Bought two sets of new brake pads as a replacement for my (mostly) fair-weather bike and can't find much info on the website. Is there any difference between the red and black pads? The text on the package is exactly the same 🤔
I think the salmon ones are a different durometer hardness reading, but I don’t remember which way.
effortDee on
Everyone knows red is faster!
JivRey on
Salmon look cool but I always felt the black ones brake better in every conditions. And as someone else mentioned, the black/salmon ones are not that great, especially in wet conditions.
will-I-ever-Be-me on
the red Kool Stop pads (officially called ‘salmon’) grip the rim with a lot more force than the black pads, for the same amount of pressure on the brake lever.
this is particularly noteworthy because the black Kool Stop pads already have a deserved reputation for being highly effective.
the salmon pads are marketed for ‘extreme weather conditions’. I ride all year in a hilly and rainy area, and I require salmon pads so I can stop safely. black pads are fine in the dry, but in deluge-type rain when the storm drains overflow and the hills turn into rivers, black doesn’t cut it and red Does The Job.
put the red set on the front wheel to get the most braking power out of it. just be careful, they stop real good.
11 Comments
[deleted]
It should have an explanation on the rear, but typically red means softer for rim brake pads
Edit: more info here
https://koolstop.com/pages/brake-pad-compound-description
Here you go; [https://koolstop.com/pages/brake-pad-compound-description](https://koolstop.com/pages/brake-pad-compound-description)
There are also half black half red ones. Don’t like them. Will go back to black only as soon as possible.
Salmon has a different rubber compound.
https://koolstop.com/pages/brake-pad-compound-description
The colours are different
I think the salmon ones are a different durometer hardness reading, but I don’t remember which way.
Everyone knows red is faster!
Salmon look cool but I always felt the black ones brake better in every conditions. And as someone else mentioned, the black/salmon ones are not that great, especially in wet conditions.
the red Kool Stop pads (officially called ‘salmon’) grip the rim with a lot more force than the black pads, for the same amount of pressure on the brake lever.
this is particularly noteworthy because the black Kool Stop pads already have a deserved reputation for being highly effective.
the salmon pads are marketed for ‘extreme weather conditions’. I ride all year in a hilly and rainy area, and I require salmon pads so I can stop safely. black pads are fine in the dry, but in deluge-type rain when the storm drains overflow and the hills turn into rivers, black doesn’t cut it and red Does The Job.
put the red set on the front wheel to get the most braking power out of it. just be careful, they stop real good.
Thanks everyone! 🙏