Attn: ZIPP highly recommends the use of ZIPP Carbon/Carbon brake pads for all ZIPP rims and wheelsets. ZIPP Carbon/Carbon pads are engineered for optimal performance and rim longevity under all (including extreme) conditions with both Silica-Ceramic and Aluminum braking surfaces. ZIPP Carbon/Carbon pads are also recommended for use with non-ZIPP products. ZIPP Carbon/Carbon pad will increase the performance and longevity of any high performance wheel.

Other recommended pads are Shimano or Campagnolo pads designed for use with carbon rims, and KoolStop Black pads.

Over the last few seasons, commonly available brake pads have changed in composition as a response to newer rim and materials technology. Gone are the days when you could put any wheel on any bike with any brake block and expect great performance. Today's stock factory equipment pads often incorporate abrasive substances, harder rubber compounds, other means of achieving better performance or all three. Paired with both the highest technology aluminum or modern carbon rims, these more abrasive, harder pads often contribute to faster rim wear and decreased performance under extreme conditions.

As cycling components grow increasingly lighter issues beyond strength, stiffness, and reliability become increasingly important. One critical issue with rims is their capacity for and their management of heat input as the rim is also used as a heat sink to dissipate energy from the act of braking. Every object has a heat capacity that is an amount of temperature increase per unit mass per unit energy input. The most basic example is water: one calorie will heat one gram of water exactly one degree Celsius. Therefore one calorie will heat two grams of water one half of a degree Celsius and so on. Carbon composites have thermal capacity similar to aluminum, although their ability to transfer heat is much more limited. However, we are building carbon rims at roughly half the weight of competing aluminum rims, so we are faced with the challenge of what to do with the heat energy. In theory, a Zipp 280 rim, because of its extreme loss in mass, will achieve roughly twice the temperature as an industry standard 30mm deep aluminum rim weighing twice as much. Furthermore, we have taken every measure possible to conduct heat down the rim sidewall and not into the tire bed where it may soften tire cement or potentially cause other problems, somewhat further reducing the rim thermal capacity.

Since we are limited by basic physics in regards to thermal capacity of the rim, we had to look beyond ourselves for further solutions. After some 14 months of research and development in cooperation with Kool Stop, BP-Amoco, SGL-Hitco and numerous others, we have developed the world's first thermally conductive, low temperature brake pad. Many have formulated pads with cork for carbon rims, but this only serves to lower brake temperatures through low coefficient of friction, and therefore poor braking performance and feel. With input from SGL-Hitco, manufacturer of the over 90% of the carbon-carbon brake discs used in Formula 1 auto racing, we have developed a compound utilizing a matrix of high thermal conductivity PITCH based graphite fibers, high cross-linking carbon molecules, and ultra-high performance Mesophase Pitch Graphite. Previously reserved only for aerospace and satellite usage, these materials exhibit heat transfer properties roughly 2-3 times that of copper and at less than one-fifth the weight. However, with prices nearing $800 US per pound, the weight savings and performance advantages must truly be maximized to justify their use. We carefully formulate these materials which are then blended with a base resin and molded using the advanced shape tooling from the world's 'Rim Friendliest'^TM brake pad manufacturer: Kool Stop in Lake Oswego, Oregon.

We are confident that you will find the Zipp Carbon/Carbon pad to be the highest performance bicycle brake pad in the world, whether used on carbon or aluminum rims. The Zipp pad also adds a further dimension of safety to your riding as it is one of only a handful of pads not containing abrasives, it minimizes the possibility for heat-flatting under extreme conditions with aluminum rims, as well as prolongs the life of aluminum rim brake tracks.