Best XT M785 pads

[kjsayers]

I need to replace the pads on my XT M785's. It has stock pads with the cooling fins. These pads are more then twice to three times the amount of others. Are they worth the cost or are others just as good?

[Dan GSR]

Do you want the best? Or cheap ones? The two usually are never the same

[kjsayers]

You are correct. However I don't wanna pay $30-$40 for pads when $20 will work just as well. Just wondering from others that have experience with both.

[PerthMTB]

Stay with the fins. From my experience the new Shimano brakes are prone to getting hotter than older versions, and the Ice-tec stuff is more than just marketing hype.

[Noclutch]

I like cheap ones or cheaper ones that I can replace regularly without sweating the cost.

[customfab]

You can try a set of non finned aftermarket pads and see if they will work for you. If you start getting fade you know your stuck buying the finned pads.

[shredhead1]

Hey kjsayers,
What did you go with? I am trying to be proactive and have a set on hand when I need them and am also considering alternatives to the $40ish for the Shimano finned pads. That is a bit ridiculous IMHO.

Thanks.

[edmorales]

are koolstops any good?

[customfab]

Hey kjsayers,
What did you go with? I am trying to be proactive and have a set on hand when I need them and am also considering alternatives to the $40ish for the Shimano finned pads. That is a bit ridiculous IMHO.

Thanks.

Why is that ridiculous? They are not your average brake pad and they charge you for it. Not everybody needs the ice tech pads and you can certainly get OE non-ice tech pads for a much more mundane ~$20 If the aftermarket brands were to make comparable ice-tech pads they would be in the same price range as the Shimanos

[Trackho]

You can try a set of non finned aftermarket pads and see if they will work for you. If you start getting fade you know your stuck buying the finned pads.

My brakes came with non finned, resin pads , I then upgraded to the finned sintered metal pads, frankly it hard to tell the diff and I use my brakes pretty intensely and weigh 225. Hopefully, Vesrah will come out with some sintered pads, that would be sweet. In the mean time, I'll still by the finned sintered metal ones as brake are money well spent to me

[kjsayers]

Hey kjsayers,
What did you go with? I am trying to be proactive and have a set on hand when I need them and am also considering alternatives to the $40ish for the Shimano finned pads. That is a bit ridiculous IMHO.

Thanks.

I ended up buying non finned pads. I won't know if I like them or not or have a comparison until spring. I bought a set off ebay.

[thasingletrackmastah]

I used up the original finned XT's and now use these:
DiscoBrakes.Com :: Shop :: Disc Pads :: Shimano :: XTR M985 :: OBE-DS06TG
Like them, although the rear brake did suffer from s little fading, just once.

[cpfitness]

If the aftermarket brands were to make comparable ice-tech pads they would be in the same price range as the Shimanos

haha, thats a laugher, they definately wouldn't be. not saying the finned pads aren't better but the manufacturing cost of them is dirt cheap, ditto for almost all bike parts.

[customfab]

haha, thats a laugher, they definately wouldn't be. not saying the finned pads aren't better but the manufacturing cost of them is dirt cheap, ditto for almost all bike parts.

Really? Aftermarket pads are only ~2-5 bucks cheaper than OE pads that hover around $20. So you think an aftermarket icetech pad would a bigger difference? It's really a moot point as I'm pretty sure Shimano has patents protecting it.

Manufacturing cost is only a portion of what a product will retail at. It's more about perceived value.

[cpfitness]

Really? Aftermarket pads are only ~2-5 bucks cheaper than OE pads that hover around $20. So you think an aftermarket icetech pad would a bigger difference? It's really a moot point as I'm pretty sure Shimano has patents protecting it.

Manufacturing cost is only a portion of what a product will retail at. It's more about perceived value.

I agree about perceived value but on a $20 pad the aftermarket ebay china type sellers still need to make profit and there isn't as much wiggle room. Guarantee you that the $40 finned pad costs marginally more (if any) than a regular pad but has been marketed up to $40 so an aftermarket seller can easily sell it for significantly less. As for patents, thats never stopped anyone on ebay before!

[customfab]

I agree about perceived value but on a $20 pad the aftermarket ebay china type sellers still need to make profit and there isn't as much wiggle room. Guarantee you that the $40 finned pad costs marginally more (if any) than a regular pad but has been marketed up to $40 so an aftermarket seller can easily sell it for significantly less. As for patents, thats never stopped anyone on ebay before!

I'd be willing to bet that the finned pads require some pretty expensive custom tooling to create. Even if the manufacture cost is low, it might take 200k in custom tooling. That's a lot of scratch for a scamer to shell out and recoup.

[cpfitness]

inside job will get them the tooling

[millertm]

Let me see if I have this correctly, you bought $120-$160 a side XT brakes (mine were $119 side) $100 or so on a set of Ice Tech Rotors (Maybe) and you are upset about $40 pads? I'm sure if you got the M446 or Deore Hydro with matching rotors you pads would be in the $20 range. You chose the better brakes and there is a cost involved with better equipment. Just eat at home for a few days and save the extra $20 for the right pads.

Mark

[PerthMTB]

Best of both worlds - I buy my Shimano finned pads from Europe at $20 a pair...

[LyNx]

Where'd you find finned pads for that price? Checked CRC and they're $27 for Resin and $40 for sinistered and that's about the best I've found.

Best of both worlds - I buy my Shimano finned pads from Europe at $20 a pair...

[PerthMTB]

Where'd you find finned pads for that price? Checked CRC and they're $27 for Resin and $40 for sinistered and that's about the best I've found.

I buy most of my stuff from Germany now, as I find they're cheaper than the UK stores.

These guys for example BIKE-COMPONENTS.DE - Fahrradteile & Fahrradzubehr fr Mountainbike (MTB), Rennrad, Trekking-Fahrrder und Roadbike have the resin finned for $16 and sintered finned for $24. Mind you, need to buy a few other things at the same time to spread the cost of postage, but I never seem to find that a problem

[LyNx]

I'm seeing them, but for $19.75 US for the resin and $29 for the sinistered, still a bit cheaper, but not enough to warrant using them since shipping needs to be padded up to make it worth it. CRC shipping via Royal Mail for the flat rate box is $16.48 US and it holds quite a bit (F&R disc brakes and rotors) plus using the mail we normally get away from paying duties.

I buy most of my stuff from Germany now, as I find they're cheaper than the UK stores.

These guys for example BIKE-COMPONENTS.DE - Fahrradteile & Fahrradzubehr fr Mountainbike (MTB), Rennrad, Trekking-Fahrrder und Roadbike have the resin finned for $16 and sintered finned for $24. Mind you, need to buy a few other things at the same time to spread the cost of postage, but I never seem to find that a problem

[twocircles]

so i can create a thread

[PerthMTB]

I'm seeing them, but for $19.75 US for the resin and $29 for the sinistered,

You're forgetting that the prices shown on the web site include 19% German tax, which will be subtracted at checkout for any orders sent to a shipping address ouitside the EU, making them $16 and $24.

CRC shipping via Royal Mail for the flat rate box is $16.48 US and it holds quite a bit (F&R disc brakes and rotors) plus using the mail we normally get away from paying duties.

There's obviously a lot of factors other than item price that come into play when you decide where to buy stuff - like postage method, shipping costs, delivery time (which incidentally is much longer with the German sites than CRC!) range of items stocked, service levels, returns policy etc. etc. Just let me make it clear - I'm not suggesting you or anyone else should necessarily buy from that site, I was just answering your question of where I bought my pads for that price. Go with whatever works for you, and if that's CRC then great - I still buy the occasional thing from them, just not as much as I used to since I discovered the German sites...

[LyNx]

OK. Yeah I saw the 19% tax and was wondering about that. As with you, just saying that for me the shipping cost minimum charge is a lot higher than CRC, so for ME it's not worth it for something so small and low value, but if it was something bigger/more $$ like a set of brakes etc, then yes I'd probably be shopping around a bit more.

You're forgetting that the prices shown on the web site include 19% German tax, which will be subtracted at checkout for any orders sent to a shipping address ouitside the EU, making them $16 and $24.

There's obviously a lot of factors other than item price that come into play when you decide where to buy stuff - like postage method, shipping costs, delivery time (which incidentally is much longer with the German sites than CRC!) range of items stocked, service levels, returns policy etc. etc. Just let me make it clear - I'm not suggesting you or anyone else should necessarily buy from that site, I was just answering your question of where I bought my pads for that price. Go with whatever works for you, and if that's CRC then great - I still buy the occasional thing from them, just not as much as I used to since I discovered the German sites...