Mountain bike brake help

One more vote for Kool-Stop pads. They make two compounds, black and salmon (aka pink or orange.) Black offers the best stopping power and the least rim wear at the expense of brake pad life...my preferred choice. Salmon offers reduced pad wear, particularly in wet or muddy/gritty conditions, with a slight trade-off in stopping power and rim wear.

Also of note, bike brake pads tend to come in one of two styles. The 'standard' pad like the one pictured above is a unitary construction of friction material and mouting hardware. Chuck the entire thing and spend $10-15 when time to replace. The second 'high-end' option is a cartridge-style pad where the mounting hardware and backing plate is a one-time purchase, and future pad replacements involve removing a set screw or a pin, sliding the old friction material out, and sliding a new friction material in. Initial purchase is $15-35, but future replacements are just $8, and less need for re-adjustment. Totally worth it on a daily-commuter or long-term bike, IMO. Probably not worth it for a nice-sunny-weekends-now-and-again bike. Cartridge pads are on the bottom row in the picture below.

I agree those rims will be fine. Scuff em, new pads, keep rolling. 

Bought new half/half salmon pads. Sanded the rim down. Will report back! Thanks!!

Do you know the business card trick for setting up the pads? The pads will squeal less if the trailing edge hits the rim slightly before the leading edge. To do this, fold a couple business cards in half. Loosen the pad bolts slightly and clamp the brakes down to the rim with folded business cards under the front 1/4-1/3 of both pads. Now tighten the pad mount bolts. Again, may have to do it again down the road as pads wear. 

ultraclyde (Forum Supporter) said:

Do you know the business card trick for setting up the pads? The pads will squeal less if the trailing edge hits the rim slightly before the leading edge. To do this, fold a couple business cards in half. Loosen the pad bolts slightly and clamp the brakes down to the rim with folded business cards under the front 1/4-1/3 of both pads. Now tighten the pad mount bolts. Again, may have to do it again down the road as pads wear. 

Nope, thanks for the tip! I rode this thing for twenty years and haven't done more than adjust the cables over time.

Wow the difference is amazing

Sweet helmet lights!

Awesome!

bluej (Forum Supporter) said:

Sweet helmet lights!

Ha!

I got some from Vont which I really like, but they are on the kids bikes. My helmet is adorned with some flashlights, one pointing frontwards and one pointing backwards. Thanks!