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About Us
Kool-Stop International was started back in 1977, in Oregon USA. After creating the bicycle brake pad that had an internal frame and an air cooled heat sink, the small garage based company started to build a name for itself. The growth of the Kool-Stop name has carved for quality brake pads in all areas of the cycling industry.
Just_Keith
Reviewed in the United States on June 27, 2017
These pads are amazing. I've got only a pair of them (only have rear brakes) on an old 26" mountain bike, which I did my best to clean the rim, but it's admittedly not very true any longer, and parts of the surface are anything but flat or smooth (aluminum is kind of gouged in spots). Despite all that, I've got fantastic stopping power. If the bike still had front brakes and I put these pads on, there's probably a decent chance I might end up going over the bars.I'm not a power rider or anything like that, but I'm not a small guy, and I like getting anything on wheels up to top speed when possible. Brakes are very important to me (not sure why they wouldn't be to any rider with just a smidge of sense), and I really thought I was going to have to toss this bike to get something newer with good brakes (e.g. even just basic disk brakes).Even if these pads only last me 6 months, I'll still replace them with the same thing. I've been slowly replacing all the worn out or sub-par stuff on this old bike, and these pads are just about the last thing that it needed. I'm a cheapskate who doesn't want to buy another bike any sooner than necessary, and also like that almost no one will steal the old thing I have, either! It's also cool that you can still get a quality product like this for old cantilever-style brakes. With a lot of modern products (not just or necessarily bikes), it seems like once the new thing is released, you'll eventually have a harder time maintaining the old one....It actually gives me some faith to pick up another older bike with cantilever-style brakes - I know I'll have good stopping power at a minimum!I just can't emphasize how great these pads are. I guess I also should include that the cables and all other hardware are all original too (e.g. 20+ yrs old), and the pads still do a great job. Typically, you have to replace all related assemblies to get something in top-notch working condition, but this is a clear exception.
Customer
Reviewed in the United States on November 14, 2015
I've been using these Kool-Stop MTN pads for a while now. They are simply the best rim-brake pads I have ever used. If you can fit these pads on your bike then go with them!The stopping performance is tremendous. The extra contact surface and the red compound really work wonders. My trek soho city bike stops as good (if not better) than my disc brake equipped gravel bike, just by changing the pads!!! Another plus is that they are pretty good in the wet too. Not as good as disc brakes (duh), but they seem to squeegee water/grime away from the rim better than other pads I've tried.A few tips:1.) Make sure you take time to set them up properly (i.e., toe-in). They can be very noisy (especially after wet weather) if you do not have any toe-in dialed in.2.) When you are installing these, make sure you go through and clean the contact patch of your rim THOROUGHLY. I like to use simple green and a microfiber cloth.3.) If you clean your rims well and still see black streaks on the rim surface, take a nail file and rub the surface of your rim thoroughly. This will get rid of the streaks and give you a nice clean braking surface.4.) If you ride a lot in wet or nasty weather, make sure you wipe the surface of the pads off after every ride. They do a good job of removing grit and grime from the rim, but the downside is that the pads will become gunked up themselves.
Seth Hoffman
Reviewed in the United States on November 26, 2009
I'm not an expert, but I've been impressed with these pads. My only past experience has been with cheaper no-name pads (usually whatever the local bike shop was selling at the time), but these are markedly better. My commuter bike (an older mountain bike) has crappy steel rims, so squeal has always been a problem, but these pads are noticeably quieter than the pads I've used in the past. They still make a bit of noise, but nothing obnoxious. They grip excellently and it only takes a gentle pull with two fingers on my V-brakes to make a quick, controlled stop. Of course, the performance isn't very good when they're wet, especially with my steel rims, but the channels seem to clear the water out pretty well and after a couple stops the performance improves noticeably.I can't really comment on the life, but over the last few months I've been using them, they seem to wear about like average pads. They definitely don't wear as fast as some of the soft-compound road pads that Kool Stop makes.Overall, I've been pleased with these pads. They are a bit more expensive than your basic pads, but if you really are after better performance, you can't go wrong.
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