20 Best V Brake Pads (2022 Updated)

These dual compound pads are the best in the business. Work solidly in all weather conditions. May find cheaper elsewhere, but otherwise an outstanding pad.

Good pads. I’d prefer better adjustment.

It’s an expensive set of pads, but they’re about 1.5-2x as powerful as the cheap standard pads on my street bike, so can’t complain.

I’m a big, stong, avid cyclist that rides agressively in hills and traffic on the road. The only brake pads that I’ve used with better stopping power than KOOL-StOP Thinline Pads were some AVID. But the AVID were so soft they wore out about the same time as a bicycle drive chain (around 2,000km) and got so hot they melted to the rim.

The KOOL-STOP have only slightly less stopping power, thus far have been more durable. KOOL-STOP does provide a ‘toe’ (angled tip) at one end that makes initial alignment very easy. I found it takes over 100km to bed them in and wear past the hard new surface ‘glazing’.

Also after some use (about a month) have noticed these brake pads develop a ‘chatte’ – vibration noise. Not being a great believer in V-brakes, I would rate KOOL-STOP Thinline brake pads the best offered by MEC.

These pads work as expected, I have chrome steel rims which may as well be made out of ice when wet, slippery wise, so I need brake pads that are capable of grabbing on and stopping my wheels when I need it, not after.

These koolstops do exactly that i could not ask for a better product for this purpose. Definitely recommend if these brakes can stop my heavy vintage cruiser coming down a steep hill at top speed they could probably stop a semi.

These pads are awesome. I got them for a bike with tight clearance between the front tire (40mm width) and the fork blades. It’s a tight squeeze, but now the tire can be wiggled through without deflating it first.

On top of that, the pads are easy to set up and have great stopping power. A huge improvement over stock pads. Well worth the money.

I got these because I had just replaced my rotors with polished rotors. I just wanted good stopping power but less damage to the rotor. After a couple of months of riding, I am happy to report that the brakes work well and the rotors, although not shiny, still gleam.

The brakes are ‘softer’, and don’t haul you down the way fully Sentered Brakes will but good enough to avoid trouble. No more brake squeal anymore too. They were a good upgrade.

Why Would Anyone Paint The Brake Pads FRAM Orange ?? Don’t Know About The Wear. Just Installed.

Few hundred miles and so far so good. Worst thing about the pads is the color. Orange pads on a Night train with no bags sticks out. They need to be black !!

OK. Just wore out my first set of Lyndall Xtreme brake pads after 11000 miles @ over $70 per set. I Had these EBC Semi-sintered pads on the same bike (2013 FLHTC) and I got 10000 miles on them @ Just over $33,00 a set.

So to me the math is simple. The EBC Pads Beat Lyndall Xtreme pads 2 to 1. I also wanted to state these are not as hard grabbing as the Xtremes and don’t have to be as hot to work well. The Xtremes have to be very hot to work good which is not common on everyday driving.

The only other pad I can compare to is OEM HD pad which are more expensive then EBC but less then Lyndall Xtremes but really perform poorly on heavy HD Baggers IMO. So the install is very simple make sure to have a small tube of Disc Brake Pad Grease on hand for the back and slide points but be careful not to get any on the pad surfaces!!! Anti-seize compound on the pad bolt threads also.

If you have more then 2 years on your Brake Fluid remember its due to be flushed and replenished using a new unopened bottle of Brake Fluid. I recommend Bel Ray Brake Fluid. So comparing those aforementioned 3 Pad Manufactures I have to say I’m sold on Semi-sintered EBC pads for Harley Touring bikes and I have installed these pads on FatBoy, and Breakouts both have also performed very well and their owners like the EBC Semi-sintered as well.

I would say these grab about like the Lyndall Gold series pad but last longer then those pads which run on the $50. 00 range per set. I like the way the EBC pads perform in the rain as well as hot dry Florida weather.

I hope this info helps you in picking your next pads and if you have any questions I failed to answer feel free to contact me. 80% of the guys I ride with use EBC 10% are on OEM HD pads and a few on Lyndall Pads.

FYI Twin power pads? Not for me been there done that and took them off my bike in less then 500 miles.

Easy to install. Pad material very thin. Noisy at first and took a while to break in. I have about 600 miles on them now and they are quieter and work well. Not as sensitive as OE and therefore lessens the head banging with passenger.

Required heavy pressure on brake levers at first but now are just right. Don’t know about wear yet so not a 5 star rating. If they wear well I will buy them again.

I had them professionally installed on my bike and they work, but they don’t work very well, but for the money I can deal with it for now.

ok.

TranslateShow in original languageVon der Qualitt her..Top. Aussehen..Top. Sehr hochwertiger Armband, den ich ohne Bedenken empfehlen kann. Bin vollsten zufrieden. Dankeschn.

These pads do not hold grit and grind down your rims. The other style of Shimano M70R2 severe condition pads drove me crazy because they were so soft they held grit and small rocks embedded so I would hear a horrible grinding noise when braking.

The M70CT4 pads for machined sidewall rims do not hold grit. They work great in wet or dry conditions. They last a long time. They also worked fine on non machined sidewall aluminum rims but they were high quality rims.

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!.

Had these. When they wore out, I tried slightly cheaper pads. All was well, until I went out in the wet, tried the brakes, and nothing happened! I now have another set of these, and a renewed appreciation of how much better one set of brake pads can be than another.

Grippier material than the stock Shimano black compound pads that these replaced. Also prone to loud squealing if pad to rim alignment is not correct. I actually leveled these pads with sandpaper on a flat metal plate after installation in the holders to help with alignment and get the maximum rim contact.

Probably sacrificed a little pad longevity, but optimized setup and performance.

These are installed on a Trek STP that I use to commute 15-20 miles each day. Some road and some cinder trails. Even though I replace the pads every year I’m always surprised by how much better new pads work.

Have tried Shimano pads and like these better. I do some wet condition riding and have found that there is actually a difference in that these work better when wet. Have also found that they don’t wear out much faster than the regular compound units.

In fact my yearly replacement is not for wear, it’s due to the material hardening and not working as well. PROS: Easy To Install, Handles Elements Well, Great Stopping Power BEST USES: Road Biking, Mountain Biking.

I have the black version of these pads. Put them on my gravel bike with new wheelset. When bombing down the mountains in NW AR, they worked great! They did not fade even on the longest descent (1 mile).

Their stopping power rivals any disc brake equipped bikes I have. Stopping power was good both with wet rims and dry. Saved the packaging so I can be assured to buy these pads again. PROS: Fade- Free, Great Stopping Power, Handles Elements Well.

I already wrote a review of these brake pads so this is a second one. They are perfect for replacing your old pads when they wear out or fall off, like mine did. What I like best about these pads is the length.

I lost the pads on the front tire of my bike. Because I don’t use my front brakes as much, I put my old back brake pads on my front tire and installed these new ones on my back tire. I am very grateful to have all my brake pads on my bike now and I will probably be set for a while.

I will purchase these pads when/if my other old ones need replacing.

My son rides a lot for exercise. So when his brake pad on We decided to try a new brand. We went with Blackburn V-Brake Brake Pads. They were easy to install. The quality and strength were just what we hoped for.

We will continue to buy from this brand. It was above and beyond better then the other brand we were using.

These pads are very good for commuters and XC style mountain bikers as the performance is good for the value but for those that do a lot of competitive mountain biking, trials (not trails) riding, commuting on hilly roads or gravity style riding, these pads are mediocre and there’s noticable wear in comparison to Shimano severe use pads and Kool Stops, also sold at Performance.

I’ve used these Clarks pads on my different bikes and the braking performance is not impressive even when compared to the pads that come stock on Shimano Acera V-Brakes! For the money, these are okay but if you need some heavy duty pads, go with Shimano Severe Duty or Kool Stops hands down.

These are the best v-brake pads I’ve ever used, easy to fit and very good stopping power in wet & dry. I’m not able to say about longevity as they still have lots of wear left after 4 months of heavy use.

Other pads wore out before the end of one good ride! It remains to see what effect they have on wheel rims. One criticism of Halfords, they don’t seem able to supply just replacement pads. A great shame as these should be very quick and easy to change (one split pin) without needing to make new adjustments.

Ridden over 60 miles since fitting. Good performance and control in wet and dry conditions on and off road. Priced lower than single compounds so good value all round.

On the basis that you get what you pay for these are very good value no breaking problems during the last winters 2012/13 cold wet weather. If your brakes are not up to the job then expect troubles! These blocks are highly recommended.

Very happy with the product. Great price and was delivered quickly, so I didn’t have to miss too much cycling.

A-OK

Everything was as advertised so no complaints there. I used this on a Cannondale F400. The rear gear shift cable is too short. This would also be the case with my other bikes – Trek 7900 Multitrack, and Trek Domane 4.

3 and none of them are out of the ordinary. This kit comes with 1. 6m shift cables and standard replacement shift cables are about 2. 1m. No ferrules to cover the cut ends of the cables are provided.

Even so this is still a decent value.

Okay for what you pay for I suppose as these are way cheap so I didn’t expect much. Don’t know if all of them have imperfections, maybe just the ones I purchased on eBay and installed over the summer.

The casting mold wasn’t settled correctly or something? Surface of shoe wasn’t smooth but had production flaws.

I put these brake pads on in which they are similar to my original brake pads, and they install fairly easily. My stopping power with these new brake pads has greatly increased,but they don’t seem like they are the most durable even though they are a great value for the amount of money somebody would have to spend in bicycle shop.

Highly recommend this item to other online shoppers. Accuracy item description; received on-time, thank you !

Standard brake pad inserts that easily slide out of the brake pad. It was not clear in the product description if price was the cost for a pair. It is for a pair and a great price!!

I brought my bike in and not only was greeted immediately in a pleasant manor, I was asked of i needed help bringing my bike out to my car. Then, after booking my appointment, the bike was fixed ahead of schedule and done very well.

The brakes are excellent and no more rubbing against my rims. Also, on my return visit to pick up the bike, once again I was greeted very pleasantly by Erik’s team. And the repair cost was very reasonable.

Overall, I am very happy with the service I received at Erik’s Bike Shop in Minnetonka.

Thank you for the great service on my bike. Will definitely be back for any needed tune-ups in the future.

was much overdue for new brakes! Eric’s did a great job of making sure I am safe on my bike thanks! #sweepstakes

I ride an ancient ten-speed from ’76 and the steel rims that are on all bikes from that age do not brake well under any conditions, and almost not at all when wet. These pads make braking SO much more effective and I just noticed today when I was fiddling with my front derailer that my left pad is far from tuned correctly.

I can’t wait until I get to adjust it properly and get even better performance out of these. BUY THESE PADS. PROS: Great Stopping Power, Works great on old steel rims.

Already had these on a Diamondback Wildwood and fell in love with them–they have great bite wet or dry. VERY quiet once they’re adjusted correctly-I couldn’t be happier. These I just bought are going on a Specialized Hardrock hopefully with the same great results.

Just FYI I’m mainly a trail rider with a little bit of down hill thrown in for fun and these work well.

These pads provide excellent stopping power in all weather conditions. In my experience the salmon compound has the best modulation, allowing you to slow gradually or stop suddenly as needed. I have used them on my CX bike for 3 years and never had a single problem with them.

Now they are the only pads I will use.

Fifth star for any improvement. It works beautifully for mountain bike. Price is right for $8/set of two. Easy to install. Remove; replace; adjust with your Allen wrench. Recommend!

Spoke with Sean when I was down at the bicycle warehouse on Main Street. Sean was Friendly and fall of knowledge. This will always be my first stop when Purchasing bike and maintenance accessories.

I bought these thinking that they might be the ones that I had replaced on one of my bikes a couple of years ago. Those particular brakes were uncommonly good. However, I was mistaken as these are the ones I replaced on a different bike.

They’re pretty much the same as OEM. If someone wants a standard brake like comes on many of the Trek commuter/fitness bikes, this is fine. However, if you’re looking for more brake ability than comes with the bike, you might consider other ones.

I always use these pads for my ZIPP wheels and I have never experienced any squealing, or other annoying sounds when braking. Actually don’t hear anything when braking, these pads are silent.

These pads work very well. I can come to a stop on my zipps just as quick as an aluminum wheel. I’m impressed. I do however want to point out that I don’t think these pads last long. I went on one ride and already see some pad wear.

I don’t think I really used my brakes that much either, but safely comes first and these pads work great for that.

Great breaking with Zipp 302s- much better than standard pads on the aluminum tracks of my winter wheels. But Zipp need to work out how to make them less expensive. Feel a bit held hostage given the warranty for the wheels are only valid if these pads are used.

Replaced due to squeaky originals. The XLC replacements solved the problem and stops my bike on a dime. great value

Best value anywhere for this item. Less than half price than the last ones I bought.

My bikes original brake pads were very noisy and not gripping as firmly as they used to. They were over 5 years old so I decided to replace both the front and rear brakes and install them myself. This was a great idea.

Took my time, relatively easy to install as per the instructions (and YouTube, lol!) and bike brakes like it did when it was brand new! Definitely recommended for an easy and very inexpensive brake job.

Thank you, DSG, for stocking a variety of quality replacement parts for my bike – keeping me from riding further to the nearest bike shop or having to wait for Specialized to send me a pair. Quality materials & abundant size made these a perfect replacement part!.

Stopping power sucks. Not a solid breaking performance. The lever goes almost to the bar.