Uberbike Finned Brake Pads initial thoughts

In order to slow down we pull on the brake lever which in turn pushes fluid down a hose and pushes the caliper pistons.  This moves the brake pads onto the disc surface where the kinetic energy of the disc is changed it heat energy and thus we slow down.  This energy transfer for most day-to-day cycling is relatively gentle and wont effect braking.  However, long sustained  or heavy braking will cause significant heat build up that in turn will cause brake fade which isn’t a nice feeling to have.  There are various ways in which companies try to manage this, hope use two piece rotors with the aluminium spider sinks heat away from the stainless steel braking surface.  All rotors are drilled which less any gas build up between pad and rotor escape, while hope actually make a vented rotor.   Shimano make a two piece rotor and also have an ice-tech variant  with a 3-layer sandwich structure of an aluminium core and two stainless steel outer layers.  Shimano also have ice-tech finned pads that act as a heat sink further reducing heat build up.  Using both the ice-tech pads and discs can reduce heat by up to 150 degrees in lab tests.  Independent Velotech test results can been seen here

The downside of the shimano finned pads is the price, they are not cheap.  Thankfully there are a couple of options.  Koolstop make finned pads called the Areo-kool pads  while Uberbike make a two piece system that means you only have to replace the pad insert when it wears down.

The Basic principle of the fins is to take the heat away from the pad into the area outside where the air can cool it down, similar to the heat sink and fan of a computer processor.  So does it actually work, well in Uberbike’s lab test they show up to a 50C reduction

Since my front Zee and rear SLX didn’t have finned pads I splashed out on a pair.  They cost £13.99 for the race matrix pad and finned back plate, with the pad inserts cost £6.99 and £8.99 for sintered and race matrix versions respectively.  This compares to £16.99 for the Shimano SLX finned or £23.99 for the Zee (you may find them cheaper)

The pads fitted without any issue then I bedded them in.

Zee with 203mm XT Ice-tech rotor

SLX with standard XT 180mm rotor

Visually there is nothing to tell these aren’t actually shimano pads if you care about that kind of thing and for commuting the race matrix compound gives good initial bite with no squealing in the dry.  Gentle braking is not what these pads are all about.  To see if the fins do what they are supposed to do I purposefully dragged the brakes and then felt the fins to see if they were indeed transferring heat from the pad inset and they were quite warm to the touch while the calipers were cool.  The same test with non finned pads, heats up the caliper which means the fins are sequestering heat away from the rotor and caliper allowing you to brake for longer before fade.

I’ve not had a chance to test them at some proper DH tracks at Innerleithin yet but I have managed to have a play at my local natural trails in Pollok park.  These are 30s long natural DH trails with jumps, tree roots and a fair bit of mud at this time of year.

Although the short nature of the trails means I can’t efficiently test the heat dissipation of the pads I can test the bite and modulation.  The damp muddy conditions provide the perfect conditions for this as too much power too quickly means sliding and crashing.  The rear brake never locked up unless I wanted it to with good modulation between traction and skid.  The front pads didn’t have the initial bite of the previous shimano resin pads I was using but there wasn’t a huge amount in it.  The modulation was good with the bike slowing down without any loss of traction in the mud which I did actually get with the shimano pads.  I had a couple of incidents where I needed to stop quickly to avoid a tree stump or two and the race matrix compound did the job.  The brake calipers stayed cool with every run but the real test will be at longer tracks.

Overall with this initial test I’m quite happy with the pads, the fins do the job they are designed to do while the pad compound offers good initial bite while keeping a decent amount of modulation.  The two piece nature of the system means you can cheaply buy a new insert or change compound if that’s your thing.  Uberbike are only offering the complete system with the race matrix pad so if you are not a fan of this compound you will have to splash out on the sintered insert.  Adding more compounds to the range would give consumers more choice as would selling the current sintered compound with the finned backs.  I will report back with a longevity and proper DH test later.

Are fancy expensive gear cables worth it – a mini review

As I built my current bike frame up there was complete control over all components.  Some components are chosen because they are right colour or weight or just the fact you are comfortable with them e.g my 20 year old time ATAC pedals.  Most of my bike was built with mainly budget in mind but also I wanted good performance and weight.

When it came to set up my rear mech (I run a 1×10) I was just going to buy a normal cheap cable set, after all my cable was completely enclosed so was at little risk from dirt getting in.  Eventually I went with a jagwire mountain pro kit just to see if there was any actual difference between a £3.5 and a £21 set of gear cables.  As it turned out I didn’t really feel any difference but this was probably down to not trying the cheap cable before hand.

As the months went by I changed my handle bar from an Easton haven carbon to a Kinesis strut R750.  However, the cable on the gear shifter was too short to  fit so I had to fit a new one.  This time I went with the cheaper option of a clarks basic kit.  The kit was fitted simply enough and the gears changed correctly.  Now I had a direct comparison between the expensive Teflon coated jagwire kit and the basic cheap kit.

So was there a difference, well yes a huge one.  The cheaper cable kit  required significantly more pressure to change gear and wasn’t not so smooth at changing up or down.  The biggest issue was that after one ride in the mud the down shifting almost went completely.  Even though the cable is enclosed all the way from the shifter to the mech, enough dirt and water had got into the cable at the mech to cause shifting issues.

With the local conditions not set to improve for a couple of months I bought an Uberbike performance series gear kit which feature a lightweight compression-less housing with Kevlar fiber overbraid, pre-lubed liner for silky smooth operation, and our pre-stretched PTFE Slick Stainless inner wires.  The kit comes with enough outer to do the rear and two inner cables.

The difference is monumental, supper slick shifting and much more protection from the current elements.  They come is different colours as do the jagwire kits.  Uberbike also offer hydraulic hose kits for your discs if you want to match colours or require a new one.

So are expensive gear cable kits worth it – the answer is most definitely yes.  I used mine with and SLX shadow plus and SLX shifter.

Kids cycling gear

Adults have a huge range of clothing, gloves and protection that they can purchase that range from cheap to expensive.  Kids, however have little in the way of choice.  Lewis is 9 and is on the thin side of build so to the available garments are pretty limited.  There are a few manufacturers that cater for the budding MTBers.  Lewis has a range of clothes that suit him from winter to summer and I’m just going to list them down below with his sizes just to give you an idea of what fits.

Helmet – originally lewis had a standard kids helmet but when he started to follow me off road I wasn’t keen on him not being fully protected.  Lewis’s head measures 52cm which fits nicely in the XS small for the 661 comp shifted.  Full face helmets are actually one of the better catered for range for kids with 661, kali and fly racing all doing youth sizes (there are probably others too if you search).  Fly racing youth helmets go down to 47cm and importantly they are light for FF helmets.  Lewis finds for the most part the helmet is comfy but can get a bit hot so I encourage him to remove it when ever we stop.  He has face planted once already wearing it so I’m glad I bought it for him.

Gloves – These are one of the more difficult items to find as kids hands vary so much.  I went through quite a few pairs before finding a pair that fit.  The XS Savage Flite BMX Mountain Bike Full Finger Gloves were purchased from amazon and do Lewis for most of the year but they don’t offer much in the way of protection from wind chill.  Lewis’s hands measure 16cm round the palm and knuckle to the tip of his middle finger is 8.5 cm

Tops – Lewis has two royal racing youth tops purchased from chain reaction cycles.  He has both the long ( slice) and short (AM jersey)  sleeved jersey in size small.  Lewis has a 24 inch chest.

Bottoms – Lewis has both long and short bottoms for cycling.  For colder times the Altura cruiser tights have been really comfy and warm for him while for warmer times he has altura spark baggys and a pair of cube teamline shorts in size small.  Lewis has a waist of 25 inches.

Baselayer – There are a few makers that provide base layers for kids, but price wise its hard to beat the sondico range from sports direct.  This is a good quality product that works and well recommended.

Winter jacket – There are again a few of these jackets around.  I was able to get a second hand but perfect condition Altura night vison off ebay.

Body Armour – along with Gloves, knee and elbow pads can be difficult to get for kids.  There are cheap armour you can buy but it tends not to fit very well or rub when cycling.  There are youth body armour which is suitable for DH and older kids but very little that fits kids of Lewis’s size.  I spotted some Leatt knee pads for kids on CRC’s website last week but they are not cheap but they are specifically designed for kids and they appear to be smaller versions of the adult 3DF pads.  They also do a youth size for the bigger teenagers.  I bought the pads expecting them to not fit like the rest of the pads I have tried but to my surprise they fit pretty well.  They have a velcro top strap and an elastic gripper for the bottom.  Measuring from the middle of the knee the pads sit 9cm above and 12cm below.  Lewis’s legs measure 32.5cm around the top of the pad and 26 cm at the bottom.  They appear not to rub and are not too hot when cycling although like all pads a bit of sweat can make them itchy and they tend not to be comfy when you are not cycling but they fit.

Here is a couple of pics of lewis in his gear.