Brake pads for 26" trials bike

[loddie]

Inspired by James Barton and his riding a 26" trials bike, I thought I would try a similar setup. I found a setup of Hayes HFX Mag disc brakes with 200mm rotors and Goodrich stainless steel brake lines laying around which I had forgotten about. I'd like to repurpose them for a 26" trials bike. I fully realize that Hayes brakes are not very good, but I'm curious if any anyone can recommend aftermarket brake pads and/or and mods to make the Hayes brakes OK?  Thanks!

 

[La Bourde]

I was really happy with the trickstuff! Power brakepads. I don't know if they exist for these Hayes brakes.

The Jitsie brakepads have also a good call.

 

[loddie]

Thanks La Bourde!   Jitsie doesn't have pads for the Hayes Mag, but Trickstuff does. I will try the Trickstuff pads if I can find a way to import them to the USA.

[La Bourde]

You are welcome!

Be careful, they have several models and I only tested the power and power + (the + version isolates the pistons more from the heat ...does not make sense for trials use).

[loddie]

OK, will do. On their website, the only have "ECO" and "ST" for the Hayes Mag. I'm not sure what ECO stands for but I think "ST" stands for "Standard" with are organic, semi-metallic. It seems the ST is for durability as one retailer states "Compared to the Trickstuff Power pads, their [ST pads] braking power and temperature resistance is somewhat lower."  Given how much cheaper the "ECO" models are, my guess is they are "ECOnomical".

Despite these brakes being quiet old, there are a lot of replacement pad options. However, it is hard to know their performance just be reading. There are a lot on Aliexpress and some of them specific the coefficient of friction, which is nice, but can these numbers be trusted and how do they compare to better known brands which don't specific a coefficient of friction. 

I have some studying to do to learn about organic, semi-metallic, copper-alloy, copper-free, ceramic, resin, fiberglass, kevlar, and other specs/qualities for brake pads... Hopefully 200mm rotors will make up for any performance deficits of lower performing pads, but this is new territory for me.

[Daan]

Since Trickstuff Power is not available for the HFX, I'd try the Galfer Green pads. They're also a very soft, high performance (and fast wearing, but for trials that doesn't really matter) organic compound.

I've also had solid performance from the Discobrakes Ceramic Pro compound in my Maguras.

[craigjames]

You could try some EBC red pads, they're supposed to be quite good. 

[loddie]

Thanks for the recommendations! I could not find a Galfer green model for the HFX, only the 'standard' pads.  It seems the Discobrakes Ceramic Pro is discontinued as they only have one pair in stock on clearance and no retailers seem to have them. 

However, there is a lot of stock through various retailers in the UK for the EBC red pads, so I'll give them a try. Surprisingly they are reasonably priced as well.🙂

[Daan]

Good one on the EBC reds, recall using them in my Formula T1 brakes on the trials bike. They had so much bite, the callipers started leaking instantly past the pistons 🤪 I also recall the HFX9 being quite reliable, so I'm sure they'll fare better!

[La Bourde]

15 hours ago, loddie said:

OK, will do. On their website, the only have "ECO" and "ST" for the Hayes Mag. I'm not sure what ECO stands for but I think "ST" stands for "Standard" with are organic, semi-metallic. It seems the ST is for durability as one retailer states "Compared to the Trickstuff Power pads, their [ST pads] braking power and temperature resistance is somewhat lower."  Given how much cheaper the "ECO" models are, my guess is they are "ECOnomical".

Despite these brakes being quiet old, there are a lot of replacement pad options. However, it is hard to know their performance just be reading. There are a lot on Aliexpress and some of them specific the coefficient of friction, which is nice, but can these numbers be trusted and how do they compare to better known brands which don't specific a coefficient of friction. 

I have some studying to do to learn about organic, semi-metallic, copper-alloy, copper-free, ceramic, resin, fiberglass, kevlar, and other specs/qualities for brake pads... Hopefully 200mm rotors will make up for any performance deficits of lower performing pads, but this is new territory for me.

Some years ago, I tried to understand what would make a great brakepad. But I soon discovered, that tribology is a broad and difficult topic. Even with a higher coefficient of friction as spec from a brand, you cannot be sure, the brake pads will perform better ... So many variables in play (pressure, temperature, weather, rotor surface, etc.). Good brakepads for downhill bikes may be bad in street/trials, cause the rotor rotation speeds differs and the brakepads are glazed.

There are a lot of different brands and models. I supposed most of them are just rebranding. For example, Hope use Galfer brakepads.  But how to recognize the clones? Difficult...

 

Do not hesitate to give feedback regarding these EBC reds.

[La Bourde]

In this article (in German, sorry), it seems that Galfer uses sintered brake pads (based on copper) especially for trials brakes (only one model of brakepad compatible with the different versions of the Hope Trials brake is available).