# kool stop salmon vs swiss stop green pads



## wankski (Jul 24, 2005)

Hi ,

need some shimano compat brake pads. did a search and i did not see a direct comparison. tried the kool stop dual compound on campag before... i thought they were 'just ok' compared to oem...

anyone tried both on the same bike/gruppo?

the greens and salmons are meant to be the soft high performance compounds if i'm reading it right.

i want outright stopping power with less 'grip of death' on my levers... suspect the oem pads in my new brakes are poor.

the swiss are around 50% more expensive than the kools

thanks !


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## g-Bike (Jan 25, 2006)

The Dura Ace Pads I believe were reviewed recently and ranked highly among the after market pads. Check your brake set up for a death grip should equal a sliding bike and that is no longer braking but entering a crash.


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## Guest (Nov 5, 2009)

I haven't tried the salmon's, I've used the swisstop greens both with campy brakes and canti's and thought they worked pretty well.


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## boneman (Nov 26, 2001)

*salmon user*

i haven't tried the swiss stops as they're way more expensive here (singapore) than koolstops. i use the salmons and they're as good as campag record in the dry and better in the wet. much better than da 7700 pads wet or dry which is the last generation shimano i've used. all in relation to use on alu braking surfaces


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## hoogerland (Sep 18, 2009)

I have used the Salmon's with SRAM on various rims. I really liked them a lot. I'd say that I prefer them over Dura Ace and my current pads, TRP. My salmons lasted longer than the TRPs, but not as long as the DAs. The Swisstops are not meant to last, they are highend racing pads.


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## jmlapoint (Sep 4, 2008)

I use regular Black Kool-Stop replacement pads for Shimano and they are great.


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## 11.4 (Mar 2, 2008)

Try the new Shimano 7900 brake pads. They are at least equal to the Swiss Green's, and seem to have the same or very similar composition. Remarkable braking -- you will skid before the blocks give way, yet they have good longevity. 

The Green's are very good and before the 7900 pads were the standard out there. Compared to the Salmons, they had a significantly better lifetime and stronger grip. The drawback was that in the rain the Green's would grip and then almost lock -- you had to watch them because of the power they offered. The Salmons would slip so you could clench the levers and know that the pads would slide rather than lock up. The mixed Salmon/Black KoolStop pads give an excellent intermediate position -- wet stopping power with more ability to lock up the brakes. Personally I prefer brakes that I can lock up, but I want them to do so at a predictable point so I can choose how to modulate braking. If you know how to brake well at speed and under sketchy conditions, this is fine. But if you don't have superb braking control at speed, you can end up braking the hard way -- with your skin.


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## FBinNY (Jan 24, 2009)

The reality is that any decent pad should give you more than adequate braking on clean, dry alloy rims if the levers and calipers are properly matched. There are actual standards in place that brakes have to meet and any decent brake as supplied easily passes them

Can't compare Kook-Stop salmon to Swiss-stop green, but the salmon are generally considered to have better wet stopping power.

If you have normal adult hand strength, and are not satisfied with stopping power, try using a solvent like automotive brake cleaner to strip any residue off your rims. Be careful not to use any solvent that leaves an oily film. If that doesn't help enough, have someone check your brakes, especially if you mixed brands of levers and calipers.

There's only so much incremental improvement brake shoes can offer, and using either brake you should easily be able to either lock the rear wheel on dry pavement, or apply enough stopping power to the front wheel to lift the rear wheel (be careful doing this test lest you take a header). If it's borderline new shoes might help, but if you need a "death grip" to stop the bike, I doubt shoes alone will make enough difference.


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## Mr. Versatile (Nov 24, 2005)

I have Nashbar long reach brakes on my commuter. I thought they were marginal with the stock pads. I put Kool Stop Salmons on and the performance improved noticeably. I have DuraAce brakes on another bike with the stock pads. They stop very well, and I have no plans to change them. I've never used the Swiss Stops.


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## wankski (Jul 24, 2005)

*thanks all!*



11.4 said:


> The Green's are very good and before the 7900 pads were the standard out there. Compared to the Salmons, they had a significantly better lifetime and stronger grip. The drawback was that in the rain the Green's would grip and then almost lock -- you had to watch them because of the power they offered. The Salmons would slip so you could clench the levers and know that the pads would slide rather than lock up. The mixed Salmon/Black KoolStop pads give an excellent intermediate position -- wet stopping power with more ability to lock up the brakes. Personally I prefer brakes that I can lock up, but I want them to do so at a predictable point so I can choose how to modulate braking. If you know how to brake well at speed and under sketchy conditions, this is fine. But if you don't have superb braking control at speed, you can end up braking the hard way -- with your skin.


thanks 11.4, a direct comparison is what i was after and it seems u have tried both. :thumbsup: 

my vendor of choice does not yet have 7900, but judging by the price of 7800 pads, are the same price as greens anyway.

it doesn't really get wet that often here, but i need soft pads as my rims are quite soft too (ACs similar to nio rims)

don't care for pad durability, need the rim to survive!! outright grip especially at lower lever force is what i'm after.. current set up scrubs off at high speed very well, but at lower speed seems to require more effort than my exact same setup with centaur dual pivots and kool-stop dual compound pads.


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## wankski (Jul 24, 2005)

yea, i agree. with campy and 7800/7900 shimano, i can see that kools might be marginal improvement (and in my experience i agree with that!)

but my new brakes come from taiwan, and i have a sneaking suspicion the pads are no name crap. work really well at high speed (no worse, maybe even better than my centaurs), also have no problem locking up the rear even when seating/ weight to rear) but at lower speed just seem to be too hard or 'cold' to be very grippy. 

my mate had sram rival, swapped pads to green and raved, so i thought that was a good sign!


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