Brake pad help!

[millercommaluke]

So I want to upgrade my brakes with some decent pads and looking for recommendations. I'm looking around the internet and getting more and more confused the more I look.

I gather EBC Extremes and Versah make great racing pads, but their race products are $$$. Ferodo Xrac and Performance Friction 07 compound seem to be more reasonably priced options but I can seem to find as many people using them.

Do most people just buy from where ever online? Also, what are common pads for our tracks?


Reading myself into a hole and need some guidance!

[Yeeker]

I just ordered these:
http://www.speedinmotorsports.com/Ferodo-XRAC-Brake-Pads-Race_p_45.html

I order from Speedin' Motorsports because they come out to the track to support us and are really helpful. It sounds like you don't have any specific aspect of braking that you're looking to improve, so any of these will likely be an improvement.

[NossLou]

Ordered the same. Give Brian at Speedin a call!

[millercommaluke]

I think I'm looking to start on a good 'baseline' race brake pad. The brakes that I did have seemed fairly progressive, the pads seemed to increase in resistance the longer they were in contact with the rotors. I'm somewhat undecided if I like that feel or not to be honest.

I am willing to spend some money on my brakes, they are probably the most important aspect of my bike to me. Steel lines and good brake fluid seem pretty straight forward but there are a lot of options for pads and its hard to judge the performance just by reading.

Are any of these pads NOT recommended (wear out crazy fast, not for stock rotors, etc.) or does it mostly come down to personal pref?

Thanks for the link by the way, I'm rather give business to local vendors.

[rybo]

FWIW in many ways Brian and Speedin are "local" ish. They have been driving their rig from NM to Colorado to support our race series for three years now. I very much consider them "local" when I do my parts shopping.

I like the progressive brake pad better -

Ferrodo CP-1
Performance Friction #95

were better for me than the PF 07 or some of the HH compound stuff.

Pretty much the more aggressive the initial bite the harder the pad is on the rotor. The PF 07 is harder on rotors than the PF 95

I've gotten good life out of both the CP-1 and the #95 pads

Don't know much about the others

[TRK]

Interesting stuff......

[rybo]

Also -

In keeping with a theme that I'm trying to promote this year -

EBC, Performance Friction and Ferrodo have offered contingency on the club in recent years.

Support the folks that support our club!

[millercommaluke]

Thanks for the help rybo, when you say progressive do you mean greater braking force with temp rise or just control/feel?

The pads I had seemed to rise with temp, especially in big braking sections like Pueblo turn 1. I felt like I had a tendency to over brake as a result. Hard to control when things are changing.

However a high initial bite does not sound appealing.... sounds like being too quick on the controls.

[rybo]

Thanks for the help rybo, when you say progressive do you mean greater braking force with temp rise or just control/feel?

The pads I had seemed to rise with temp, especially in big braking sections like Pueblo turn 1. I felt like I had a tendency to over brake as a result. Hard to control when things are changing.

However a high initial bite does not sound appealing.... sounds like being too quick on the controls.

Control / Feel

To me the 07 feels like it grabs pretty aggressively - a lot of the braking force is available nearly immediately.

the 95 comes on more smoothly, but requires a fair bit more lever pressure to achieve maximum braking force.

I've never felt like either the CP-1 or the 95 increased the braking force without me adding input (such as the case you describe, where adding heat seemed to increase the brake force), but I have had that feeling when there was even the smallest amount of air in the brake system, so I think I know what you are describing.

Hope this continues to be helpful