disc brake on road pad life

[bicycletricycle]

i have had disc mountain bikes in the past but not on a road bike. It seems like i have heard a lot about pad life problems on the road with discs. I have a friend who commutes a few miles a day and she has gone through 2 sets of bb7 pads already.

Seeing the new shimano ultegra disc set up made me wonder two things,

one- did they fix this?

two- is it actually a real problem?

those of you here who have ridden disc brakes on the road, have you had problems with short pad life?

[gdw]

Avid BB7s are excellent brakes but the factory pads leave a lot to be desired both on and off road. Have your friend try some of the aftermarket sintered models like EBC Golds.
http://www.amazon.com/EBC-Disk-Brake-Avid-Mechanical-Gold/dp/B001C4PQSO/ref=pd_sim_sbs_sg_2

[HillDancer]

...those...who have ridden disc brakes on the road, have you had problems with short pad life?
No

[chuckred]

i have had disc mountain bikes in the past but not on a road bike. It seems like i have heard a lot about pad life problems on the road with discs. I have a friend who commutes a few miles a day and she has gone through 2 sets of bb7 pads already.

Seeing the new shimano ultegra disc set up made me wonder two things,

one- did they fix this?

two- is it actually a real problem?

those of you here who have ridden disc brakes on the road, have you had problems with short pad life?

Doesn't make sense given their history on the trail.

My shimano mtb pads last quite a season with heavy use...except I have also worn them out in less than 5 miles in rainy, sandy, muddy races. I had bb's on a past bike and the pads wore just as well. I really can't imagine how you could go through pads that fast on the road unless they are being contaminated somehow?

Not experience on the road, but how much more abuse could you give brakes on the road compared to on the trail? Or are the pads micro-thin for weight???

[nighthawk]

Not experience on the road, but how much more abuse could you give brakes on the road compared to on the trail? Or are the pads micro-thin for weight???

I would assume that on the road a rider would typically be breaking more often at greater speed. More friction = more pad wear.

[pcxmbfj]

I'm running my first road/cross bike and elected to go with mechanical disc.

From many years of mtbiking with disc brakes it's my experience that the pistons on disc can make contact with the rotors because of drag or alignment between pads.

The number of revolutions of road biking distances would be for me much greater than for mtbiking distances even with rotors perfectly centered.

This greater amount of pad contact/wear from road riding leads me to expect more frequent pad replacement.

[zap]

Fast road riding is hard on disc brake pads.......but commuting a few miles a day, pads should last a year or two.

EBC Golds work well even with crappy Avid disc's.

[shane0000001]

I ride hydraulic shimano on my polo bike that I currently also commute 8 miles a a day on. It's front-brake only, and there's a a lot of braking done when playing polo, far more than normal riding. The stock pads lasted around 9 months. Which was decent considering how much I use them.
Like caliper brakes, the pads you get have a massive impact on power and durability.

[bicycletricycle]

maybe its the winter contamination that's causing the short life span,

salty snow dirt slush in rhode island can get nasty.

[KidWok]

I commuted throughout the winter in Seattle for a number of years and did not have problems with short pad life. That said, I did immediately swap out the new pads on my Shimano BR-R505's to EBC Gold sintered.

Tai