If you've ever wondered which brake pads are right for you, we've put together a useful guide.

WSC Performance offer brake pads from Brembo, SBS and EBC - all are excellent quality and can meet your road or track riding needs.

To start, lets have a look at the brands

Brembo need very little introduction, offering the ultimate braking systems in all areas, from MotoGP to the Paris-Dakar, motorcycle and car.  Their brake pads are available for over 6000 applications, with a wide variety of compounds, from organic resins to sintered and carbon-ceramic pads.

Brembo can cater to the specific needs of all types of motorcycles – from racing and street-legal bikes to city and off-road – and fulfil the expectations of every rider.

SBS were formed in 1964 producing friction materials specifically for motorcycles, they've always produced excellent quality and great value pads for every sector of the market.  in 2020 they were acquired by Brembo.  They wen't from being a market leader, to the market leader in performance product.

EBC started out in the 1980s, and today, they are still independently owned.  Any standard pads or discs are made in the UK, and the superb GPFAX racing pad is made in the USA.  we sell the GPFAX racing pads at WSC Performance. For value, they're up there with the best of the racing pads but often at a third of the price.

Now lets look at some brake pads.

We'll brake them down into their categories and list the pads we sell

Carbon Ceramic Pads

This is a standard brake pad for smaller bikes and usually the cheapest option.  They last and generally are less likely to squeal.  They usually perform straight out the box and and in any conditions, however they are not a performance pad.  If you put these pads under load, they are likely to over heat and fade.  being a good value pad, we would recommend them as a rear pad or for smaller CC bikes.

Pads available

• Brembo CC
• Brembo Genuine OE
• SBS HF

Sintered Road/Street

These are sintered metal pads, they are designed for modern motorcycles and performance bikes.  These are an excellent replacement for most motorbikes.  They perform in all conditions and are long lasting.  Most riders would this type of compound for street use. and they're usually good value.  They are usually very good at resisting fade due to the increased ability to disperse heat, however under extreme conditions, you may start to notice a bit of fade.

Pads available

• Brembo Sinter Road SA
• SBS Street Performance HS (front) LS (rear)

Brembo Genuine Sinter

Brembo produce their own calipers which are used on many performance or high specced bikes when they come out the factory.  Each of these bikes will be ridden differently, as a result Brembo produce an original or OE pad for each type of bike.  These pads product code ends with a 2 digit number, and this number represents the friction coefficient of the pad from 0-100.  These pads are excellent quality pads.

For example. The Brembo M4 style caliper may be used on a naked mid range bike or a high end, performance race bike, both will use a Brembo 07BB37 brake pad, however, the lower performing or lighter bike may use a 07BB3759, this has a lower coefficient, which would suit lower powered bikes. The faster performance machine would then use the 07BB3796 which has a higher coefficient.

Pads available

• Brembo Genuine Sinter

Sinter Race

This is a performance version of the sintered pad.  The word race, or racing often puts people off buying this type of pad.  Don't let it.  This is a performance pad which performs in all conditions.  we stock both the Brembo and SBS versions of this pad and they can be used on performance bikes on the road and track.  We've used them on road bikes and during races in both club and national championships and often they perform very well.  They will always have their limitations in extreme conditions when compared to a specified purpose pad, howeve, for riders that want to have a performance pad and will never be winning world championships, these are a very good pad.

Pads available

• Brembo SR Sintered Racing (Replaced the SC compound)
• SBS RST Racing Sinter (Replaced the RS Compound)

Racing Ceramic

These are not recommended for road use.  They are specifically designed for racing and generally do not work well at low temperatures. Once they have heated up, they give a consistent feel and feedback and give good disc longevity.

Beware, if transferring back to Sinter pads, you will need to rub down your discs as the ceramic material will cause the sinter material to over heat.

Pads available

• Brembo RC Racing Ceramic
• SBS DC Dual Carbon

Ultimate Racing

When you're looking for the top spec pad for the track, these are the ultimate in brake pads.  both SBS and Brembo produce pads a cut above the rest.  They are used in world championships and usually come in a couple of different compounds, a softer short circuit compound, or a harder and longer wearing endurance compound.   EBC also produce the GPFAX Racing Sinter pad which comes close to the performance of the short circuit pads at a fraction of the cost.

Pads available

Short circuit

• Brembo Z04
• SBS DS1 Dual Sinter (These can be mixed with the DS2 to fine tune brake performance)
• EBC GPFAX

Endurance

• Brembo Z03
• SBS DS2 Dual Sinter (These can be mixed with the DS1 to fine tune brake performance)