3. Now I bought the cheap rims so I can buy time in order to get a nice set for a good price, which ends up being Mavic Ksyriums. These are definitely the best wheel set I had so far in terms of quality, with the machine braked surface on the rims a little smoother than the stock rims my bike came with. BUT the Kool Stops scream each time I hit the breaks. They also do not stop right away... but good enough. But let me tell you again they SCREAM, the harder I hit the levers, the louder they screech.
Considering time has gone between my 1st and 3rd set, I do not know if they screech after a while or if it is just my Ksyriums, but I know right before the switch, the brake pads were a dream come true with the second set. Another thing I wanted to add is that they are high quality brakes and I barely see any wear on them after almost 3 months of service (and I do ride far, fast and rough). And they are silky smooth with the Ksyriums. I love how the screeching scares people away when you bike behind them... but sometimes I feel embarrassed and want to say "Hey they are high end brakes on a great bike," thus I just wish they were quieter.
I gave them 4 stars because of durability and stopping power in the rain... plus the smooth feel when you brake softly... but I would of gave 5 if my experience was only with the smooth rims! So if you got smoothies, you cannot go wrong with this set! But if you hate the screeching noise, forget about them!
Took the brakes out for their first spin yesterday evening. What can I say except that I stopped! I haven't tested them out in any type of adverse conditions or aggressive riding situations, but I thought it prudent to take it easy on them the first go around. Will update review at a later date as I get more miles on them. - Pads - Kool Stop'
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