Like Ryan said in his review of the A2Z pads, “..disc brake pads are one of those components on you probably don’t replace as often as you should, especially when factory replacement offerings cost well over $40 a set.” This statement is so true that I had to cut and paste it here for you all to read again!
EBC pads have been around for quite some time now, each year producing better revisions and higher performing products. EBC are also well known for providing an alternative to overpriced name-your-brand disc pads.
A number of brake manufacturers make fair bit of their money by selling replacement parts for their brakes. If you brake something you’ll typically be slapped with a silly price tag for something that leaves you wondering how on earth it could possibly cost that much to produce (even with 10 middle men!).
The same usually goes for replacement brake pads. Take Hope for instance, their line of brakes are typically the most expensive available. Some would argue that they are the best performing brakes out there so they deserve the associated price tag. However, with these high performance brakes comes some hidden nasties. Nasties in the form of $90 replacement brake pads !! I mean really, how on earth could two tiny bits of metal cost that much. You’d think they were made of gold. Anyway, enough ramble about ludicrous pricing in the mountain bike industry.
Today we have a fairly decent roundup for you; we’re reviewing nine sets of EBC pads to answer many of the questions people ask when considering buying a set from their range of pads. Why nine sets? To get a better overall perspective of the current performance/value of EBC’s current range we thought we’d increase the number of test samples. Any statistics geek will tell you that the larger the sample, the more accurate the results. What we have are: Red, Gold and Green compounds for Hayes hydro, Hope M4 and Shimano XT bakes (3x3=9).
Installation & Notes
Installing brake pads is fairly straight-forward. Most pads are direct copies of the original brake manufacturers design, so there’s usually no worry about doing anything different.
This was the case for Shimano and Hope pads, but not quite true for the Hayes. We had some slight issues with the fit of the Hayes pads in the brakes. They must have been made ever so slightly smaller than authenicate hayes pads, making the fit of the pad in the calliper quite loose. I myself don’t own a set of Hayes, so this is secondary information (from a very well trusted source, for sponsorship reasons I can’t say who). He (the tester) was originally worried that the pads would fall out. So far this has not been the case, for the duration of the test the pads haven't moved.
The Shimano pads come with extra spring-clip-things. I don’t think you’d really need to replace the original spring clip things that often, but getting spares each time you buy a set of pads isn’t a bad thing.
Performance
Performance-wise the pads in EBC’s range comes in three flavours; Red, Gold and Green.
Red is the softest compound and designed for downhill use. The softer compound is supposed to bite harder at the expense of faster wear. The green compound is harder than red, targeting cross country and trail riders. The gold pads are the hardest compound of the three aimed specifically people who ride in mud, water and sandy conditions.
First pads out of the gate are red. Performance characteristics on all three brakes (Hayes, Shimano and Hopes) were very similar if not identical. The main differing factor being the performance of the brakes themselves.
The red compound was found to be generally as described. They were very bitey, with loads of power on demand (again varying depending on brakes). Despite being slated for the fastest wear, we didn’t notice any after the test was complete. So you can rest assured that if you buy a set of these pads, you won’t have to replace them for at least a couple months.
Long-term comments about the red compound weren’t all rosey. I found on my Shimano brakes that after about a two months of testing they developed a weird feel and braking. The ‘weird’ feeling could be best described as A.B.S. (Anti-lock Braking System) brakes found on cars. They pads would grip and slip to bring me do a shuddering stop. I’m not quite sure if it was just my set of pads, but it was enough for me to pull out a different set. This may have been due to the style of riding I was doing (mainly street).
Onto the gold! They were simply that, gold. All three testers agreed that the gold pads were where it’s at. Power was close to if not the same as the red pads, with a more consistent feel. Also a notable positive was that the gold pads seemed to bed in very quickly. Perhaps a good choice if you need to bed in a set of pads quickly before a race. However, the EBC website states that the gold pads arn't suitable for race use. This may be due to the fact that they have the red compound to perform that function, or something else we can't think of. Wear wise, the pads are very good. Being made of sintered bronze certainly helps. We didn't notice significant wear over the duration of the test.
Green pads are the most popular in EBC's range. They provide admirable performance, and wear slowly to suit most riders out there. Face it, not all of us want to fork out $40+ for a set of pads that wear quickly. The average joe rider wants something that does the job and keeps doing it for as long as possible!
EBC's describes their green compound as a "High quality Organic formula producing an excellent all round replacement pad for pleasure riding, cross country and trekking. If you're not sure what to choose, specify Green compound. This is our most popular all round pad. Good lifetime and stopping power."
I have to admit their own description is pretty much right on the money. While not as much power as the red compound, they certain did the job. Wear so far is basically non-existent, and there is enough bite to keep 90% of riders happy. These would be my choice of pads for everyday runs and general riding.
Pricing
Suggested Retail Prices
Shimano XT Green: $33.95
Shimano XT Gold: $42.95
Shimano XT Red: $36.95
Hayes Green: $33.95
Hayes Gold: $42.95
Hayes Red: $36.95
Hope M4 Green: $55.95
Hope M4 Gold: $89.95
Hope M4: $69.95
Conclusions
Overall I think EBC have done a good job providing the mountain bike community with much needed alternatives to brake manufacturers offering. They do the job, and they do it well. One of the biggest advantages you’ll find with the EBC range is that they’re already available over the counter in allot of local bikes stores. So rather than having to track down an authentic set (which can be hard to find), you can duck into your shop and pick up a set today. Bottom line, if they’re good enough for Peaty (Steve Peat), they’re good enough for me.
Score: 7.5/10
Big thanks to Steve Cramer Products for kindly supplying us with the review items.
*Have a go at winning a set of these pads in our "Photo of the Month" competition.
