Time To Tell You

[James_Porter]

hello there.

as many of you know i have been using a few heatsink products for a while now. i joined the team a good few months back now i think and since then i have been in contact with steve quite a lot.

i used the blue pads with the normal powerpad backings for around 3-4weeks and i used them on all sorts grinds etc. i wasnt impressed with the blue pads to be honest and they seemed to be very on and off for me. when i put a new grind on my rim and set the pads up as well as i could they were amazingly powerful, felt like there was an overload of tar or alike on my rim, it really did feel crazy powerful. yet say if i tried back wheeling a wall and landed on the edge, the brake, even though it seemed like it was holding more than enough when just kicking up to the back wheel just would not hold, and it really didnt make me feel confident about my brake, i know a few others have found the same with the pads aswell.

i also found the pads to be very tempremental, and they would be amazing one minute and then suddenly the next, for no reason they would just be gone and i would be on my ass, this was more when i had a dead grind though to be fair.

another problem with the blue pads, which i didnt like was the wet weather performance, mine just seemed to die in the wet and would just not stick, which was pretty damn annoying on natty.

i also didnt like the wear to performance ratio, ie. i didnt like the way the pads wore down so fast yet the performance didnt reflect this, and if i was to buy one set of the blues i know i wouldnt have been buying another set.

so i emailed steve with all my problems and we got to work on something new.

steve sent me some new red pads, he said he wasnt sure they would work and that they probably wouldnt so i wasnt expecting much luck from them.

so i wacked them on my bike the morning i got them, went out the front and there was no sound from them...so i dragged it and after around 5meters of dragging they made a very destinctive sound, sort of like coust pads but not.

and oh my, they worked and this was after literally 5 secs of riding out the front of my house.

we were due to go to porthcawl the same day for a couple of days...good stuff, great place to really test them out as i had been there a couple of weeks before with the blues and they just died...AS SOON as the smallest amount of sea water got on them.

so we set off to porthcawl (with the new reds in) got there, jumping around on the rocks and they were still really really good and were just holding what ever i put them through, back hopping on down slopes...you know the score .

so ye, really impressed with them from that first day.

second day came and it was back out on the rocks for some more riding, brake still amazing... yet i hadnt tested them in the wet yet... so wayne said "you tried them wet yet"...i wasnt to sure about trying as i know what happened to me blues when they got wet and i didnt want to loose my brake at the start of the second day. but i saw a deep puddle on the beach bit and jumped into it, got out... and oh my, my brake still made a noise, not quite so loud as when it was dry, obviously...but it was still there, after getting SOAKED in wet sea water which the blues just died in straight away...i was amazed.

i have been using the same red pads on 2 brand new grinds for about a month and i still have around half the pad left, i ride A LOT...i would have though i ride more than most members on here...to have some idea of life...i went through a set of plaz pads on 1 grind in 3 weeks. so they sure so last aswell.

i was up north all last week, did the fun trial on the pads on a medium grind, the gim was black with dirt and other pads i have tried in the same conditions inc the blues have just not help and i was getting arm pump. yet with the reds they were there all the time, i didnt get arm pump through the comp at all and i was able to back hop, down a slope with a rim black with crap.

day after the comp we went to shipley glen, i had no grind left at all, my rim was pretty much brand new smooth so i wasnt expecting much from it at all. yet it help still, on the slanty rocks it was still hanging on, it moved under the toughest of conditions but thats to be expected, with a smooth rim that was still dirty on a moist day, you would expect that from any pad.

i left my rim smooth for a few days, and it was still good, there was plenty of modulation but then it bit when you pulled the lever just enough. and it still didnt slip when i landed on the edge of walls, unlike the blues on a new grind...

it came to the point where i needed a regrind and as soon as i did the pads were back to the same performance they were at when they were new.

i have yet to find a flaw in the new red matieral, and i have never had a pad that hasnt made me want to change before. the only pad that comes close are koxx browns, but i found these faded after a bit of use and when the grind wasnt as rough, whereas the red heatsinks just keep going.

thats about all i can think of for the red heatsink pads, hope that helps some people out.

also, i would like to tell you how my heatsink cnc'd backings are going as i havent really read anything about them at all from other users.

i have used these again for around 3-4 weeks. instantly as soon as i put them on the brake felt more responsive and stiffer.

i didnt feel ANY rocking at all which i find you get with the plastic powerpad backings which can only be a good thing.

the rounded edges which happens to other pads on plastic backings isnt anywhere near as bad with the cnc's backings, which means longer lasting and better performing pads for longer.

also the clip which clips it to the piston is far more secure, there is no way it is coming unclipped which a couple of powerpad backings have done to me in the past.

i can honestly say 100% sware down that the cnc'd backings do make you brake feel stiffer and better. i used them for 3-4 weeks as i said, then i tried some of them new echo pads with power backings and they deffinatly felt different.

so if you wanna stocking filler, deffinatly go for the cnc'd backings, not only will you save in the long run but you will have a better brake for it.

ps if you have your heart set on another make of pad, you can still use them in the cnc'd backings...aslong as they are 50mm.

if you have any other questions feel free to ask me, i will help as much as i can.

thanks, james.

ps if there are a few mistakes in that sorry, im to tired to go back through it and read it over again.

[Whiteboy]

well ive been using the reds and cnc backings for month n a bit now. and like above they are perfect.... very stiff ver very loud.. was riding in the wet tother day. and im sure rich pearson can voucj that there was hardly any difference in braking power when it got wet..there emeense.. even when his disk was startin to lack its normal hold mine just kept on trucking.. now they were getting a bit thin so i litrally a min ago put some coust m,aterial in. so il update few das comparing. but i will sure be usin another set of reds.

now the cnc backings i put some coust pads on some powerpad backings for a friend and some on my cnc backings. comparing brakes you can feel that there is mucho more stiffness in the cnc thatn the powerpros there just no flex, awesom!!

cheers

[Janson]

also, i would like to tell you how my heatsink cnc'd backings are going as i havent really read anything about them at all from other users.

i have used these again for around 3-4 weeks. instantly as soon as i put them on the brake felt more responsive and stiffer.

i didnt feel ANY rocking at all which i find you get with the plastic powerpad backings which can only be a good thing.

also the clip which clips it to the piston is far more secure, there is no way it is coming unclipped which a couple of powerpad backings have done to me in the past.

Good to hear that they're working... Pretty neat, eh? I am convinced that the clip design should last, but time will tell..

[Technical Tom]

When will these red heatsink pads be avaliable?

Cheers,

Tom.

[guineasmithpig]

cheers for the heads up porter! i'm in need of new pads, n wanna get some after xmas. sounds like one of the best options at the mo. but by far the best part of the review was:

after getting SOAKED in wet sea water

LMFAO!!!! as opposed to what? just salt? porter u plonker

smithy

[David]

Could someone summarise all that please?

[Whiteboy]

Could someone summarise all that please?

bassicly the red pads are AWESOME. much better than the previous blues..

[Caleb]

Are these the pads steve was asking people to test for him?

if not they available to buy yet?

like you say i really didnt rate the blues, out the jiffy bag they were great 10 minutes later especially in the wet the brake just didnt work.

Plaz similar to the blues but i found worked better iun the dry.

i was going to try some koxx blue/greens and heard they're very good too especially in the wet which is just what i need.

But if these reds are available id much rather support steve than koxx.

[PaRtZ]

When will these red heatsink pads be avaliable?

Cheers,

Tom.

yeah can someone answer that please. After that review im really wanting some now

[James_Porter]

cheers for the heads up porter! i'm in need of new pads, n wanna get some after xmas. sounds like one of the best options at the mo. but by far the best part of the review was:

LMFAO!!!! as opposed to what? just salt? porter u plonker

smithy

oi no

my blues went really really wank in sea water, they werent quite so bad in fresh water so i think it does make a difference.

[Krisboats]

my blues went really really wank in sea water, they werent quite so bad in fresh water so i think it does make a difference.

He means that you said WET sea water! All sea water is wet, you can't get dry sea water can you but if you could it would just be salt.

cheers for the review though... you've got steve another sale... when they come out.

[Brian Bleech]

i have been using the news reds too and i also paid for mine... i was after new pads and steve helped me out!

i have been rising i dry and wet , with a toatlly f**ked rim the pads don't hit the rim fully on some of it. The pads a working great basically!

great stuff

mike

[Ali C]

I have been wanting some cnc backings for a while now, hopfully after chrimbo I can afford to get some, I'll ask for the red pads too

[craigjames]

i got some heatsink blues on powerpad backings, and ive been really impressed with them, mind you i cant say ive used a wide range of pads (only normal maggy blacks!) ive only used them in the dry for a total of a bout 10 hours, but maybe im lucky, they havent had lapses in bite or modulation.

when are the res gonna be available, because i mite just get some for the rear and switch the blues to the front

craig

[CalopS]

Im still on old school blues from yonks back. My rims totally mashed from the road trip and the grinds almost gone and there still doing pritty well

[Will Arnold]

good review.

when are they out?

[Todge]

The reds i have been used (same compound apparently) have been very impressive. Im not as nutty as James and dont need my brake to lock as much, as its on a 24. Mine have been planted into some v-brake backings and are running on an Avid Ultimate setup on a smooth Atomlab rim.

Havent had them long, so my "review" is irrelevant, but they are as good a pad as is needed. Like James said, take only a few mins to bed in and then they give instant power, very solid feel.

[Hoot]

When are these pad available??

[Mark W]

hello there.

as many of you know i have been using a few heatsink products for a while now. i joined the team a good few months back now i think and since then i have been in contact with steve quite a lot.

i used the blue pads with the normal powerpad backings for around 3-4weeks and i used them on all sorts grinds etc. i wasnt impressed with the blue pads to be honest and they seemed to be very on and off for me. when i put a new grind on my rim and set the pads up as well as i could they were amazingly powerful, felt like there was an overload of tar or alike on my rim, it really did feel crazy powerful. yet say if i tried back wheeling a wall and landed on the edge, the brake, even though it seemed like it was holding more than enough when just kicking up to the back wheel just would not hold, and it really didnt make me feel confident about my brake, i know a few others have found the same with the pads aswell.

i also found the pads to be very tempremental, and they would be amazing one minute and then suddenly the next, for no reason they would just be gone and i would be on my ass, this was more when i had a dead grind though to be fair.

another problem with the blue pads, which i didnt like was the wet weather performance, mine just seemed to die in the wet and would just not stick, which was pretty damn annoying on natty.

i also didnt like the wear to performance ratio, ie. i didnt like the way the pads wore down so fast yet the performance didnt reflect this, and if i was to buy one set of the blues i know i wouldnt have been buying another set.

Haha, maybe someone will listen to me about the blue pads now I've got your word too... I totally hated the pads. They didn't work super well in general, 'went off', if the rim had even though about dust or anything they just stopped working, in the wet they were arse, and they didn't even last...

I was just told that I had a duff set. Just another one of the interesting 'stories' about Heatsink products I guess.

[Heatsink]

I don't think moulded pads will be available until March 2006 or later. This is because to mould pads in this compound I'll need to have some completely new mould tooling which I'm currently being advised on and given costs for. It's looking expensive at the moment which would make it impossible to spring into action for quite a while.

The good news is that for now I'm able to hand make pads from the large sheet sample that I have. It does take more time to do it this way, so there will be delays of a few days if people want pads.

From the feedback I've heard they work best in the rigid backing set-ups like the Vees or CNCed Magura backings. They are relatively untested in normal plastic magura backings, but I can mount them into those if required. The pad compound is slightly harder than the blue pads, and any refills/pads would have 6mm of material.

I can't promise that I'll be happy to keep making the red pads by hand for ever because it's so time consuming. Also I don't know whether I'll ever be able to justify the expense of all the tooling all over again to be able to mould them as a longer term solution. They may never be put into proper production.

I'll get some more info on my website tonight about the hand made red pads which are now available due to popular demand

Steve

[Sam Nichols]

Nice one.

I'm wondering why this didn't go in the 'Pad Reviews' thread? Maybe we can make an exception since it's Porter though...

Good work steve though, guess i'll have to dip in my pocket and wing some cash your way then

Edited December 12, 2005 by nichols_sam

[joker]

f**kin hell, i dont post often on tf, but why the hell is it nesscesary to write all that crap about brake pads,

for anyone

the blue pads were rubbish

red is the way forward in this blokes opinion.

honestly havnt you got anything better to do than write an essay on brake pads.

j0

[SteveS]

f**kin hell, i dont post often on tf, but why the hell is it nesscesary to write all that crap about brake pads,

for anyone

the blue pads were rubbish

red is the way forward in this blokes opinion.

honestly havnt you got anything better to do than write an essay on brake pads.

j0

Its called being helpfull! have u got nothing better to do then to come on here and have ago cause some one has given the forum 5-10mins of his time to write a helpfull topic about pads!

Yet ur coment has been unhelpful, and disrespectfull!

Steve

[tomturd]

honestly havnt you got anything better to do than write an essay on brake pads.

My guess would be it wasnt his sole decision to make this post.

ALL brake pad reviews to go into the pad review thread from now on, and don't bother if you havent been riding them 6 weeks +, same goes for all reviews, had enough of seeing these bias, round a bout way of advertising threads. If your reviewing products for a company you are 'sponsored' by (see MrsMonkeys sig), dont bother.

Post impartial reviews only.