brake pads for carbon & aluminum rims

[gone]

I've been using Zipp brake pads for both aluminum and carbon rims (303's) and have generally been ok with them. I am going to be taking a trip shortly with lots of steep descents (and ascents, but that's another story) with switchbacks so there will be a good bit of hard and/or prolonged use of the brakes and will be taking both the 303's and a set of aluminum rims (both tubular, naturally). So are there better pads than the zipps?

Also, I did a search looking for previous discussion on this topic and saw some posts recommending not using the same pads on aluminum and carbon. The post was relative to kool stop salmon pads and the reason given was bits of aluminum get embedded in the pad and will trash the carbon brake surface. Does this apply to all carbon pads i.e., the Zipps as well?

Thanks for any thoughts.

[dgauthier]

From what I understand, if you want the best braking on both AL and carbon, you must use pads specifically designed for each material - that is, different pads for each rim.

I have no experience with carbon rims and pads, but I can enthusiastically recommend the Koolstop salmon pads on aluminum rims. On my Ultegra brakes they are *definitely* more immune to brake fade than either the stock Shimano pads or the Koolstop black compound.

I've tried all three on a 1 mile long 10%-12% descent, punctuated by three stop signs. With the Shimano and Koolstop black pads, brake fade would be so bad by the third stop that stopping power was almost non-existent. (It's not fun squeezing both brakes are hard as you can, and having nothing happen and sailing through a stop sign!) After acquiring all sorts of fancy-schmancy brake manipulation skills to minimize fade (which only slightly helped), I tried the Koolstop salmon pads on the same descent. While there was still some brake fade, it was so greatly reduced that it simply wasn't a safety issue anymore. There was no more need for fancy brake manipulations - just grab 'em and stop, every time, whenever you want.

To make a long story short I will not use anything on AL rims than the Koolstop salmon pads.

[coylifut]

the theory still holds. use a separate set of pads that you'll use only on your carbon rims. get the Swiss Stop yellow pads. My wife bought me a set of 404s for our 10-year anniversary, I've used em once. Now, I'm an expert.