Brake Pad Life Problems (Juicy 3's)

[james239]

Had my new bike since the beginning of March and it came with Juicy 3's as standard.

Got through a set of pads pretty quick (had to put new ones on at the beginning of May for the Swinley enduro). Thought this was pretty quick but I had done a couple of 30 mile events in horrific rain so the callipers filled with grit and wore the pads down. They were completely down to the backing plate, but I figured maybe the standard pads were just the cheap ones.

Bought some new pads (front and rear both gone so both replaced) at the beginning of May. Got the slightly more expensive ones as I told they were a bit better (sintered?) at about £20 per set! Checked this morning and it looks like they're going to need replacing again very soon! Don't seem to have worn evenly - top of the pad has sligthly more life than the bottom, worn at a gradual diagonal line.

I've done about 285 miles since I changed pads according to Endomondo, riding in any weather (mostly mud and rain recently). Regardless, this seems way too short to get through a set of pads! Anyone have similar experience or got any tips/recommendations for pads that might last a little longer? Other than referring to rule #5 and not braking so much.

[Rolls]

I went for superstar pads - uber cheap, no difference in life to shimano ones with ime..

[m_cozzy]

Organic for dry conditions, sintered for wet, but regardless a wet swinley will destroy either in fairly quick order (along with chains sprockets suspension etc) !

[h4muf]

My juicy 3's went in the bin

[Gren]

Superstar .... £20 for 4 sets. Try the kevlar ones, they run somewhere in between the organic and sintered.

[james239]

Thanks - I'll have a look for those and give them a go.

I have heard a few bad things about Elixir's but to be honest I haven't had any problems other than them eating pads (which is probably more down to the pads than the brakes) so changing them isn't an option yet...but maybe one day if a nice upgrades comes up second hand at a good price.

Note - I put Juicy in the title but have now realised I actually have Elixir 3's, but the problem is the same!

[Pablo16v]

You don't mention if you're bedding in the new pads after you've fitted them? This can make a huge difference to how long the pads last, no matter which type of pad you use.

[Rolls]

But even then, its a case of 10 or so stops from 20ish mph > 0.
To be honest - when I fit new pads, its a case of 3 or 4 stops from a quick-ish speed to stop, and long as they're starting to feel better, that'll be it! Nothing when in wales or the like though, and they still seem to be fine IME!