20 Best Carbon Brake Pads (2022 Updated)

I bought these on the recommendation of a friend who previously ran them on ZIPP 404 Firecrest wheels (same ones I have just bought second hand). Not having had carbon braking surfaces before, I was quite nervous about how good or bad they would be.

Well, the first time I braked, I was quite pleasantly surprised that they were as good as the ones I that came with my Campag Record groupset on Fulcrum Racing 1 wheels with aluminium surfaces; if not better in some ways.

You soon get used to them being a tiny bit grabby on first application which is no bad thing – I suspect my old ones (for alu rims) had aged gradually and I had just not noticed. When applied hard for sharp or emergency braking, they can lock up the rear wheel easily but do make a very loud high pitched squeal! I think I scared off some cats and broke the shop windows when a pedestrian ran into the crossing without warning or looking.

They too will now require a hearing aid. I gather that is common on carbon rims. On long descents, they behave admirably and don’t smoke like the cork pads of old. I suspect they will wear out quickly as you can visibly see small bits coming off them after a 90Km ride with 1200m of climbing / descending at around 35-42mph.

I haven’t been caught out in the wet (yet!) to comment on wet performance. However, given 90% of my riding is in the dry, I can’t be more pleased with them, especially as they are approved by ZIPP for use on their wheelsets.

This is my second set of these pads. Previously, I had a bike with disc brakes and really didn’t want anything else, but I got a bargain with a secondhand bike and caliper brakes was the compromise. After reading lots of reviews, I decided on these and am not disappointed.

I ride whatever the weather and have never felt they have let me down. I’m 86kg and love fast downhills so I really do stress test them. I’ve had a few “interesting” incidents on descents but these pads handled them smoothly.

No judder, just nice smooth braking. They wear a bit faster than I’d like but if that’s the price of good braking, that’s fine by me. I have Shimano 105 brakes and they are a little tight to fit so I’d advise using a touch of rubber friendly lube along the groove and they slip in nicely.

Just keep the lube away from the braking surface, obviously :).

Expensive- but good for specialty Aluminum rims. These are recommended for many ultralight Aluminum race/performace wheels sets such as Campy Shamal OR DT Swiss PR1400 DiCut Oxic. They claim to have 1) better wet condition braking and 2) not scuff up your expensive wheels and 3) give better braking performance in wet or dry conditions than carbon rim brakes.

The compound is definitely softer than the Campagnolo Record ones that came off. We shall see if they are actually better. Other reports say they are, but wear fast- so buy two sets instead on one.

I first realised I needed new brake pads while descending Cairn Gorm, which was not the best time. Moving from the existing Shimano 105 pads to these Dura-Ace pads, I notice a more linear braking performance as I increase braking force, which helps significantly on descents.

When braking on flat roads, there isn’t too much of a difference, so it’s really at the higher speeds (descents) where the upgrade in quality becomes most useful.

A big improvement on what I had been using, grip quickly when applied and pull you up fairly well. A bit of squealing and they appear to wear fairly rapidly. I do a lot of hills and weigh 90kg so it’s to be expected.

I expect them to last around 1500km at current rate.

Easy to use and has good quality. I bought these to go with my carbon rims so far so good cant complain. Schimano products are always top notch. Will recommend for any one needing carbon brake pads.

I can not give a good comment about the brakes. I bought them because of the reviews and trust in EBC! If it anything of pasted quality of EBC then it a no brainer! -m-1995 HONDA XR250R–

I have EBC Carbon X pads and EBC rotors on my CRF250R. I use Galfer semi-sintered brake pads and rotors on my CRF450R but I can’t notice any difference in braking performance. I’m happy with both, but EBC brake pads seem to last much longer, because I’m always changing my Galfer pads.

-m-2011 HONDA CRF450R–.

Over the years I’ve used at least ten of the EBC carbon pads, all worked well. except for the ones I just ordered this october ’17. I couldn’t get the pad pins to go in. Upon examination, the cut-outs for the pins weren’t big enough.

I had to drill them out. clearing both paint and some metal. I’ve never had this problem before, and I hope it is just a hiccup of bad quality control and not a trend.

Campagnolo’s best carbon brake pads are labeled as “Campagnolo carbon rim specific only” but will work on other brands. If using on non Campy rims you have to brake gently a few times then check for excessive wear or damage (You will see excessive carbon build up on the trailing edge of the pads).

You may also hear a loud rubbing noise. Stop using immediately if these conditions occur.

With the purchase of the campagnolo bora ultra 35 wheels at the time I got a set of shoes (the same as these) that when I put them in the brake bridges that I carry (shimano ultegra) they fit perfectly! Well, these that I just bought do not fit, I have not read anywhere in the description that they were not compatible with ultegra brake calipers so I had to cut them and make another hole for the screw that holds them or otherwise I would not have been able to fit them.

Now, once they are on, they do their job well, they brake well. Next time I will have to read comments and questions before buying.

So far, the best brake pads I have ever tried. Power and modulation perfect. Don’t know about durability of course, but safety first. Will buy more for sure

They’re beautiful! They look much nicer than the Magura Storm HC’s that they replaced. It’s the dead of winter, so not much riding has been going on. They’re mounted, aligned, and I’ve bedded the pads to the HS2.

After about 35 +/- braking runs, the pads are bedded nicely and the rotors have a nice color change to the braking surface. Power is fantastic, modulation is great, no warping, and time will tell how long they last.

I assume a long time. We’ll also see how much better these handle high heat, as I did warp the Storm HC’s on some really gnarly descents. Magura MT5 HC Brakes MTX Red Label Race Pads SRAM HS2 200mm rotors front/rear Magura QM40 adapter for the rear.

I suggest avoiding buying these rotors. I had a pair of Centerline rotors on my YT Capra. I have SRAM Code RSC brakes. Centerline are not good rotors, but at least they work a little bit. The SRAM HS2 rotor has cooked up after the first descent.

I am talking about the rear rotor. This issue never happened to me on the Centerline rotors. Centerline are made of better quality steel. I sent the rotor back to SRAM through bike-components and SRAM did not replace the rotor.

They said the problem was due to overheating. It was the reason why I sent these rotors to them. Completely disappointed by these rotors and SRAM. In any case, bike-components provided a very good service, as usual.

Thank you guys!.

Bought two rotors. One was fine, the other wasn’t uniformly thick. At constant braking pressure, the brakes grab more firmly on about 1/3 of the rotor, causing the bike to lurch. It’s noticeable enough to be unnerving in steep, technical sections (bad rotor was on front).

I was very careful in the bedding-in process but thought maybe I screwed it up so I removed the rotor and sanded/cleaned it. Reinstalled and experienced the same problem. So, I made a warranty return and installed a replacement.

Same exact problem right out of the box, though not as noticeable. May just move it to the rear so it’s not so noticeable but don’t think I’ll ever buy these again.

These are very good pads for carbon rims. Better than Black Princes and only $35 for all 4! They are the solution for Campy brakes and carbon rims.

The best pads for Campag carbon wheels. Easy to fit too.

Very competitive price, my bike shop was 30% higher!

I bought these brake blocks as I had upgraded my wheels and wanted to start with fresh blocks. The old blocks I had were extremely hard compound and although they lasted forever, they barely stopped the bike…if it was wet you could forget about stopping altogether.

These are night and day…my local route includes a very steep downhill with a give way at the bottom meaning you need to brake from 40mph to 0 really quickly. I can now brake more than half the distance from the end of the road compared to before.

Although I don’t think these will last as long due to softer compound, they are so much more effective and also do less damage to rims. Definitely worth the money and I will purchase again when this pair are worn out.

That was before I got these brake blocks. I was having serious problems getting blocks to grip my alloy rims. These are the 3rd ones I tried. The most expensive but they actually work. If your bakes are rubbish you could do worse than splash 20 on a pair of these for the front.

If your bike is fine with the cheaper ones then lucky you, buy the cheaper ones. In use they are easy on the hands giving a progressive feel which helps you not skid. You can bake harder and retain control.

Now I need another pair for the back.

Purchased based on reviews. I agree that these might be a little more expensive than those from a certain japanese brand (less so at the moment with them being on offer) but I’ve found the stopping power to be so much better.

I’ll admit to being old and slow but being able to confidently brake just that little bit later has improved my average speed already.

I recommend these replacement pads if you are in the position to take your time and learn how these pads work and learn to replace the pads instead of changing the entire brake shoe assembly. The pads are easy to replace and their cost is a whole lot less than the brake shoe assembly.

I ordered 2 sets of brake pads and received 3 left pads and 1 right pad – taped to the bottle of chain cleaner that I also ordered, not in the original packaging. The packaging matters because I hang the box on my tool board until I need to replace the brakes.

They are an ideal replacement for the Ultegra pads that were on my bike and even have the same part number. They would have a long life but I believe that even when not worn that all pads should be replaced after a time because the pad material does harden with time and reduced braking results.

in the wet in particular. Easy replacement if you just pay attention to what you are doing. It pays to use original parts on Shimano equipment and the price is reasonable as well. PROS: Durable, Work Effectively, Easy To Install.

Sizes are way off. Bought this for my wife as a gift. A womens XL is really a GIRLS large. Ordered a different one and had customer service confirm it was a women’s, arrived and same problem. KTM has them marked as “GIRLS” but Rocky Mountain shows them as “WOMEN’S” Now fighting with return/refund group.

Not having much luck. -m-2006 KTM 525 EXC 4-Stroke–.

These are my go-to brake pads for all of our rim brake bikes. These are for use on alloy rims — not on carbon. I’ve used these pads (and associated holders — sold separately) on both Shimano and non-Shimano brakes and they’ve always performed well and had long service life, too.

Shimano 105 calipers? Ultegra calipers? TRP cantilever brakes? Works for all (assuming you have the correct holder/brake shoe).

Bought to restock my consumables stash. Identical model fitted a few days ago. Easy to fit, have done about 260 miles on them (mainly dry) with no drama. At £10 for 2 pairs, something of a bargain.

These pads rock!!! I ride a fully rigid Bontrager Race Lite. No disc brakes are needed since they add too much weight to my already light 23lb MTB. I see many full suspension bikes on trails, they are too heavy and not much faster downhill.

A light bike with V brakes is superior overall to the full suspension MTB. Full suspension is only needed to be competitive in MTB races. Marketing has convinced many that ” you gotta have full suspension”.

Not true, because if you truly know how to ride off road you will compensate for the mechanical suspension to your physical suspension. I am able to pass the majority of downhill bound full suspension bikes.

It’s not the bike as much as it is the rider. Old School rules!.

Swissstop Black Prince pads are the best rim brake pads for carbon rims. Wet and dry stopping confidence.. Very little wear on the carbon rims!

Using new brake blocks for several rides. Have good braking power, will know better after a month or two. Looking for them to be easy on my carbon rims.

Great Swiss stop brake pads for campag brakes, easy to fit, just slide in with little pressure. Work well.

Firstly, communicators are awesome by yourself and with one other guy. But add more guys, other communicators etc and they can be annoying due to static, connecting and disconnecting, etc. Plus some guys get the lower end model which goes half as far.

or worse. another brand. I don’t know that a group of guys will ever be satisfied and all try to connect. Better for small group, awesome by yourself or for one other person. here’s why: Value = 3. They are quite expensive Durability = 5.

I went under water during a stream crossing and it still worked. Been in rain, dirt and accidents. No complaints! Ease of Install = 3. It is easy to install, but you cannot flip it from helmet to helmet.

It’s 30 minutes to install properly, so moving to a second helmet is not going to be a routine flip/flop deal. Fitment = 5. once installed, it’s solid and fits well with lots of options for different helmet styles.

Performance = 3. It only goes half as far as they lead you to believe. Usually not an issue with 2-3 guys. But if you get more guys or guys who lag because of skill, hang back for dust, etc you will have lots of static.

Features = 4. There are more features than you will use, but that’s partly because it’s a bit difficult.

My buddy and I got these after a 5 day dual sport trip where we couldn’t communicate and were fed up with that. These work great as intercoms and really great for phone use. People don’t even know that I’m on a bike when I call them.

just gotta make sure you’re not talking too loud. Pairs easily with my phone and allows for voice command of my phone easily (iPhone 6s). Music use is ok, but because of wind noise, your ears are already somewhat saturated in the low frequencies so it can sound tinny above maybe 45 mph.

This can be overcome, I’m told, by wearing earplugs and playing the sound on high volume. That makes perfect sense to me, I just haven’t tried it. It does sound a little better when I’m wearing my balaclava with my helmet though, so it all seems to track.

Voice audio like podcasts or books on tape are fine all around. Mic options are pretty good and all seem to work well. My buddy complains of the aero on his RF-1200 being kind of ruined by this unit.

it is a bit bulky. So his helmet went from quite quiet to a little noisy. He’s waiting on the cheekpad version. 9/10 Overall. Go for it.

Overall, i couldn’t be happier with this bluetooth unit. I’ve used the DMC mode and it has worked great. I love streaming music and the voice commands are nice to have. However, there are a few disgruntles i have.

It has been glitchy at times (but what electronic isn’t?) but i was able to fix it quickly with little frustration. The other is range. I wouldn’t expect to get much more than line of site. One thing i didn’t mention is that Cardo has awesome customer support.

They want you to contact them directly to ask any questions and get answers. Other brands are almost ghosts when it comes to this. Definitely recommend this product.

i use with my mavic comete disc wheel and these are very sharp and efficient they are especially made for mavic’s carbon composite and do not leave a strange yellow residue and can withstand large amounts of heat.

You won’t be disappointed these are different to cork so if you don’t want to pull the lever with large amounts of force as you will slow down incredibly quickly.

These pads look good but you would expect them to work like a dream with Mavic carbon wheels. sadly they do not and I have little confidence going down hill with them. on the plus note they sound ridiculously cool when braking.

Good pads, better performance than yellow Mavic pads, but I have found them a bit grabby when braking, by this I mean the braking is not linear, it retards in pulses which can result in locking a wheel accidentally, however they definitely have more braking power than yellow pads.

If you are running carbon wheels with rim brakes, these are well worth the investment. I went through a few other brake pads including swissstop flash pros and kool stop carbon before i purchased these and I can assure you that these offer superior braking power, modulation and to top it off they last.

I’ve put 1k+ miles on these and where the other pads suffered brake fade and the squeaks easily but these hold up to the heat generated.

Replaced a set of Shimano carbon specific brake pads which had uneven braking performance as the wheel rotated. These pads are even throughout the entire rotation, have a larger surface area in contact with the wheel providing more braking performance, and are also quieter.

I’ll be ordering these again when my current set are done. Just a shame they are so expensive!.

Just amazing power for carbon wheels. I just couldn’t believe how much more stopping power I gained by just switching to these pads. Great product!! Just buy them, you will be super happy you did!!

If youd like to ride your bike without wondering if you have the right brake pads or the best brake pads or wondering why they shriek or squeal, its pretty simple. Buy ENVE brake pads. You wont have to think about braking.

These ENVE pads are a must for ENVE wheels. Carbon specific pads designed to be used with ENVE wheels. Stop well with a minimum of noise.

They preform well but for the brand and premium price, probably there are better value elsewhere.

I want to know that is not pair of FR.

Good afternoon! The shoes serve for shimano brakes?

I bought these brake pads and they are wonderful!!