Accessories	Bicycles	Parts	Specials	Tools	Contact	Cart

In West Newton Since 1952 - On The Web Since 1995

Shop the harriscyclery.net Catalog for a more Contemporary Shopping Experience.

Kool Stop Salmon Brake Shoes

Nothing Else Comes Close!

CompleteBrake Shoes With Threaded Hardware:	Complete Brake Shoes With Smooth Studs:	Brake Pad Refills for Re-usable Shoe Holders:
Most caliper brakes and direct-pull cantilevers, such as Shimano V-brakes use threaded hardware.	Most traditional center-pull cantilevers and some center-pull calipers, such as Mafac, use smooth studs	"Rubber" only for refillable brake shoe holders.
Mountain (The Best!) Continental Dura Holder Eagle 2 Supra 2 Thinline	Eagle 2 Eagle 2 Dual Compound Thinline Salmon Thinline Dual Compound	Shimano "Road" "V-Type" Refill Mafac Blocks

Kool Stop Features:

Angled Water Groove | Asymmetrical Design | Dual Compound | Plow Tip | Salmon Compound | Spherical Washers

 

Kool Stop Salmon Models with threaded hardware:

  

Kool Stop Mountain Salmon This model is an all-salmon version of the Mountain Pad. A major upgrade from the Thinline, the Mountain Pads have a double curved design that provides substantially more contact area. Full salmon coverage provides maximum braking power. This model was formerly called "BMX" but there's nothing "BMX or "mountain" specific about it. If your brakes, caliper or cantilever, use threaded hardware, the "Mountain" model is the very best you can get, for road or off road use. BRK14 threaded only	Mountain Pad Salmon
Features: Angled Water Groove | Asymmetrical Design | Plow Tip | Salmon Compound | Spherical Washers
Kool Stop Dual Compound Mountain Pads This Dual Compound model is the top choice for modern mountain bikes with direct pull brakes, and for road bikes as well. A major upgrade from the Thinline, the Mountain Pads have a double curved design that provides substantially more contact area. The Dual Compound design should help reduce "Shimano Squeal" If your brakes use threaded post brake shoes, these are the best brake shoes you can buy at any price. BRK15 threaded only	Mountain Pad Dual Compound
Features: Angled Water Groove | Asymmetrical Design | Dual Compound | Plow Tip | Salmon Compound | Spherical Washers
Kool Stop "Dura" Holder Kit This new road shoe/holder system uses the Shimano style refills, fits all caliper brakes that use a threaded post. Kool Stop's Made-in-USA pad holder is similar to the Shimano Dura-Ace, only better. It features ball-and-socket mounting for greater angle djustability than any similar unit. These come with dual-compound refills installed, and include a spare set of salmon refills. BRK28 threaded only	Dura Holder
Features: Angled Water Groove | Asymmetrical Design | Dual Compound | Plow Tip | Salmon Compound | Spherical Washers
Kool Stop Thinline Dual Compound Threaded The Thinline Dual Compound threaded has all of the features of the Eagle 2, but is not as thick. This is a good choice for front brakes with limited clearance, or for use with "direct-pull" brakes, such as the Shimano "V-Brake" ®. The Dual Compound design should help reduce "Shimano Squeal" This model includes all hardware, including high-quality spherical washers, of differential thickness to allow fine-tuning the reach.
Kool Stop Thinline Threaded The Thinline threaded has all of the features of the Eagle 2, but is not as thick. This is a good choice for front brakes with limited clearance, or for use with "direct-pull" brakes, such as the Shimano "V-Brake" ®. This model includes all hardware, including high-quality spherical washers, of differential thickness to allow fine-tuning the reach. BRK18 (threaded only)	Thinline threaded stud
Features: Angled Water Groove | Asymmetrical Design | Plow Tip | Salmon Compound | Spherical Washers
Kool Stop Supra 2 This model is a major upgrade from the Eagle 2 . The Supra 2 have the same form as the Eagle 2, but with the more versatile hardware of the MTB Dual Compound, and Thinline Threaded. Full salmon coverage provides maximum braking power. BRK37 threaded only	Supra 2 Pad
Features: Angled Water Groove | Asymmetrical Design | Plow Tip | Salmon Compound | Spherical Washers
Kool Stop Eagle 2 This is the classic choice where it fits. The Eagle 2 will fit most rear brakes, but due to the long rear section, there may be clearance problems in some front brakes. If your rim/forkblade clearance is tight, you should choose one of the thinline models, or the Continental. the Eagle 2 has all of the special Kool Stop features described above. BRK36 threaded	Eagle 2 Threaded stud
Features: Angled Water Groove | Asymmetrical Design | Plow Tip | Salmon Compound
Kool Stop Continental  BRK10 This is a more conventional design, for utility use on older bicycles or those which have clearance problems with the fancy Kool Stop models. Threaded stud only.	Continental
Features: Angled Water Groove | Salmon Compound

Kool Stop Salmon Models with smooth studs: for traditional center-pull cantilevers and some center-pull calipers, such as Mafac
Kool Stop Eagle 2 Dual Compound   BRK35 This is the classic choice where it fits. The Eagle 2 will fit most rear brakes, but due to the long rear section, there may be clearance problems in some front brakes. If your rim/forkblade clearance is tight, you should choose the Thinline model. The Dual Compound design should help reduce "Shimano Squeal".	Eagle 2 Dual Compound
Features: Angled Water Groove | Asymmetrical Design | Dual Compound | Plow Tip | Salmon Compound
Kool Stop Eagle 2 smooth stud   BRK34 This is the classic choice where it fits. The Eagle 2 will fit most rear brakes, but due to the long rear section, there may be clearance problems in some front brakes. If your rim/forkblade clearance is tight, you should choose one of the thinline models, or the Continental. the Eagle 2 has all of the special Kool Stop features described above.	Eagle 2 smooth stud
Features: Angled Water Groove | Asymmetrical Design | Plow Tip | Salmon Compound
Kool Stop Salmon refills for re-usable holders:
Kool Stop V-type Refills BRK12 Kool Stop salmon refills for Shimano XT, XTR "V-Brakes" and other brakes that use similar shoe holders. Replacement locking pins are included. While this is a cheaper option, it is likely that you would get better results with one of the "Mountain " complete shoe sets.	V-Type Refill
Features: Angled Water Groove | Asymmetrical Design | Plow Tip | Salmon Compound
Kool Stop Dura Ace Refills BRK25   Newer (9-speed & up) Shimano Dura-Ace, 105 and Ultegra brakes have replaceable shoe inserts. These Kool Stop refills bring the performance of the Scott-Mathauser salmon pad material, and most of the Kool Stop design features to these brakes.	Dura-Ace/Ultegra/105 refills
Features: Angled Water Groove | Plow Tip | Salmon Compound
Kool Stop Dura 2 Refills This model an upgrade from the Dura Ace/Ultegra refills above. Don't need no steenking plow tips? The Dura 2 has a thicker pad for longer life. The backside cutouts reduce weight. Dura 2 Salmon BRK29   Dura 2 Dual Compound BRK30	Dura 2 Refills

Mafac Refills
Mafac Brake Blocks Exact fit replacement brake blocks for Mafac brakes. Mafac Salmon BRK42 set of 4

 

Kool Stop and Scott-Mathauser

Kool Stop

Kool Stop is the major U.S. manufacturer of high-quality brake shoes for bicycles. Kool Stop brake shoes have a number of design features that make them superior to other brands:  

 

• Asymmetrical design.

  When a bicycle brake is applied, the friction of the shoe against the rim causes a slight twist of the brake arm. This makes the rear end of the brake shoe dig in and do most of the braking, while the forward end can tend to lift off. (The practice of setting "toe in" is intended to somewhat counteract this, but this creates other problems.)

  Most Kool Stop models feature an off-center attachment, so that the rear section of the shoe is quite a bit longer than the front. This goes a long way toward evening out the pressure along the surface of the brake shoe in practice.

• Dual Compound.

  The new Dual Compound models carry asymmetrical design to a farther extreme, using a relatively soft black compound in front of the attatchment point, an the harder, grippier salmon compound behind the attachment.

  If your brakes are prone to squealing, the Dual Compound models shoud reduce the noise pollution while still giving excellent stopping power.

  The Dual Compound feature is available in the Top-of-the line MTB Dual Compound and Thinline threaded models, and in the Eagle 2 with smooth studs  

• "Plow Tip"

  The plow tip is a small wedge-shaped projection at the rear end of most Kool Stop models.
  • It acts as a squeegie to clear water and grit from the rim, so that they don't get caught between the braking surface and the rim. (Setting conventional flat-surfaced brake shoes so that they provide toe in creates the risk of trapping grit and sand between the brake shoe and the rim. This grit then gets embedded into the surface of the brake shoe, where it grinds away at the rim every time the brake is applied. This causes premature wear to the braking surface of the rim, a serious problem on bicycles ridden in muddy/sandy conditions.
  • It also provides a built-in guide to ensure correct "toe in" of the shoes.

   

• Spherical washers.

  The better Kool Stop models with threaded shafts feature spherical washers/nuts which act like a ball-and-socket, to allow fine adjustment of the angle of the brake shoe without bending the brake arms.

   

• Angled water groove

  All Kool Stop shoes feature an angled water groove under the stud attachment point, to permit the escape of trapped water that makes it past the plow tip.

Scott-Mathauser and the "Salmon" pad.

Despite the superior design of Kool Stop brake shoes, for years, Scott-Mathauser brake shoes were the finest available, due to their patented salmon-colored rubber formula. (The "secret ingredient" is iron oxide, a.k.a. "rust", which is what gave them their distinctive color.

Even though they were ugly and had crude hardware, they were favorites of knowledgeable cyclists for their superior stopping power and durability.

Scott-Mathauser brake shoes were manufactured under contract by Kool Stop, but the hardware and shoe shape was determined by Scott-Mathauser. The less expensive Scott-Mathauser shoes had rather clunky mounting hardware; the deluxe models were overpriced and featured bogus "cooling fins." Despite these limitations, the very special Scott-Mathauser compound was so much better than anything else available, that Scott-Mathauser brake shoes were widely recognized as the best perfomers in their day.

Kool Stop "Salmon": The Best Of Both!

Now, the un-equalled Scott compound is available in the excellent Kool Stop designs. The "salmon" colored Kool Stop models are the ones made with the Scott-Mathauser material..

The traditional Kool Stop compounds and colors remain available, but we strongly recommend the salmon-colored Scott type.

This site also features many
useful articles by Sheldon Brown
and others.

Articles by Sheldon Brown and others
Harris Home	Beginners	Brakes	Commuting Lights	Cycle- Computers	Do-It- Yourself	Essays
Family Cycling	Fixed Gear Singlespeed	Frames	Gears & Drivetrain	Bicycle Humor	Bicycle Glossary	Bicycle Links
Old Bikes	Repair Tips	Tandems	Touring	What's New	Wheels	Sheldon Brown

Sheldon Brown's Bicycling Links

This site was established December 4, 1995...

We were the first southern New England bicycle shop with a Web site!

Web site by Sheldon Brown

URL: http://harriscyclery.com/brakeshoes.html

Copyright © 2005, 2008, 2010, 2011, 2014, 2016, 2017 Harris Cyclery