Not just old red brakes but most rubber brake pads have fiber. The old ones most likely have asbestos fibers. The fibers make the rubber-like compound hold up to tearing and heat. Most new compounds use Kevlar now.
I have a story about bicycle brake compounds. Way back in late 1960's I worked for a genius who taught me how to make things, Dwight Booth. He learned his chops from another genius from Portland, guy named Evers. This man was the world expert on rubber-like friction materials. Also in this period I met two mad inventor types Bill Mathauser and "Scotty" Scott. They for some nutty reason were working on a hydraulic brake for bicycles. This project took place in Sun Valley Id. The hydraulic brake never made it to the market, even though it worked great. But they came to Portland for various suppliers. They also asked for my advice. When it came to the brake pads it was clear the material used by all bicycle brake makers including Campagnolo was very poor. These two guys had made a wonderful brake testing machine and could put real numbers to determine what worked or not. Early on they worked with Evers for pad material. The Mathauser pads with alloy fins were their first product to come to market. They were clearly the best pads in the day, really worked in the rain. After a few years the Evers family came out with their own pads called CoolStop. Later when I worked for Specialized I was very close with Shimano when they made the first SIS groupo. I found out they got the brake pads for this set from CoolStop. Kind of a full circle. These compounds are very hard to reverse engineer and are top secret.
Jim Merz Big Sur CA
-----Original Message----- From: classicrendezvous-bounces@bikelist.org [mailto:classicrendezvous-bounces@bikelist.org] On Behalf Of Stronglight49@aol.com Sent: Thursday, November 06, 2008 10:43 PM To: classicrendezvous@bikelist.org Subject: [SPAM][CR] Why fibers in old red brake pads?
Well, call me stupid, but can anyone tell me why all the older red compound brake pads were formulated with what appears to be cotton threads mixed within the rubber?
Universal pads in particular seemed to have a high "fiber" content.
Perhaps for steel rims? For wet weather? To resist abrasion?
I can imagine countless reasons, but can someone site the real intended purpose?
Thanks!
BOB HANSON, ALBUQUERQUE, NEW MEXICO, USA
**************AOL Search: Your one stop for directions, recipes and all other Holiday needs. Search Now. (http://pr.atwola.com/promoclk/100000075x1212792382x1200798498/aol?redir=htt p://searchblog.aol.com/2008/11/04/happy-holidays-from -aol-search/?ncid=emlcntussear00000001)