Shimano J04C Brake Pads, Black, L

The Shimano J04C brake pads are everything I never knew my mountain bike needed — and now I wonder how I ever rode without them. These little slabs of stopping magic bite hard when they need to, but with all the grace of a ballet dancer who just happens to be really into downhill shredding.The stopping power? Incredible. Whether I’m bombing down long descents or weaving through tight switchbacks, these pads don’t fade — they prevail. My hands can relax knowing I won’t need a full fistful of brake to stay in control.They’re also quiet. Like ninja-level quiet. No squeals, no groans, no banshee wails — just crisp, smooth braking that lets the forest stay peaceful while I pretend I’m in a Red Bull edit.Install was a breeze. Slide ’em in, snug 'em down, ride off into the sunset like a cowboy who prefers disc brakes over horses. And the quality? Classic Shimano — solid, reliable, and ready for battle. I trust these pads with my life… and more importantly, my knees.If you’re still riding on worn-out, squeaky heartbreakers, do yourself a favor: grab the J04Cs and stop like a hero, not a hazard.

I don't dish out very many 5-star reviews, but these have been exceptional pads.I'm using these pads with Shimano BR-7000 SLX caliper/lever sets and RT66 rotors (the Shimano SLX calipers are also extremely good and much better than Shimano's lower-end calipers). The bike is a heavily modified Specialized Crosstrail which I load moderately heavily (plus my own weight ~175lbs) and use for work commuting year-round in Wisconsin, USA (read: four VERY distinct seasons with ALL weather extremes). My commute is a hilly one and I'm stopping a loaded bike from 30mph at the bottom of hills on a daily basis. I put these pads through all wet and dry conditions in temps ranging from 100F to -10F and atmospheric conditions ranging from very humid to extremely dry. My pads see tons of road salt, sand, snow, ice, sleet, rain, mud, general debris, grease, goo, and everything else that can be picked up from roads and trails when urban commuting in all weather extremes. What I'm trying to say is that I put my brakes through hell and rely on having great brakes to stay safe in traffic and on bumpy, poorly maintained roads. It took me a while to switch to expensive metallic pads, but now I'm a convert!Performance-wise, these pads have great grip on the rotors even in wet or icy conditions. Yes, these stop me even when the calipers are getting packed up with snow or are soaked in torrential rain. The only time I ever hear them squealing is when they are extremely wet or have picked up oil or grease, and that goes away once the rain dries up some or I give the rotors a good cleaning (in the case of oil/greasy mud). Of course the stopping distance is increased when very wet, but there is still no comparison with organic pads in the wet--I still get a lot more bite when these pads are wet compared to organic or even semi-metallic.I got about 2500mi rear/4400mi front on my last set of J04C finned metal pads and expect the same out of these. Even though I should have replaced the old ones a little sooner because they had VERY little material left at that mileage, they were actually still stopping me pretty well--I finally replaced them when the pistons were extending too far out so the levers were spongy even with fresh fluid. That's crazy and extremely good longevity considering I was burning through organic and semi-metallic pads at least every 500mi or so before I switched to finned metal pads. (If you're wondering why I got so many more miles out of the front, it's partly because I tend to bias my braking towards the rear for better control when trial braking, partly because I have a front suspension fork which I prefer not to nosedive on hard front braking, and partly because I tend to use rear brakes only when coming to gentler stops in traffic. I also ride with panniers which means lots more weight on the rear.)Overall, I've been enthusiastic about these pads. They've earned my trust and I've been impressed with their performance and longevity. When I finally had to replace my old set, it was a no-brainer to order another set. Although I want to balk at the price of a pair of these, when you consider how many miles I get out of these compared to cheaper organic pads, they're really not a bad value at all and very worth it for the all-condition performance.I definitely recommend Shimano J04C pads if you work your brakes hard in tough conditions!

It’s Shimano, say no more. These are great brake pads. Easy to install. Great stopping power. Won’t buy anything else. Not should you

Road bike: going from a non-finned version to these made a noticeable difference on squeal and scraping as the pads/rotors warm up on long technical descents. Coupled with the "Hayes Brake Pad and Rotor Alignment Tool" I've been able to solve my most of the complaints with disc brakes. Being metallic, they do grab very quickly. My experience has been that on very rough road, if I grab the brake levers on the top of the hoods, they are too touchy and start shaking violently as I hit bumps (causing a slight increase in squeezing of levers which translates into a jerk of the brakes, which causes me to involuntarily squeeze harder for a moment, repeating until I'm out of control. This is not unique to these pads but seems to be a result of the grabbyness of the metallic pads and hydraulic brakes. I've worked around this by getting in the drops and/or grabbing the brake lever much farther down on the lever where the amplification/leverage is much lower and leaves me in control.

Used this to replace worn brake pads on my mountain bike. The Shimano hydraulic calipers are marked "BR-M675". The original pads were marked "F03C METAL", but they weren't readily available. These new pads were easy to replace, and work well.

Good Breaks

Easy to install, fit perfectly. I thought there was going to be a period where I had to break them in before they would work well, but they work perfectly the very first ride. Will probably be buying more of these regularly each season.

Not much I can say about these original equipment brake pads by Shimano. They worked great and they start as they should. Very quiet, with no screeching or noise on my brakes and very easy to install. The fins keep the brakes a little cooler than other brake pads on the marketplace and I definitely stay with the original equipment as all of the aftermarket brake pads have not been the same as these.