Bicycle brake pads: varieties and tips for choosing

A bike without brakes is a direct road to an accident. Only a few models of bicycles for extreme and cycling freestyle are not equipped with brakes, or bikers willing to risk their lives for the sake of adrenaline release their default bicycle brakes on their own. But a calm and fast ride is impossible without them.

The bicycle industry offers the following types of brakes: V-brake, drum and disc. The first are cheap, with a small resource, the second is a compromise option, the third are the most "long-playing", but also expensive.

V-brakes are the simplest V-brakes that are operated with a cable. The rim itself acts as a brake disc without any additional layer or other base. The levers of such a brake are extremely simple - they resemble the closing parts of a spring-loaded caliper. As with all brakes, the pushing force from the brake lever on the handlebars is transmitted by a cable enclosed in a “jacket” - a waterproof plastic tube that prevents scratching and premature rusting of steel strands.

The rim brake pads are here screwed onto the caliper elements using bolts, nuts and lock washers. It is important not to confuse left and right - the pads are curved to the shape of the rim, and do not stand straight like bars, which makes it possible to brake faster and more efficiently. The midline of the pad matches the midline of the rim.

The V-brake shoe, although it has a steel base, has a polymer layer on the side of the braking surface - most often plastic or composite. Although the V-brake manages to stop almost instantly, this layer wears out quickly due to the high angular velocity of the rim. It is several times larger than the braking surfaces of other types of brakes, in which the friction layers are much closer to the center of the wheel (hub). Only the pads themselves are replaceable, then the cables are located according to the frequency of change.

The V-shaped brake caliper can be left in place for several years and is considered the most durable part, just like the handlebar grips. However, as you continue to ride with worn out pads, you scrape off the aluminum layer by layer that makes up the rim, and it will eventually bend significantly at full speed, if not break. The latter is already life-threatening. For the highest level of safety, rim brakes are installed in a complete set - front and rear.

The basis for braking in disc brakes is a disc that is several times smaller in diameter than the wheel rim. The disc is fastened to the spokes using special bolt-on fasteners with brackets that tightly cover the spoke. Installation is much more difficult than V-brakes. Disc brakes are mainly used on bicycles in the high and middle price segment. For example, they have found their application on most road tracks, where, due to the speed of 40 or more kilometers per hour, the use of a V-brake is not justified. Those, in turn, would quickly overheat and wear off when you need to slow down sharply when descending from a slight slope along the highway or near a dangerous turn.

The brake rotor (disc round in the plane of rotation of the wheel) requires at least 6 support points for fastening. The mechanism adapter allows you to attach the brake caliper to the frame. The latter, in turn, engages the pads when pressing the brake levers on the handlebars. Finally, the pads are directly involved in the braking of the bike. Instead of cables, disc brakes also use a hydraulic system - tubes with a liquid, like the one used on cars.

The drum brake is a classic in the cycling industry. It was with him that the development of the brake system began. Bushing housing - a drum in which the pads are part of a conventional sleeve-bearing mechanism. When the cyclist pedals in the opposite direction, the pads are pressed more tightly against the inner surface of the hub, due to which the bike slows down.

They are durable and do not need to be replaced for years - rather, the ball bearings and other spare parts themselves will fail, than the pads themselves, since from a teaspoon to two tablespoons of lithol or grease, which serves as a lubricant, is stuffed into the sleeve. It also removes friction of previously dry pads by 98%. All parts, including the pads, are made of steel, which also ensures their durability... No aluminum, composite, plastic or rubber like other types of brakes.

The basis of the brake pads for disc or V-brakes is steel or aluminum alloy. The disc rotor of the wheel is most often made on this basis. But the pads themselves can use ceramics, pressed and sintered aluminum powder, plastic, rubber or high-strength compound as a working layer.

Brake pads made of pressed baked metal powder are the most "long-lasting". Their field of application is disc brakes. The disadvantage is less effective braking (longer braking distance). But that is precisely why they are valuable on racing bikes.The fact is that too fast braking at a speed of 30-40 km / h is fraught with throwing the cyclist out of the saddle. This is where the braking distance of up to hundreds (and not a dozen or two) meters is needed, and the tire, after several sharp braking, tears off to the cord. But when descending a hill, braking for too long is undesirable - you can not slow down at all, at the very first turn or bumps, crash into any obstacle without fitting into a sharp turn.

The ceramic pads are also not very responsive. It is easy to break them if you squeeze hard during hard braking. Then the brake will completely fail, which is also dangerous.

Composite is somewhat better than ceramics, for example, the same plastic. When overheated, for example, during a long descent on a road with a slope, the plastic is bored extremely quickly. These brakes are more efficient than metal and ceramic brakes.

Rubber (Resin PAD) - the most effective, but also the least wear-resistant brakes. Several hundred meters of stopping distance from a steep hill will completely "kill" them. They provide the strongest adhesion to the rim or disc, but for the time being: after rubbing off the rubber to the metal, plastic or composite that makes up the bearing part, they become as ineffective as metal / ceramic, however, they begin to abrade the rim intensively either disk.

Semi-metallic models are a hybrid of composite and metal. Metal powder (in a ratio of, for example, 1: 1, 1: 1.5) is mixed with an extra strong compound. Braking performance is average.

remember, that the harder and more durable the pad material, the longer it will last, but the less effective it will brake and the louder it will creak.

The recognized giants of the cycling industry over the past 10-20 years are the American company Sram and the Japanese company Shimano. Chinese and Taiwanese manufacturers (for example, Artek), of which there are dozens, are also striving to improve the quality of their products at least to the Japanese level, and not without success. Some thrifty consumers cheerfully report about a very good brake resource for not too extreme riding, for example, on a walk or on long cycling trips, cycling trips.

With a simple V-brake from Shimano mounted on a cheap mountain bike for 10-20 thousand rubles, you can easily ride 1000-2000 kilometers on the trails (and being passing through cities along the way), and still replace the worn out pads with new ones.

Whichever brake you choose and no matter how long it lasts, don't skimp on security. Brakes were invented not so much by cowards as by those who would not want people to lose their health or even life because of their absence. As soon as braking has significantly deteriorated due to wear of the rubbing surfaces, change both the pads and the rims themselves (discs, drum bushings).

Next, watch a video on how to replace or install brake pads on bicycle disc brakes.