# Same brake pads, carbon/aluminum wheelsets?



## E 12 (Jul 13, 2008)

So I was talking with a team mate yesterday between races and we were talking about the new set of carbon tubulars I had built up for my CX rig. I was gushing about how great they felt, etc. but mentioned that the only downside was the pain in the ass of having to change brake pads out to put my non-carbon clinchers back on for weekday training, etc. He said that he never bothered - he just keeps the same Swisstop yellow pads on whether he's on his clinchers during the week or his carbon race wheels on the weekends. I also happen to have the yellows on currently...

I was too tired to get into a lengthy debate about it with him, but was wondering how many others do the same thing. So long as I "clean" the pad surface before putting the carbon wheels back on, do you think I'm good with running the Swisstop yellows on both wheelsets? I was always under the impression that this was a bad idea for the carbon braking surface. Anyone else do this?


----------



## Guest (Oct 1, 2012)

On the road, my wife uses the same yellow Swisstops for her racing carbons and her training aluminums. Granted, she's not picking up mud, sand, etc., but we've not had any problems. I clean them and check them periodically. While I've never used carbon for cross, my guess is that sand and mud present far greater potential for buggering the rim up than the brake pad material.


----------



## IKnowYouRider (Jul 1, 2003)

I've used Swissstop yellows for the last 3-4 years on my road bike and a couple seasons on the CX bike and haven't had any issues switching between carbon and aluminum rims.

ymmv
-w


----------



## simonaway427 (Jul 12, 2010)

I switch between the two. If I'm going to be inspecting/sanding them, I might as well just switch them. It takes me 5 mins max.


----------



## Zen Cyclery (Mar 10, 2009)

Well, many people have gotten away with this, but it really isn't something you should do. If you get any metal splinters from your alloy rims in the pads, this can completely wreck the brake track on the carbon hoops. The chances of this happening aren't super likely, but I think its better to be safe than sorry. 

-Roland


----------



## davidka (Dec 12, 2001)

If you clean the pads well before going from alloy rims to carbon you should be ok. The aluminum dust that collects on brake pads is pretty abrasive. Run that against the carbon brake tracks for a while and you will essentially be sanding the brake tracks (aluminum oxide is the rough stuff on sandpaper). The yellow pads are nice because you can see how clean/dirty they are.


----------



## rockdude (Apr 3, 2008)

A few metal fragments in your brake pad is a null issue if you are race carbon rim for cross. One mud race will do more damage than years of metal fragments in our pads.


----------



## pretender (Sep 18, 2007)

rockdude said:


> A few metal fragments in your brake pad is a null issue if you are race carbon rim for cross. One mud race will do more damage than years of metal fragments in our pads.


My thoughts exactly.


----------



## imba_pete (Oct 19, 2008)

swiss stop yellow pads don't really pick up aluminum shards, that's way you can use them on both carbon and alu wheels without worry. switching pads often means adjusting the brakes to get the perfect angle, so keeping the same pads minimizes the hassle. plus, the yellow pads provide superior braking all time, last longer, and don't create black brake dust, so I would never want to take them off


----------



## davidka (Dec 12, 2001)

rockdude said:


> A few metal fragments in your brake pad is a null issue if you are race carbon rim for cross. One mud race will do more damage than years of metal fragments in our pads.


Agreed.



imba_pete said:


> swiss stop yellow pads don't really pick up aluminum shards, that's way you can use them on both carbon and alu wheels without worry. switching pads often means adjusting the brakes to get the perfect angle, so keeping the same pads minimizes the hassle. plus, the yellow pads provide superior braking all time, last longer, and don't create black brake dust, so I would never want to take them off


I was referring to the dust, it's like a find sand paper. An embedded shard will ruin the sidewall of a carbon rim in one ride. Keep them on but if they're black after you remove your alloy rims, you'd do well to clean them before putting on the carbon rims.


----------

