SRAM

Road Disc Brake Pads - Sintered

As part of the testing process that went into developing the new Hydro R (hydraulics for road) brake groups, SRAM's engineers spent considerable amounts of time experimenting with different brake pad compounds. For several of the tests, riders wore weighted vests while descending Italy's steep Stelvio Pass, measuring heat on the rotors and pressure on the brake lines in real time throughout. According to SRAM, the data collected from the tests showed that 'max temperatures weren't any hotter than mountain biking,' but they did get some friction fade at very rapid decelerations.

Due to the results of these tests, SRAM tweaked the pads used for its new Hydraulic Road Disc (HRD) setup. The friction fade during SRAM's testing resulted from aluminum-backed pads, so for production they switched to full stainless steel-backed pads with tweaked sintered organic pads. The result is that the new pads now create much smoother braking and are able to better handle friction fade.

The SRAM Road Disc Brake Pads also feature angled profiles at the bottom, making wheel changes much quicker and easier than mountain specific varieties.