Best place to get brake pads

[Killer2600]

Just like the title says, where do you get your brake pads for not alot of money. If this were my car it'd be simple and quick to get em but 27 year old bike---not so simple.

Also do I have to get both sides or can I get away with just one side? I ask because the inner left pad is grinding now while the right side pads look to have alot of meat left and I'd preferrably not replace good/usable pads and spend the money to do so.

[tkent02]

Just like the title says, where do you get your brake pads for not alot of money. If this were my car it'd be simple and quick to get em but 27 year old bike---not so simple.

Also do I have to get both sides or can I get away with just one side? I ask because the inner left pad is grinding now while the right side pads look to have alot of meat left and I'd preferrably not replace good/usable pads and spend the money to do so.

They should be replaced as a set, if one of your is wearing differently than the others find out why. Most likely the caliper is not sliding freely on it's pins... Clean and lube them. What you could do is put one of the new pads on each caliper on the inside and one of the good old pads on each caliper on the outside so you only have to buy one set, and keeping the braking symetrical. I'm sure this is not approved but I've done it once or twice.

But if you can come up with an extra $20 or so replace them all with decent modern pads.
Good pads these days can provide much better braking and if you shop around (Ebay, online venders,) good ones don't cost much more. My two GSes both have two finger brakes with stock GS calipers and rotors, just using better pads. Some folks dismiss the old brakes as worthless, and they will never be as good as modern brakes but they don't have to be garbage.

[Nessism]

They should be replaced as a set, if one of your is wearing differently than the others find out why. Most likely the caliper is not sliding freely on it's pins... Clean and lube them. What you could do is put one of the new pads on each caliper on the inside and one of the good old pads on each caliper on the outside so you only have to buy one set, and keeping the braking symetrical. I'm sure this is not approved but I've done it once or twice.

But if you can come up with an extra $20 or so replace them all with decent modern pads.
Good pads these days can provide much better braking and if you shop around (Ebay, online venders,) good ones don't cost much more. My two GSes both have two finger brakes with stock GS calipers and rotors, just using better pads. Some folks dismiss the old brakes as worthless, and they will never be as good as modern brakes but they don't have to be garbage.

What type of pads do you recommend Tom?

[tkent02]

The gripiest ones that are not for racing only, the racing pads might not be suitable for a non expert rider as the sudden increase in braking force when cold brakes heat up about a second into a hard stop would surely come as a surprise.
I can't remember which brand or model I used, just look on the manufacturer's website and figure out which is the best.
Also bed them in properly, there's more to it than driving around until they start to work.

[TooManyToys]

Brake question - cool

You really should replace all of the pads at the same time. Each friction material has it's own characteristics; coefficient of friction (mu) and different wear rates based on temperature, fade resistance, compression, NOISE, rotor treatment. Most compounds are made up of about 15-20 different ingredients and the binders (resins) and processing temperatures are all specific to the material and use. And each company will have different compounds for the materials intended use. Putting a more organic / ceramic pad on one side and a semi-met on another may sound like a good way to have the best of both worlds, but it usually ends up as the worst of both worlds.

[slip]

Bikebandit, EBC pads.