Pad Reviews

[Mark W]

Right.

Not that it's really annoying (well, yeah, it IS), but can you please try and keep pad reviews in ONE thread?

There are threads specifically about RimJam pads, Heatsinks and...er..."Tart" pads, so please think about the children and post reviews in there. Please. Someone think of the children.

Either way, it's getting out of hand. There are more reviews from people who've just opened envelopes with pads in than are really necessarily. Equally, if people are thinking of buying pads, if all the reviews for a company are in one thread, it's a lot easier. And, again, it's not half as annoying.

One last thing - if you're writing a review:

1. If you've only just received the pads and have ridden for less than a day, DON'T click Post Reply. One day of riding means very, very little.

2. If you've only just received the pads, we don't care if there's "No noticeable wear". There won't be.

3. Keep it simple. Pad type. Mod/Stock. Rim type. Rim surface (ground, tar, etc.).

4. Simple review. Good/not so good. Give reasons.

So yeah, just to stop people like my good self getting pissed off, follow these rules. M'kay?

Mark.

Heres the standard review format

Pads:

Time used:

Rim used:

Grind: Yes/No

Ceraminc: Yes/No

Brake used: Magura/V

What is your opinion of a working brake:

How do they compare to previous pads you have used:

Review:

[JTM]

Pads: Tarty Blacks

Time used: Nearly 2 months

Rim used: Echo

Mod/Stock: Stock

Grind: Yes

Brake used: Magura, normal lever, normal hose, standard booster on 4 bolt

Review:

To be honest, at first I wasnt that impressed. They sounded great which gave the impression of a good brake, but they wouldnt hold. Well its been a couple of weeks now, still using the same worn-ish grind and Im happy to say they did as Adam had said, and bedded in. Due to tyre/booster issues, I am not using my prefered set up and therefore there is more mush than id like to my brake. Still, these pads are working rather nicely now. Nice sound, nice lock and nice hold. Better than my koxx bloxx at their peak were (that is the point which I compare all brakes to these days). I am still wanting to give the rim a fresh grind, rebleed my brake and get my prefered booster back on so hopefully they should improve even further. All I can say is, for a tenner, you might as well give them a go as they are better than anything else ive used on the market, and from what ive heard from others, the best of the home made pads aswell.

The wear rate is decent, worn bout 1mm in 2 months. Mine have worn with weird edges but most pads do that 'cos of the grind and pad wobbles on the piston.

Well done Ad ^_^

[tank_rider]

Pads: Tarty

Time Used: 1 month

Rim: D521

Grind: Yes

Brake: Magura

Opinion of working brake: Something that locks no matter how much force you put through it (within trials riding)

comparison: I have previously used monty x-hydras (on a smooth 521cd rim) and koxx bloxx on a ground 521. These pads have better lock than either of my previous setups, and to my great supprise actually have some modulation too.

Review: I know you are going to say "wait until you have had them longer" however i believe i have put a fair few hours into these pads in a number of conditions and so can justify a decent review. Initially the new pads on a new grind were good. Plenty of modulation with pretty mych as much lock as i had had before. After a few hours they began to bed in and the lock steadily increased to immense. I then rode some natural which resembled a quagmire for a good few hours, and the pads were still performing excellently, with the power far exceeding anything i have seen is those conditions before. The pic below is of my rim and brake after the session, to show the condition it was in.

Following this i made a half hearted attempt at cleaning my rim, so due to a relatively dirty rim performance wasn't as good as previous to the muddy ride, however it was still plenty good enough for me and about on par with my previous setups. I now have a new fresh grind on the rim and have put about 8 hours riding onto it, and all of the lock has returned but still retaining some modulation.

On the wear front, at the time of the regrind, there was minimal wear of about 0.5mm on one pad and less on the other, this has mainly been due to the bedding in of the pads and the muddy natural riding.

All in all i have been very impressed, the performance has been great and the wear has been less than that of my monty x-hydras, but more than that of my koxx bloxx, which afte a year showed about 1mm wear but performed no whoere near as well)

[zoojames]

Pads: Heatsink Batch C's

Time used: Approx 8 hours good trials use

Rim used: EX721

Grind: No

Ceraminc: No

Brake used: Magura

What is your opinion of a working brake: I used to run a real solid brake to hold but now am using a slightly weaker brake.

How do they compare to previous pads you have used: Better than the usual maggy pads I've ridden with - Blacks and Kool Stops, also ridden bikes with monty milks and x-hyrda's. (All with out grinds but lotsa tar)

Review: I just wanted to post this as alot of people were asking me about them at the hampshire comp on Sunday! Im running a completely clean rim no tar no nothing! CLEAN! So when I put these pads on and they held as if they had tar on I was quite shocked! The pads hold superbly and make that satisfied squeek when they hold. Bad points have to be my brake is now wayyyyyy spongey due to compound compression occuring, still this is little to pay for the holding power. I am aiming to grind my rim soon and see about the wear rate as at the moment it has worn little but bedded in! Shame Steve doesn't make them as imo they are perfect for a clean rim.

Short n sweet (Y)

James

[ScotchDave]

Pads: Rimkam blue compound

Time used: I've had them for 3 weeks+ and I've ridden em a bare minimum of 12 hours

Rim used: 521

Grind: No

Ceraminc: Yes

Brake used: Deore arms 2 boosters, xt levers with no blocks removed a full outer odyssey brake lines cable with krytecg lube

What is your opinion of a working brake: Locks and has loads of power, decent bite and a wee smidgen of modulation.

How do they compare to previous pads you have used: They lock better than plaz crvs but have less bite but the wear rate is a lot better. (These are the only other pads I have used on the ceramic rim, so I won't mention other ones.)

Review: When I recieved the pads I fitted them to my adapters and set up the brake pads flat to the rim I then went for a ride. The pads worked well straight from the off, with a very nice squeak as promised but were slightly mushier than the crvs. After doing a few ups I gained enough confidence to try and use as little pressure on the lever as possible and was shocked how little pressure I needed to make the pads lock and hold. Next was the gap test, the gap is a decent size (aruond 5 feet) and it has a pretty tricky landing so I tried it, eventually I ended up doing the same thing as before, reducing pressure and again the results were impressive.

On my next ride I rode the pads in the wet (read pishing rain) and they worked about as well as the crvs did maybe slightly better, the bite was not really there but the power was out in force, I did the same gap mentioned before and the pads held well.

I then went and found a big puddle and dumped me back wheel in it, this led to a loss of power (no shit sherlock :( ) but once I'd ridden around dragging the brake the pads bedded in more and more eventually I ended up with a very powerful but easily controlable back brake. The bite was almost as good as the crvs but there was more power on tap with less pressure. Needless to say I was impressed.

Throughout the time I've had the pads I have recieved the same reliable, predictable braking. Whenever I did get a bit of fade (thanks to glasgows streets being the oiliest in britain :) :) ) all I had to do was dunk the rim in water again and voila back to the same performance.

Now for the most important part, wear rate, I measured wear on these pads, and at the most worn part the pads have worn a maximum of 1 mm (if that) I am happy with this after all the controversy surrounding the wear rate.

EDIT

Sorry for the lecture. :"> (Y)

Edited November 15, 2004 by div

[Bucky]

Pads: Heatsink Batch B

Time used: 3 weeks (around 50 hours)

Rim used: X721(new D521) with a fresh grind to start with (allowing to wear with the pads)

Grind: Yes/No Yes

Ceraminc: Yes/No No

Brake used: Magura/V Magura HS33 with standard booster and lever

What is your opinion of a working brake: great Hold when needed (ie edge of a drop) yet plenty of modulation when needed.

How do they compare to previous pads you have used: better bite than koxx bloxx and better hold than plazmatics.

Review: i used them for the first weekend at shipley glen in damp weather for around 6 hours and they never slipped and felt really responsive, yet when i measured how much they had worn it was less than 1mm.

the second weekend i was riding shipley again but very wet this time, again a great response from brake at all times and all conditions the sunday was the tyketrial at back cowm quarry(expert 26" route) in the soaking wet and very muddy filthy competition conditions.

i was really impressed with how well the brake was working through out the comp. despite me deliberatly getting my wheels as dirty as possible by jumping in puddles and riding through bogs. at the end of the day the brake started to slightly fall back in performance but it out lasted all my expectations.

this weekend just past was spent riding shipley glen and keighley street both at which the brake felt perfectly biting and modulating when required.

i have also been using the same bike to ride the 7 mile round trip to work and back every weekday over the past three weeks and there is plenty of meat left on the pads.

overall top pads till the bitter end(well almost but not many people ride that long in those conditions)

well done HEATSINK for such great pads :)

Bucky.

Edited November 21, 2004 by Bucky

[Dai the Socket]

Pads: Heatsink Blue Batch C's

Time used: Approx 24 hours constant trials minimum.

Rim used:Koxx Wide 20" (37mm?)

Grind: Yes,

Ceraminc: No

Brake used: 2004 Magura

What is your opinion of a working brake: A brake that locks your rear wheel up exactly when you want it to and under any amount of pressure does not slip, while still releasing instantaniously when you release the lever blade.

How do they compare to previous pads you have used: Awsome. My old koxx bloxx were holding ok but when you put a certain amount of pressure on them, like hopping up slanted rocks etc it slipped and caused great frustration. The heatsink C's have none of this. They lock when you want them to and hold until you let go. I have actually never had any pads this good and was surprised and shocked at the performance of them.

Review:

I have had these pads on for about 1 months and a week now and have rode with them about 2 out of 5 week nights, and all Sunday.

For the first 2 - 3 weeks i had tar on an old grind and it was working very well with very little wear rate, hardly noticable.

After week 3 (approx) I cleaned the rim, re-ground it and re-set up my brake.

I thought that at that time my brake couldn't actually get any better except for working better in the wet, as the tar made it f*** up a little bit :) but it wasn't too bad.

I was wrong. :)

With a fresh grind and tar less I had incredible locking power and found that it's releasing time was quicker than my fingers.

The pad was slightly spongey but not as bad as some of the people with 10mm pads (I had 7 mm ones cut becuase of my rim on my frame). Apparently a 'known' problem is that, in some cases, the batch C pads can work loose from the backings but this isn't occuring on mine. (Y)"

Hopefully I am the first to comment on the 'New Gen' pads to be announced very shortly and manufacturing of these top class moulded pads is due to commense december time, but will only be given to the Heatsink team. Public Sale will follow afterwards.... :D

Hope that was informative and not too boring! I remembered the :D 's near to the end to brighten it up abit.

Edit:

:D

Edited November 15, 2004 by mod661

[Sam Nichols]

Pads: HEATSINKS BATCH B

Time used: Just under 2 months

Rim used: Mavic D521 (the new ones... X721 or summit)

Grind: Yes - very very harsh grind

Ceraminc: Nope

Brake used: Magura

What is your opinion of a working brake: Solid as a rock, no slippage, only comes in about a cm or two

How do they compare to previous pads you have used: Used to use magura blacks and tar, this was crap. Now i use heatsinks with no tar and it's awesome

Review: Brilliant pads, nice and hard but still hold really really well. I've had no problems with them whatsoever apart from quite a quick wear rate (this is no major problen though since they are 10mm - also my harsh grind is a big factor in the wear rate!)

Cheers, sam

[Janson]

Pads: Heatsink Batch A

Time used: Two months

Rim used: Alex DX32

Grind: Yes

Ceraminc: No

Brake used: Magura bled with tap water

What is your opinion of a working brake: Anything that gives predictable braking, hasn't to be super grabby or instant lockage, but has to be predictable and consistent.

How do they compare to previous pads you have used: They were on par with Koxx Bloxx on a fresh/medium worn grind in the dry, and in the wet. More predictable than Bloxx in the mud.

Review: Feeling about the same as Bloxx, I was expecting similar results, after the things I had heard about them. Ground my rim, fitted and adjusted the pads, and started riding. First half hour the brake worked OK, slipped a bit now and then, but nothing major.

After about three hours the pads 'felt' fully bedded in. Brake squeaked nicer than with the Bloxx, but worked just as well.

Time for comp. Day before comp: Rain! Woo, muddy competitions, great brake tester. I was hoping for something a bit more predictable than my Bloxx were, and yep, they were. After about an hour in the mud, my brake was far more powerful and grabbier than Gurra's brake (bloxx on dx32 with grind), which proved something.

They wore down pretty fast though, went through about 2-3 mm of pad in the comp, which was about 3 hours long. I drag my brake alot though.

The 'sinks mk1 wear faster than Bloxx (common knowledge), and that was what I experienced.

They'd be my No. 1 pads for muddy and wet competitions though, as they were very consistent during the whole competition.

Woop. Great pads. Newer ones might be even better.

[haydon_peter]

Pads: Heatsink Batch A's

Time used: Steve sent this pair out to me on 6th August (Christ that was ages ago!)

Rim used: Koxx/Try-All 20"

Grind: Yes

Ceraminc: No

Brake used: HS33, 4 bolt, standard lever etc... no booster.

What is your opinion of a working brake: Locks well when you need it, works in all weather conditions.

How do they compare to previous pads you have used: Better than the Koxx Bloxx I used on the same set-up

Review: Before installing the pads all I decided to do was clean out the grind with a wire brush (Did not re-grind for a fair test when compaired to the koxx bloxx that were on the bike already), first impressions were the pads performed slightly better than the koxx bloxx. The pads still slipped at the extremes but did not slip as much as the koxx bloxx.

These pads were used for a whole weekend in Porthcawl riding with Prawn, Bigman etc... and after feeling the performance of their heatsinks I was not happy with the performance of my set up and decided to re-grind. Re-grinding the rim made a crazy difference, the pads locked stupidly well and were generally very powerfull. I also found that a grind would get worn away within a couple of days when koxx bloxx were used, but the Heatsinks did not wear the grind anywhere near as quickly. I still have the same grind on the rim today.

These pads were used for a couple of weeks before re-grinding. I then re-ground the rim and spent 4 days in Derby with Jon Fisher, durring these 4 days the pads were ridden 4-6 hours per day (Maybe even more!) Since this trip I have really only managed to ride weekends due to full time work but usually manage at least 4 hours riding every weekend.

Admittedly the pads are more or less completely knackered now, and dont have much time left in them now, oh and I did put a small amount of tar on one side of the rim while riding Reading on saturday :"> (Due to the aging grind). I have a pair of Batch C's waiting to be put on when I get the chance to re-grind and set up the brake (Not sure if they will fit but I will get them on the bike somehow!)

Top service, pads sent promptly, I even got sent the spare Batch B's before sending Steve the cheque! Also got sent 2 newsletters and a few stickers (Which I spose I should put on my bike somewhere) >_<

All in all I'm happy with the pads and the service.

Tic

[that NBR dude]

Pads: Heat Sink B's and C's

Time used: B's 2 months, C's 1 month

Rim Used: D521

Gind: No

Ceramic: No

Brake used: HS33, 2 HS33 Boosters, RB Lever

What is your opinion of a working brake: Plenty of bite and hold, with good all round weather braking

Review: To be honest, Im not going to sugar coat these pads as some people do. I got them as I wanted to experiment, as finding pads for polished rims is near impossible. I have been told by many people to grind my rim, but I havent got the confidence to do it, thus never will.

People said that the Batch B pads were softer than Koxx bloxx, so should work better, but I have to say I was dissapointed. The pads would hardly grip the rim, and no where near as much bite as my koxx bloxx. When the weather turned wet, things got even more dissapointing, but this happens with all pads on polished rims.

I Got the Batch C's expecting them to be just what Im looking for. A nice super soft compound that will grip and hold nicely. This was the case for about 5 minutes, until the tacky surface on the pad wore away, when they turned like all other pads. I was also not impressed with the "pad flex". These pads compressed so much, that my lever would touch the bar, whereas before with other pads it wouldn't.

Both of these pads worked excellent with Tar, but lets face it, black pads would work well with tar. Pad wear in my situation means nothing, but I havent noticed any real difference in either set.

Im sorry that this isn't the usual "bumming" review and I know thats its my loss for not running a grind, but I just think that surely one pad out there would work well enough for us people who are affraid of grinding our rims. I doubt this review will be at all helpful to anyone, as Im sure im alone on the rim grinding issue, but you never know.

Andy

[Brisa]

Pads:Heatsink Batch A

Time used:Since August/September

Rim used:D521

Grind: Yes

Ceraminc: No

Brake used: Magura

What is your opinion of a working brake: Something that will give a feeling of bite and also good lock, modulation isn't really top of my list.

How do they compare to previous pads you have used: Well I used koxx bloxx before and found them to be a good pad but as they were easily available.. better than montys and easier to get than plaz but when steve brought the batch a's out i bought 2 sets. They give me more of a bite than my bloxx did as my bloxx seemed to squeal a lot but not do a lot of locking and also held better. I ride in all conditions and found them to hold my 14 stone on akward landings etc very well.

Review: As said above im not a small guy but i am not the rider that go's huge u see in some vids on here but i put a lot of strain though bike parts and my back brake really needs to be top notch (as everyones). I bought 2 sets of batch a and set my first ones up in a few mins in a hurry out and they wore real quick but im not suprised as the angle they were at was silly then on my second set i took some time and set them up perfectly square to the rim and made sure they wern't gonna move. They have lasted me to the current day and i have been more than happy with the amount of power/hold these pads have on boths wet conditions and dry.

[zoojames]

Would just like to say that yesterday my Batch C's ripped off the backings :P after talking with Steve he has had experiences with this and thus has created solutions to this problem! I'd say to people running the pads with 10mm of compound watch out (as the more compound the more stress of ripping off) this could be very painfull and so just be careful and check your pads before and after each ride!

Im still looking forward to my New Gen pads as my experience with the Batch C's have been the complete opposite to Andy untill it hits the wet.

In conclusion...be careful! Oh and take spare pads out with you :P :)

Cheers

James :P

[nb88]

Pads:Heatsink Batch B

Time used:Around 5 months

Rim used:ALEX DX31 (i think thats what its called....)

Grind: Yes

Ceraminc: No

Brake used: Magura

What is your opinion of a working brake: A brake that works (N)

How do they compare to previous pads you have used: Have used koxx bloxx, plazmatic CRMs and koolstops. Heatsinks are probably the best ive used. Plazmatic CRMs were brilliant in summer, but suck a bit in the wet, even on a grind. Heatsinks seem to be very consistent. I think theyre also a lot grippier than koxx bloxx and have more bite.

Review: Very nice pads. For the first few rides they seemed to be worse than my koxx bloxx.CRMs, but after a little while they were perfect, and are very good. Only disadvantage after this is the wear rate, but theres enough pad there to last a fair while. Hold very well, even in the wet, and seem to work a lot better than koxx bloxx on clean rims aswell as grinds. Very pleased :( .

[TomN]

Pads: Heatsink's Batch C

Time used: 1 month

Rim used: D521

Grind: Yes

Ceraminc: No

Brake used: Magura, bodged TPA, Water.

What is your opinion of a working brake: Nice solid feel, works in most conditions

How do they compare to previous pads you have used: Pads i used before were Koolstops, Standard black pads and Monty X-Hydra pads all three pads i used with tar no grind and the pads i found was the Monty ones held when i needed it to lock, But these lock well on a grind.

Review: When i got these pads off my mate i thought ill grind my rim as everyone said is best to. I did and it was great, lock well once it was bedded in, sound was there to reasure my brake work. But only thing i wasn't keen on was my brake was a bit spongy, and the pads came off the backings and the pads have rouned off at the ends, when my brake touch the rim flat.

[Phatmike]

Pads: Tarty Pads

Time used: Month and a bit

Rim used: Koxx 40mm (peice of wank :rolleyes:)

Grind: Various, from very dull, to pretty sharp.

Ceraminc: Nope

Brake used: Magura, recently R.B lever blade and XTR booster.

What is your opinion of a working brake: Grips no matter what, but doesn't stick. Works in all weathers. Has to have awsome hold, but preferably not too much grab. (For manuals etc)

How do they compare to previous pads you have used: No pads without a smidge of tar have come close to these. I've had: Magura red, black, monty long & short, koxx bloxx, heatsink A's, Rim Jam red and blue, and these kick the pants off all of them. Depending on the type of grind, they can be really grabby (insane hold), or not so grabby (like i've got now), but still the insane hold. They just don't move!!

The wear rate is fantastic, but purely due to my set up (4-bolt mounts on echo are way too high up), so i've had to set them up at an agle, and i've been constantly changing the set up, they've worn a little more than they would normally. (Hardly)

I really can't fault these pads, they're just awsome. (Y) £10, really can't go wrong!!

:P

[trialskid]

Pads: koxx bloxxs reds

Time used: weekish, so around 24 hours none stop riding on natural and street

Rim used: 521

Grind: Yes

Ceramic: No

Brake used: Magura with canti studs, maggie and shimano booster.

What is your opinion of a working brake: a nice amount of modulation but will bite when you pull the lever right in

How do they compare to previous pads you have used: pretty damn good. i havent tried many maggie pads coming from a v for a while. but i have tried montys (small ones) koxx bloxxs (brown ones) and black maggie ones and they seem a fair bit better than any of them.

Review: i got the pads and i wasnt to keen on the look of them. there was 5mm of backing which looked like nothing, well 5mm worth i spose but yeah there isnt a lot of pad on them for the £20 frigin quid haha. also they looked real sketch the way they were stuck on. they looked all wonky and looked as though you could ust pull them off. didnt bother trying to though as im not one for wasting money. so yeah i went a head and put them on and to be honest im crap at setting up brakes especially on canti stud things. but i put them on as good as i could and put a fresh grind in my rim adn went out the front and it was mint! it held like a bitch even when i had been messing around with oily hands touching my rim etc. i tryed getting up a wall and landed on the flat bit and they still didnt budge. all the pushing on the pedals wont move them either. but with this i have lost my modulation but oh well you win some and loose some. i am extreamly amazed that my grind has stayed so sharp to, as with my old brown koxxs the grind seemed to go within 3 days. but it has stayed sharp to this day :closedeyes: which only makes braking better and my life easier :- . they do have a nice sound when they bite to, its a bit like the zoo pads and fills you with an ounce of confidence to do them lovely silver rails. i also havent really noticed much wear in the pads and with the amount of riding i do this is quite impressive. i went though a set of monty small pads in a night on a freshly ground rim so in comparison to these they are pretty durable. the performance doesnt really seem to dip in the wet conditions either which is a nice bonus :D

so to sumerise i would say these pads are pretty damn good. BUT the only gay thing is the price and with so many other pads like tart/daves, heatsinks etc for like £12 and maybe better braking they really dont compare and are a bit of a rip off. but if you have the money and have tried the other "home made" pads but want to try something different i would recommend these as i have been very impressed with thier holding ability. :)

Edited December 12, 2004 by trialskid

[rhythm_101]

PADS: heatsink batch cs'

TIME USED: 15hrs riding, spread over a looooooong time :P :P

RIM USED: onza hog/koxx/cheese rim

GRIND: no

CERAMIC: no

BRAKE USED: magura four bolt, standard lever and oil with R&B brake booster(TI bolts)

WHAT?S YOUR OPINION ON A GOOD WRKING BRAKE: imense power for lazy people, i don't like too grind my rim so a pad that works well on a smooth rim and has a decent life

HOW DO THEY COMPARE WITH OTHER PADS YOU?VE USED:

i've only used kool stops( :"> ) but they used to work for me, but these pads are awsome! i had a small stint with monty pads (35mm) and these blow them away.

REVIEW: when i recieved these pads i was delighted that they came with so much material, that was until i tried to fit them, with a wide rim these pads are quite difficult to fit, i had to grind them down (file, saw stanley knife wouldn't touch these beauties!) to roughly 8.5mm each pad, they fitted nicely and worked ok from the start, i noticed whilst riding rocks in the heat (26 degrres upwards) they performed reasonably well, but felt spongey and lacked the lock i wanted, after riding more i noticed they became better, but it wasn't until the weather got worse that they started to work amzingly ( :S ), when it had a slight damp in the air these pads were crazy powerful they didn't feel overly spongey (quite confortable actually!) and after a good 8-10 hours they were perfect, an example: front touch to wall all my weight on the edge over the bak wheel, my old pads would've given up the ghost a long tima ago, but they held and allowed me to shift my weight forward. i cannot put across how well these work on a clean smooth cheese rim, im very impressed and his service is excellent, i look forward to using his pads in the future :lol:

Edited January 5, 2005 by rhythm_101

[thesubway]

PADS: Viz Pads

TIME USED: About 10hours

RIM USED: Echo

GRIND: Yes

CERAMIC: No

BRAKE USED: magura four bolt, standard lever, bled with water :-" with Echo 4bolt booster.

WHAT IS YOUR OPINION ON A GOOD WORKING BRAKE: Has to grip well in all weathers, no matter what.

HOW DO THEY COMPARE WITH OTHER PADS YOU'VE USED: I think they are the best pads I've used so far! But then again I've only ever used kool stops and black pads.

REVIEW: When I first fitted these pads, I was running no grind and they worked soooo well on a smooth rim! (Y) But after about 5hours of riding they started to slip. So i put a lightish grind on my wheel, I've never had a brake work sooo well. It grips no matter what!! I am very pleased with them. They don't seem to wear that much either.

[Nick Garland]

Pads: Rim Jam Blues

Time used: 3 Rides (18 hours ish)

Rim used: Planet-X

Grind: Yes (its dead though)

Ceraminc: No

Brake used: Magura 2005

What is your opinion of a working brake: A brake that has enough modulation when

required but will hold in all conditions.

How do they compare to previous pads you have used: They grip amazingly and have decent modulation for manuals etc. They are better than CRM's imo but dont beat the squeek of a monty pad.

Review: Theres pads are very good. When they first arrived I was very impressed with the quality of them. After fitting they didnt move around in the cylinder like some people have said. They worked amazing from the first pull, no need to bed them in they held so well, I didnt need to put the lever hard to get them to hold it takes very little effort. They havnt shown any signs on severe wear bu have worn about 0.1mm as there is some blueness on my rim but very minute wear. They dont have the squeek when braking but they do when you drag the brake which annoyed me abit as they are supposed to have an amazing squeek.

Overall very impressed with the pads 9/10 deffinatly worth £10. (not 10/10 as they are not perfect, nothing is)

[*OnzaMike*]

PADS: Viz Pads

TIME USED: Not sure.. Months riding?

RIM USED: (onza tmag wheel)

GRIND: Yes

CERAMIC: No

BRAKE USED: magura four bolt, standard lever, bled with water with Echo 2bolt and try-all boosters.

WHAT IS YOUR OPINION ON A GOOD WORKING BRAKE: Something which holds in all weathers, and pads which don't wear down super fast

HOW DO THEY COMPARE WITH OTHER PADS YOU'VE USED: Way better than my koxx bloxx, better than black magura, and kool stops.

REVIEW: When i first put these pads on i was told they will need a bit of time to bed in etc, as they were slipping quite alot (in dry weather)... I got a fresh grind put on a few days later by mr dan ko, and the pads hardly ever slipped in the wet, and definatly held super good!

The downfall i have found with them, is they've worn down way to quickly for my liking, ive riden with them for a month? and theyre ready for the bin. Im happy ive tried the pads, and theyve served there purpose. I may be tempted to purchase some more, but im not entirely sure.

Cheers.

[Burton]

PADS: Plazmatic crms

TIME USED: a few days of riding.... 12 hrs of hard use... natural riding

RIM USED: Rear---try-all/ koxx rim

GRIND?: no

BRAKE USED: rear 4 bolt magura '04, with an echo 4-bolt booster

WHAT IS YOUR OPINION OF GOOD WORKING BRAKE: something with bite that can hold under my weight pressure

OTHER PADS USED: koolstops, black magura pads

REVIEW: they held better than my koolstops without any tar, but when i did apply tar to the rim it didnt have any effect that was noticable. at £16 a go, iwont be investing my money in these.

BUT they do work better on a koxx rim on the front.

they have more bite and grip. also used with a 04 magura

so use them on the front of a koxx rim(F)

[Burton]

PADS: Zoo! pads

TIME USED: a few days of riding.... 50hrs of hard use... natural riding

RIM USED: Rear---try-all/ koxx rim

GRIND?: no

BRAKE USED: rear 4 bolt magura '04, with an echo 4-bolt booster

WHAT IS YOUR OPINION OF GOOD WORKING BRAKE: something with bite that can hold under my weight pressure

OTHER PADS USED: koolstops, black magura pads, plazmatic crms

REVIEW: they worked SH*te loads better than the crms, even mor bite and hold:o

it was just unbelievable to have some working pads for once. also when i did apply tar, they accepted it, unlike the crm's, and became even loader and better bite and hold. but they didnt stick like tar does normally. they still are loud on a clean rim, but work ACE:o with some tar.

[Mark W]

PADS: Heatsink Batch B's.

TIME USED: Bloody ages (read: 4-6 months, ish)

RIM USED: Alex DX-32

GRIND?: Yes, fresh one now

BRAKE USED: Old 4-bolt Magura with a new water bleed and an RB booster.

WHAT IS YOUR OPINION OF GOOD WORKING BRAKE: Great lock, nice modulation.

OTHER PADS USED: Black pads, CRM's, Koolstop reds, Monty X-Hydras.

REVIEW: I used to swear by X-Hydras, and still do - they never did anything wrong as far as I was concerned. However, the 'sinks are just better, basically. They lock really well when needs be, but have a load of modulation (enough to do decent hop to manuals with a grind on) too. Really, really nice pads. Not as loud as the X-Hydras, but I'll leave that up to you to decide whether that's good or bad :-

Oh yeah, they were the 10mm wide pads, and they're down to like 6-7mm now, so wear's been pretty reasonable.

[trialsking 55]

Pads: zoo! pads

Time used: around 8hrs

Rim used: monty x-lite

Grind: Yes

Ceraminc: No

Brake used: Magura standard with cnc levers and frame has built in booster (221ti)

What is your opinion of a working brake: should be very grippy, react when i want/need. lock up and dont slip - at all.

Previous pads used: koolstops, spanish flys, x-lite pads

Review:when i recieved the pads i was very excited and as soon as i cut the parcel open i had set the pads up square and was off to ride.

the noise was deafening and they where gripping with just a slight squeeze of the lever. i decided to do some backwheeling and landing as hard as i could right on the edge of the wall to test just how well these could hold. i was amazed these pads just werent letting go. i was doing bigger gaps and backwheels instantly as these just held.

they made me much more confident and improved my riding. and this kind of performance wasnt just a one off these pads were locking and gripping every single time i did a maneuver.

at first i was worried about them wearing down fast because i had a grind, although it is pretty light one at that. but no, they have shown microscopic signs of wear.

i advise anyone looking for some new pads to seriously consider these pads as they are definatley the best pads i have rode.

Edited February 20, 2005 by trialsking 55