I think what he means is are there any alternatives, eg. hope mono trial, avid bb7, magura hs33 or a vee. It depends on what you like, say if you had to ride down a big hill to the train station or something, it would be no good with a magura or a vee because it would just eat the pads and change the compound. There are a wide range of magura pads which are designed for all different rim surfaces, grind, tar or smooth, it depends on what pads you run. Harry!