I’m a 210-pound mountain biker with a 65-pound e-bike. So when I say I’m hard on brake pads, I’m not being modest.
My Norco Range and I have spent the summer putting some serious kilometres on Loam Goat brake pads, roughly 1,500 km so far, and I’ve gone through several sets along the way.
This isn’t a review based on one weekend of riding or a couple of laps at the local trail system. These pads have been through family rides, big mountain days, Squamish adventures, dusty trails, long descents and the general abuse that comes with being a dad who rides a very heavy e-bike.
And after all those kilometres, I have a pretty feel for the brake pads.
I’ve Been a Magura Guy for Years
I’ve used Magura brakes for a long time. When they’re working properly, Magura brakes are fantastic. But I’ve always found them finicky as heck.
And the pads? Let’s just say Magura doesn’t exactly give them away.
I’ve also run Kool Stop red pads for years. I really liked them, but they became harder and harder to find. That’s when I started looking at Loam Goat.
Loam Goat is a small Canadian family business based in Vancouver making bike parts for people who actually ride bikes. That appealed to me. Then I found out Ian, who is behind the company, absolutely shreds. So I figured I’d give the pads a shot.
The Green Gravity Pads
The first pads I bought were the Green Gravity pads. I’ve now gone through several sets over approximately 1,500 km, and these have become my favourite of the two Loam Goat compounds I’ve tested.
The Green Gravity pads give me the braking feel I like from my Maguras: good power, predictable modulation and a progressive feel that lets me control the bike rather than simply stopping it.
That’s particularly important on my e-bike. A 65-pound bike plus a 210-pound rider (not including trail snacks) is a lot of mass to manage when gravity gets involved. I want brakes that give me power when I need it but still allow me to modulate that power when I’m trying to carry speed through a corner. The Green Gravity pads do that really well.
My Brake Pad Ritual
With every new pair of pads, I do the same setup routine, something I picked up from an old Syndicate mechanic, Marshy. Before installing them, I splash the pads with water and rub them together rigorously, then rinse them off and let them dry. I also sanded my 220 mm rotors and cleaned them thoroughly with rubbing alcohol before switching between brands and compounds.
I know some people will roll their eyes at all of this, but if I’m going to compare brake pads, I want to give each set as clean and consistent a starting point as I can.
And then comes the part I hate: bedding in brakes. I hate it. But there is one thing I’ve learned from riding a heavy e-bike: bedding in brakes is so much easier when you have a motor helping you get back up the hill. You can do repeated hard braking runs without spending half your afternoon pedalling back to the top. It’s one of the few times where the extra weight and motor of an e-bike actually make life easier.
If you’re on a regular bike, though, don’t skip the bedding-in process. I know how little free time parents have these days. There is always somewhere to be, something to fix, a kid to pick up or dinner that somehow needs to appear on the table. But if you’ve just installed new pads, take the time to bed them in properly. Your brakes, and your future self halfway down a steep trail, will thank you.
Then I Tried the Sintered Pads
I’ve recently started testing Loam Goat’s Sintered pads as well. They definitely have a different feel. The easiest way I can describe it is that they make my Magura brakes feel a lot more like Shimano brakes, more of an on/off feel. Grab the lever and you’ve got that immediate bite.
There’s nothing wrong with it. In fact, the Sintered pads work really well. I just don’t have quite as much time on them yet, so I’m not going to pretend I’ve got a long-term verdict. But based on what I’ve ridden so far, I prefer the Green Gravity pads. For my riding, I like the more progressive feel.
What About Durability?
Again, I’ve gone through several sets, so I’m not going to tell you one set lasted 1,500 km. That wouldn’t be realistic. Instead, the 1,500 km is the total riding experience I’ve had with these pads. And they’ve performed consistently throughout that time.
I’m also riding an e-bike that weighs about as much as some people’s small motorcycles, so I don’t expect miracles from brake pads. Pads are consumables. If you’re riding hard, riding steep terrain, or riding a heavy e-bike, you’re going to go through them. What matters to me is how they perform while they’re doing their job and what they cost to replace.
And This Is Where Loam Goat Gets Interesting
The Green Gravity pads are $80 CAD for a front and rear set, with free shipping. That’s pretty compelling when you’ve spent years looking at Magura replacement-pad prices…
It’s one of the reasons I think Loam Goat deserves some attention. They’re not trying to sell you some crazy complicated piece of technology. They’re making a relatively simple bike component that works, and they’re doing it as a small Canadian family business. That’s something I can get behind.
The Squamish Connection
This summer, our families ended up in Squamish at the same time, so we finally got a chance to to hang out and ride bikes.
Our families got some riding in, but honestly, our daughters stole the show. They hit it off right away and spent the day having a blast together, riding trails, playing around and generally doing what kids do when you give them bikes and a place to explore.
One of the little surprises that came out of the weekend was seeing that Ian’s daughter had even added some of her own artwork to the Loam Goat packaging. It was such a cool, personal touch, the kind of thing you just don’t get from a giant bike company.
That whole weekend made the Loam Goat connection feel a little more personal for me. I’m not just reviewing a product from a company I found online anymore. I’ve met the people behind it, ridden with them, and watched our kids have a great time together.
And I think that’s one of the things I enjoy most about mountain biking. Sometimes a set of brake pads leads to a ride, a ride leads to a friendship, and suddenly your kids are shredding Squamish together and cheering one another on.
This Isn’t a Pro Photo Shoot
You’ll notice something about this review. There aren’t a bunch of perfect photos of me wearing a perfectly clean kit while a photographer follows me around capturing the perfect cornering shot. Because that’s not how I ride.
These pads have been tested through real-life riding. Family rides. Dad rides. E-bike rides. Long days. Squamish. Dust. Dirt. And plenty of moments where the brakes were working considerably harder than the my cardio.
That’s what I wanted to test. Not whether they look good in a product photo. Whether they work when I actually need them.
My Take
After roughly 1,500 km of riding and several sets of pads, I’m sold on Loam Goat. The Sintered pads work well and give my Maguras a sharper, more immediate bite. But for my riding, the Green Gravity pads are the ones I’d buy again. I prefer the feel.
They’re powerful without feeling grabby, they give me the modulation I want, and the price is reasonable. Most importantly, they’ve done exactly what I need brake pads to do: they slow down a 275-pound-ish combination of dad and e-bike when things start pointing downhill. And that’s a pretty good test.
One Last Thing
And after 1,500 km, I think they’ve earned the recommendation. The Bike Dads verdict: Green Gravity for me.