Kool Stop Supra 2 brake pads (Salmon) The salmon-colored friction material is advertised for wet/dry conditions, but I find that it works well in dry conditions. These are much thicker than the original black pads that came with the bike, and they seem to last longer as well. I am using these with my road bike that has 700x32 tires, with linear pull v-brakes. The Kool Stop pads have a slightly thicker edge on one side to help automatically toe-in the pads during installation. I found that the V-brakes on my bike are rather finicky. With the original pads, my front brakes never squealed and only chattered, but the rears would squeal/honk loudly. With the Kool Stop Supra 2 Salmon pads, my fronts squeal/honk badly once I clamp down the brakes. The rears are almost completely silent. After much adjustment, I found that I had to just slightly toe-in the rear brakes because the longer cable reduces the clamping force from the lever input (the force from squeezing the lever is lost in the longer cable). The front brakes need more toe-in than the rear because the cable is shorter, and thus it is easier to clamp down on the front pads faster than the rear. What toe-in essentially does is allow you to progressively use a small section of the pads for slowing down, and gradually introduces the rest of the pad to the wheel face. That said, these pads stopped the bike much faster than with the original pads. They leave orange markings/residue on my white aluminum wheels, and leave quite a bit of orange rubber dust but that doesn't concern me. I just care about braking performance and these pads deliver it. I can progressively squeeze the levers to gradually stop, or I can jam on the levers and lock up the wheels. After 100 miles of riding, my wheels and tires look orange. The spherical washers are very smooth and allow for easier adjustments during installation, and I just torqued the nuts to the spec listed on the box. The Kool Stops feel like high quality pads and I wouldn't hesitate to try another set once my salmon pads wear out. I may try the black pads to see if they last longer, but that will be in the future. Overall: 4/5 stars, affordable, high quality design and manufacturing, excellent braking performance (that is what I was looking for), good wear rate, leaves an orange residue/markings on white wheels, squealing can be mitigated with proper pad adjustment. UPDATE: 16 MAY 2014 So after using these pads for about 2 years (my annual mileage is only about 500 miles during the summer), the pads have worn down a bit but the grooves are still there. The material leaves orange deposits on the rim and the actual friction surface collects a lot of debris. In the dry, they are OK but I can get them to feel greasy or fade during faster stops. In the rain, even when new, they are only mediocre. It requires technique to brake early to scrub away the water before I can feel some friction. It got to the point that I won't ride in the rain anymore as it isn't worth the risk (along with reduced friction on the front tires after having lost the front end a few times on a wooden bridge while turning). I am planning to switch them out to the black pads and compare the dry performance.
