Brake pads are one of the most frequently replaced consumables on a mountain bike, and one of the most frequently misunderstood. Riders spend hours debating forks and shocks but swap in whatever pad comes in the box without thinking twice.
Pad compound has a real, tangible effect on how your brakes feel and perform. Get it right, and your brakes work confidently from the first pull of the lever. Get it wrong and you'll be dealing with noise, fade, or pads that wear out after a handful of rides.
Here's what you actually need to know.
The Two Main Compounds: What They Are and How They Work
Organic (Resin) Pads
Organic pads, also called resin pads, are made from a blend of materials like Kevlar, rubber, and silica, bound together with resin. The friction material itself contains no metal content.
The result is a softer pad that grips the rotor quickly and quietly. The initial bite is sharp and immediate, the lever feel tends to be progressive and easy to modulate, and the pad is gentler on rotors over time due to its softer composition.
The tradeoff is heat and durability. Organic pads can glaze under sustained high heat; the friction surface hardens and becomes less effective right when you need it most. They also wear out faster than sintered pads, particularly in wet or muddy conditions where grit accelerates the breakdown of the resin binder.
Where they work well: Dry, low-to-moderate intensity riding. Short descents with intermittent braking. Summer conditions in BC with minimal mud. XC and light trail riding where sustained heat buildup isn't a factor.
Sintered (Metallic) Pads
Sintered pads are made from metal particles, typically a mix of copper, iron, and steel, fused under high heat and pressure. The result is a much harder, denser pad that handles heat and abrasion significantly better than organic compounds.
Sintered pads are slower to warm up to their optimal operating temperature, which means the very first pull on a cold descent can feel slightly less sharp than an organic pad. Once they're up to temperature, though, they hold their performance through sustained descents without fading. In wet and muddy conditions, sintered pads maintain consistent stopping power where organic pads start to suffer.
The main downside is rotor wear. Sintered pads are more abrasive than organic pads, which means rotors will wear faster over time. They can also run louder, particularly when cold or slightly contaminated.
Where they work well: Wet, muddy, and variable BC conditions. Long, sustained descents. Enduro and gravity riding. Heavy riders who generate more heat. Year-round riding where you can't predict conditions at the trailhead.
Sintered vs Organic: Quick Comparison
| Organic (Resin) | Sintered (Metallic) | |
|---|---|---|
| Composition | Kevlar, rubber, silica, resin | Metal particles (copper, iron, steel) |
| Initial bite | Sharp, immediate | Slower to warm up |
| Heat resistance | Lower — can glaze on long descents | High — consistent performance under heat |
| Wet performance | Degrades in mud and wetness. | Reliable in wet and muddy conditions |
| Rotor wear | Gentler on rotors | More abrasive — rotors wear faster |
| Noise | Quieter | Can be louder, especially when cold |
| Durability | Shorter lifespan | Longer lifespan |
| Best for | Dry conditions, XC, light trail | BC wet season, enduro, sustained descents |
What About Semi-Metallic Pads?
Some manufacturers offer a middle ground, pads that use an organic base compound with added metal content. These behave closer to organic in feel and noise but offer better heat resistance and wet performance than a pure resin pad.
If you find sintered pads too aggressive or noisy but keep glazing through organic pads, semi-metallic compounds are worth trying. Shimano offers these in their pad lineup, and they're a practical choice for trail riding in mixed conditions.
The BC Riding Reality
Most of what we see at Dunbar Cycles in Vancouver and Corsa Cycles in Squamish comes down to a straightforward answer: For most BC riders, sintered is the better default.
Riding on the North Shore, Squamish, or any coastal BC terrain means moisture is the baseline, not the exception. From September through May, and often into June, trails are wet. Roots are slick, rocks are greasy, and mud gets into everything, including your callipers. Organic pads in those conditions fade faster and wear faster. You'll be replacing them twice as often for worse performance on the descents that matter.
Summer riding on dry, dusty trails is where organic pads shine. If you're doing a week of lift-assisted riding at a dry bike park or spending a dry August on dusty interior trails, organic pads will give you a sharper, more immediate feel.
The honest answer for riders who want one setup year-round and ride BC terrain: run sintered. If you want to optimize for summer conditions specifically, swap to organic for that period.
How to Tell If Your Brake Pads Are Worn
This phase is where most riders make the mistake of waiting too long. Worn pads don't just perform worse; they accelerate rotor wear dramatically. Running pads past their limit means a pad replacement job becomes a pad and rotor job. That's a significantly higher cost and a more complex service.
The Visual Check
Remove the wheel and look straight into the calliper at the pads sitting on either side of the rotor slot. New pads typically have 3–4mm of friction material on the backing plate. The friction material is the compound layer, not the metal backing plate itself.
Replace pads when the friction material is 1mm or less. At that thickness, heat capacity drops sharply, power fades under sustained braking, and you're close to the point where the backing plate contacts the rotor directly.
Manufacturer guidelines by brand:
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SRAM: Replace when total pad + backing plate thickness is 3mm or less
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Shimano: Replace when pad material alone is 0.5mm or less
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Magura: Replace when total thickness is 2.5mm or less
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Hope: Replace when pad material is below 1.5mm
If you don't have callipers handy, here's a practical rule of thumb: if you can see the friction material is visibly thin or flush with the metal backing plate, it's past time.
Uneven Wear
Check both pads in the calliper, inner and outer. Uneven wear is common and usually points to a sticky piston or misaligned calliper. If one pad is worn significantly more than the other, the calliper needs attention before you install new pads; otherwise, you'll be back in the same situation in short order.
Signs Beyond Thickness
Even pads that haven't hit minimum thickness can be past their effective life.
Glazing: The pad surface looks shiny or smooth instead of matte. This happens when pads overheat and the compound hardens. Glazed pads feel wooden and inconsistent; they may not improve with bedding-in. Light glazing can sometimes be removed by scuffing the pad surface on sandpaper; severe glazing usually means replacement.
Contamination: Oil, chain lube, or brake fluid on a pad permanently compromises it. The pad material absorbs contaminants, and no amount of cleaning will restore performance. If your pads are contaminated, replace them. Clean the rotor with isopropyl alcohol before installing new pads.
Cracking or chunking: Any visible cracking or physical breakdown of the compound means immediate replacement.
Bedding In New Pads: Don't Skip This
New pads, both organic and sintered, need to be bedded in before they perform properly. The bedding process transfers a thin, even layer of pad material onto the rotor surface, which is what actually creates efficient friction.
The process is straightforward: find a safe stretch of trail or road, accelerate to moderate speed, squeeze the brakes firmly but not to a full stop, and release before stopping. Repeat 10–15 times, letting the brakes cool between sets. You should notice an improvement in feel with each set.
Skipping this step means pads that feel wooden, inconsistent, or noisy for the first few rides and often a longer period of poor performance before they settle in.
Pad Compatibility: Match to Your Brake System
Not all pads fit all callipers. Shimano, SRAM, Magura, and Hope all use proprietary pad shapes. Pads are usually not cross-compatible between brands, and even within a brand, model generations can differ.
When buying replacement pads, confirm:
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The brake brand and model (e.g., Shimano XT M8120, SRAM Maven, Hope Tech 4)
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The compound you want (organic, sintered, semi-metallic)
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Whether the pad includes the retaining pin/clip hardware or if you're reusing the existing hardware
If you're unsure, bring the bike into Dunbar Cycles at 622 East Broadway, Vancouver, or Corsa Cycles at 38123 Cleveland Avenue, Squamish; we'll pull the right pad for your brake on the spot.
Shop Brake Pads at Dunbar Cycles & Corsa Cycles
We stock brake pads for Shimano, SRAM, Hope, and Magura brakes in both sintered and organic compounds at both locations, alongside rotors and the full range of MTB brake parts. If your disc brakes feel soft, inconsistent, or not what they used to be, start with the pads; it's the most affordable and usually the right fix. Free shipping across Canada on orders over $150.
