SwissStop cools off with new EXOTherm finned disc brake pads for road, mountain bikes

Written by Tyler Benedict Jul 29, 2015 8:00 a.m. ET

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Building on their reputation for excellent brake pads, SwissStop is now adding thermo-regulation to their stopper strategy with the new EXOTherm disc brake pads.

The new pads use an aluminum backing plate with a raised section containing cooling fins to pull heat out into the air stream, helping it dissipate rapidly. They say once properly bedded in, brake fade practically disappears. The pad material is based on their Disc E compound, which was originally developed to handle the extra stopping power required by heavier e-bikes, but with a focus on improving road and mountain bike braking performance. They claim the material also helps reduce noise and vibration.

It’ll be available in late fall 2015 in eight models (15, 25, 26, 27, 28, 30, 31 and 32) to fit popular disc brakes from Shimano, Formula, SRAM, Avid and Magura. Check their website for exact brake fitments based on model number. Retail will be €38.40 with an 20% discount offered for a limited time at launch.

Tyler Benedict

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Tyler Benedict is the Founder of Bikerumor.com. He has been writing about the latest bikes, components, and cycling technology for almost two decades. Prior to that, Tyler launched and built multiple sports nutrition brands and consumer goods companies, mostly as an excuse to travel to killer riding locations throughout North America.

Based in North Carolina, Tyler loves family adventure travel and is always on the lookout for the next shiny new part to make his bikes faster and lighter.

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888

8 years ago

Nothing compares to the SS pads on road rim brakes. Will definitely try these out on the mtb!

Tim

8 years ago

These look awesome! The link does not show the Exotherm brake pads or their compatibility yet. Just me- I wish there were a mechanical brake that could use finned pads.

TypeVertigo

8 years ago

@Tim
Same here. Given how popular TRP’s Spyre brakes are becoming, especially on lower-cost disc braked road and CX bikes, I think it’s sort of a missed opportunity for manufacturers not to offer some sort of finned brake pad upgrade for the Shimano B01S-shape (aka Deore M525) pad they accept.

ChrisC

8 years ago

Heat is a far bigger problem for hydro, so that’s probably why there’s no real options for finned pads for mechanical discs.

Mike

8 years ago

I would think you could save a lot of money by having the heat sink mount to a tab on the brake pad instead of just tossing the heat sink with the pads. Apply thermal past, screw on heat sink. Seems wasteful/expensive to integrate it all. Plus, you could add or remove for the weather, e.g. heat sinks only in the summer or big downhill days, etc.

mateo

8 years ago

@Mike – You think people want to mess with thermal paste when replacing pads? And even more so, you think people want to think about brake pad setup based on weather/terrain?

Nevermind any potential hazard from having a brake pad that is designed to separate into multiple pieces. (and do so with very limited physical space to do it)

Mike

8 years ago

@mateo For a $20 difference per set of pads people might want to mess with it (personally, I don’t care enough to). And people deal with ghetto sealing tires to save $20, bleed hydros and all sorts of things more complicated than applying thermal paste. It’s no harder than a screw and some paste. I’m not saying it’s a great idea, but there seems to be a fairly large difference in price between finned and unfinned pads that could be exploited.

“you think people want to think about brake pad setup based on weather/terrain”. Yes, and they do. Mountain, road, and cross.

Ryan S

8 years ago

@Mike – You are contradicting yourself. You talk about saving money, but thermal paste is crazy expensive. A tiny tube runs $15 for decent quality ones. How would that save you money if you had shellout for thermal paste evey pad change?

And people ghetto tubeless seal tires because they often genuinely ride better than tubeless specific ones due to thinner casing.

Now as for paste, it wouldn’t be a good idea. Thermal paste for like PC’s does dry, but gets gummy when wet, and dissolves with solvents (like we’d have with bike washes).

Justin

8 years ago

@Mike

I think Truckerco.com has what you are looking for

Robin

8 years ago

I have already done lots of vertical feet on my Enduro bine on them and they are awesome! Endless Brakingpower, even on 1400m descends with 160mm disc rear and 180mm disc up front!!

Tim

8 years ago

@ChrisC- while hydros have a bigger problem with heat than mechanicals, why not further improve mechanicals’ heat resistance?
I think the primary reason there are no finned pads for mechanical discs is because no mechanical disc that I am aware of would actually fit them. They have bottom-loading pads (which means the fins would face down, away from cooling airflow) and/ or an actuator arm that would strike the fin assembly. Another reason is that mechanical discs are perceived by perhaps a majority of riders as an option for beginners and the budget conscious; why bother adding a top-end feature to a low-end brake, the thinking goes. Me- I actually prefer mechanicals, and would love to see one with all the bells and whistles: dual pad actuation, finned pads with heat shield, compatibility with Ice-Tech rotor, manual pad adjust. (And maybe even automatic wear compensation like on hydros, although I have no idea how that would work.) But I am well aware that this won’t ever happen.

TypeVertigo

8 years ago

@ChrisC
Hydraulic, mechanical, it doesn’t matter. Heat will negatively affect both just from the pads alone.

@Tim
Won’t a mechanical disc brake caliper work with an IceTech rotor? That doesn’t seem like it’s only the domain of hydraulics. Not necessarily a Shimano Freeza RT99 rotor, either – maybe an RT86 unit or similar will work.

In the absence of finned brake pads, they’re probably one of the only options to enhance cooling of a mechanical disc brake setup.

8 years ago

@Mike: Check out Uberbike finned pads. They are a finned adapter which works with pad inserts, so you buy the finned adapters once then replacement pads are just as cheap as their standard ones.

I’ve been using their Race Matrix compound for a couple of years for riding local high-alpine descents (typical 1000m vertical per run) and have found nothing better to balance price, durability, feel and power. Just picked up some of their finned adapters & pads but waiting to recover from injury before I try them out.

Tim

8 years ago

@TypeVertigo- well said. Heat affects hydros in two ways, mechanicals in just one way.
The thing about Freeza and earlier IceTech rotors is that they are far more rigid than most rotors laterally, and most mechanical brakes have only one moving pad, which pushes the rotor into the other pad to create braking friction. Because IceTech rotors are more rigid, it’s harder to flex the rotor into the other pad. That’s something I read, and I am not sure how dramatic it is, and probably it can be partly compensated for by setting the fixed pad very close to the rotor, but it’s still sub-optimal. And there are currently only two mechanical brakes with dual moving pads on the market. (Plus the old IRD Dual Banger, which wasn’t very successful.)