MTB Brake Pad Comparison. Resin or Metal Brake Pads. Trail Breaker

MTB Brake Pad Comparison. Resin or Metal Brake Pads. Trail Breaker
MTB brake pad material comparison. Organic, resin, semi-metallic, metallic sintered.
If you're confused about the different types of mountain bike brake pads available, you're not alone. I've always used the cheapest pads because I didn't think it was a big deal until it was a big deal! Going fast is nice but stopping fast is more important!

Today I'm talking about the pros and cons of different types of mountain bike brake pads. Hopefully this will help you to decide what might be best and encourage you to try different types.

A recent mountain descent exposed the limits of my organic/resin pads. Pretty scary!
#mtblife #mtbrepairs #downhilllife

0:00 intro
2:00 Brake overheat
2:38 Organic/resin pads
3:48 Metallic pads
5:02 Semi-metallic pads
6:08 How to change pads
7:08 How to center the caliper on the rotor

Music courtesy of the Free YouTube Music Library

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[coendost]

I cant believe how underrated this video is! Great info, and very entertaining to watch. Keep it up!

[Out_Fer_A_Rip_Bud]

I was always a sintered guy, I'm heavy and resin would fade on decents. Recently switch to ceramic pads (like car pads - not resin). Damn they are insane, modulate like resin, power and fade resist of metallic. Really worth trying out.

[drmoynihan]

Last Thursday (October 26, 2023) I rode my Commencal up 1800ft to the top of McCollough Peak on the Oregon Coast Mountain Range. It was sometimes muddy and quite a climb (McCollough Peak el 2155ft, McDonald Research Forest, Oregon Sate University). Coming down was a different trip, and all the way I was thankful for my metallic pads, front and rear. Started down PlayTime Trail*, but it was too muddy from recent rains- but it looks like the trail in this video. I ended up a different descent, the logging road which needed constant braking to keep me under 28mph. LOL :)
I thought about your video on the way down. :) Thank you!

*2 years ago I rode down Playtime, but this time would have brought damage to the trail and probably me as I slid off some steep bank.

[_HACTEHbKA_]

For trips in winter and when the weather is very wet, it is better to use brake pads made of solid copper sheet.
100% copper brake pads do not require heating like sintered metal.
and work from a cold start.
therefore they work better than baked in mud, water and in winter.

[drmoynihan]

I live in wet and muddy Oregon - but sometimes it is dry. Long climbs from 330ft to 2000 ft over 2 to 3 miles, and then screaming downhill. I ride a full suspension mtn bike with sram level t brakes. I have found having metallic on back and organic on front works for me. I have never had brake fade, but am waiting for it. If I do and/or I decided to switch anything, I will do metallic for both front and back. After this video, I think that I will throw into my backpack a set of metallic pad, just in case.
Thank you for this great video that really covers everything!!!

[frankiedoodle]

Exactly the info I needed all in one place - thanks a lot

[DeltacruzA]

I'm considering whether to buy a ceramic brake pads or semi-metallic brake pads, but you didn't show the ceramic one unfortunately😢

[danielsepulveda]

what I do and also works for me is run resin pads with shimano Ice-tech rotors 203mm, I'm agree with you that metallic pads last longer but they make me miss the grip and precision of the resin ones

[jayturnipseed]

It's always a good idea to brake hard to slow way way down and find places that you can take your fingers off the brakes completely. This always for a tiny bit of cooling to help keep the heat down.

[mtxbraking]

Just a little FYI - there is a third category of brake pads as well. We are based in Utah and produce performance ceramic brake pads in two different compounds....

[nanirocky]

I had exactly the same problem last year. The original brakes on my Bergamont Trailster were cheap shimano brakes with ressing. They were great but descending from the 2500 m mountain was painfull. I had to stop couple of times and wait till they cool down a little bit. After that i bought magura mt5 with mettalic pads. A huge difference. But magura mt5 with mettalich pads was also terrible on rainy conditions, zero breakpower. I found ressin much better on wet condition then my magura mt5 4 piston brakes. In wet condition they had zero break power and also extremly loud.

[johnvmtb]

thanks for sharing your input on different kind of brake pads. now i have to try each kind of compounds.

[jasonwu]

Love your tip on centering the caliper!!

[andrelafond]

I pretty much only run metallic pads, the reduction of brake fade has been something that I have really enjoyed, as well as the additional power, I can brake later and with more consistency, so why not?

[jonathanbrazeau]

thanks for this review TB, really helpful.... replacing my pads this summer...

[sebfont]

Thanks for the video - one tip though if I may - do not put water on discs that are mega hot... it can change the properties of the metal, and could ultimately alter your braking capabilities, which in my book is somewhat counter productive ;) Keep it up - greetings from Switzerland

[x]

I hate to break this to you, but SRAM brakes are prone to extensive brake fade. Compared to Shimano or TRP, SRAM brakes have to be serviced every week in order to offer similar performance. If you want to combat brake fade, the best and most effective way would be to get rid of your SRAM brakes and to buy a Shimano brake set. It really makes such a huge difference

[thim]

I remember reading you need to do something when going to resin from sintered. Is sanding down rotars all you need to do then. Keep up good work. Thanks for showing!

[WestysGate]

Awesome video bud, some great little tips here 🙂

[robertocornejo]

Nice video. Here’s all the info i needed. Thanks man. Keep doing this. Greeting from Peru.