Galfer, a Spanish braking components manufacturer, will no doubt be known to some of our readers who also follow MotoGP. They've been creating mountain bike brake rotors and pads for several years now and have chalked up World Cup wins, podiums and even the overall under Tracey Hannah in 2019. This year they've brought out some new rotors which were the product of feedback from their World Cup riders and athletes. All Galfer parts are made in their factory near Barcelona, which incidentally sits right next to the Circuit de Catalunya racetrack.
So, what's new?
The DB004W2 is the new 2.0mm width variant of the 203mm rotor and costs €39.90.
Rotors
Galfer's main line of rotors, their Disc Wave series, is now available in sizes from 160mm all the way to 223mm. There is also now the new option of 2.0mm width, whereas previously only 1.8mm had been available. This is something that is a direct result of rider and racer feedback. The idea being that simply put, more material to simply dissipate the heat is always going to be a good thing. In a previous life as a race mechanic, I used to lust after the prototype 2.0mm thickness.
I've been riding with 203 Disc Wave rotors for a couple of months in the 2.0mm option front and back. I combined these large rotors with the new G1652 Purple pads and the results were excellent while being used in conjunction with SRAM Code RSCs.
Galfer's main line of rotors, their Disc Wave series, is now available in sizes from 160mm all the way to 223mm. There is also now the new option of 2.0mm width, whereas previously only 1.8mm had been available. This is something that is a direct result of rider and racer feedback. The idea being that simply put, more material to simply dissipate the heat is always going to be a good thing. In a previous life as a race mechanic, I used to lust after the prototype 2.0mm thickness.
I've been riding with 203 Disc Wave rotors for a couple of months in the 2.0mm option front and back. I combined these large rotors with the new G1652 Purple pads and the results were excellent while being used in conjunction with SRAM Code RSCs.
The standard 203mm rotor (DB004W) weighs 140g, whereas the new 2.0mm option (DB004W2) comes in 40g heavier. Relative to the weight of the disc, this is not an inconsiderable difference. However, in the context of our bikes, this seems like a very efficient trade-off and to increase your bike's performance, should you need it, for merely 40g seems like a very good deal indeed.
All that being said, if you don't find yourself putting large amounts of heat through your brakes, for whatever reason, then the performance gained will be lessened. If you live in the mountains though, I think this small compromise could really be worth your consideration.
They have now also introduced rotors as small as 140mm for road and gravel bikes. The DB101W, pictured, comes in at just 64g and costs under €28.
All that being said, if you don't find yourself putting large amounts of heat through your brakes, for whatever reason, then the performance gained will be lessened. If you live in the mountains though, I think this small compromise could really be worth your consideration.
They have now also introduced rotors as small as 140mm for road and gravel bikes. The DB101W, pictured, comes in at just 64g and costs under €28.
The DB101W rotor is for road and gravel
Galfer also now offer six different variants of pad materials for cycling. Excluding the entry level and trials specific pad, it boils down to four main options, including options for e-bikes and road and gravel bikes.
G1851 ADVANCED These red pads are meant for mixed conditions. They're made with basaltic fibres and a specific coating that help absorb moisture to keep braking power and performance consistent in a wet environment.
G1554T PRO As the name suggests, these green pads are used by racers. It sacrifices a small amount of longevity to deliver the best blend of power and consistency.
The G1652 E-BIKES purple pads are specifically meant for e-bikes. This translates to a combination of durability, power and the ability to cope with higher temperatures. It's slightly different to the Pro
G1554T PRO As the name suggests, these green pads are used by racers. It sacrifices a small amount of longevity to deliver the best blend of power and consistency.
The G1652 E-BIKES purple pads are specifically meant for e-bikes. This translates to a combination of durability, power and the ability to cope with higher temperatures. It's slightly different to the Pro
The G1455 ROAD blue pads were developed to be powerful, efficient and hard-wearing brake pads for road bikes. Although it might not seem like much, road bikes do tend to have different operating demands due to smaller rotors and often longer braking distances. This can lead to a huge amount of heat buildup within the system. They are also available for some two pot mountain bike calipers.
The pricing options for these four performance compounds start at €16 and tops out at around €22 for the range-topping G1554T Pro green pads.
Galfer EU / Galfer USA
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128 Comments
I'd probably not do it again despite the good performance.
USPS all the way, but I don't order from Europe.
fullcycle.ca
Then you need to take or email 2 copies of the commercial invoice and 1 copy of your original invoice to a CBSA office that offers Inland Services (usually located at or near airports including many smaller airports). They will process it and you will still have to pay any owing duty (sometimes they will even give you a break on that) but no brokerage fee. They will stamp the invoice and give it back to you and then you send it back to ups and you stuff will come with nothing more owing. I've saved as much as $110 once as they didn't charge me duty too.
1) I know for a fact that all goods coming into Canada that is bike related can only be charged GST when the item charged is above $30 value. Most of the time, a CBS officer will let things go even at $100. No additional duties are applied for bicycle related items. The only caveat is fully built wheels/wheels or a fully assembled bike for which another 18% can be applied. This is because the fully assembly of these required the services of a person assembling it before coming into the country. You can comb through the customs and duties schedule from the CBSA website.
2) Before you order, email the web store and ask which courier service they use to deliver the goods. If the courier warehouse and office is located in your city/town, you're good and things will be A-OK. If the courier service is not located in your city or close to where you live, you're SOL. I had to deal with Skynet which is either based out of Toronto or Vancouver. Each of these offices are like about 1000+km away. No way I can get to those offices from where I live. CRC and Wiggles use Skynet for delivery. So, if you deal with CRC/Wiggles and you don't live or near the two cities I mentioned, you're SOL. So, if your courier service and CBSA is close by, go to #3 - else, you're SOL and have to pay the ransom.
3) With all the major courier services such as DHL, UPS, Fedex, IntelCom, Skynet, etc,,,, you can get them to send you the cargo manifest after the package has arrived or in transit in Canada. This is the document that CBSA requires. You can also wait until the courier service arrives at your door and shoves the credit card machine in your face and demands a payment for the package. Just tell the courier you'll not pay them at the door and tell them to put the package at the warehouse/office where you'll pick it up at a later time. Wait overnight to go down to the main office of the courier service to get your cargo manifest (if you haven't received the manifest via email or fax - a lot of these courier companies actually don't want you to get the manifest and they withhold that information so that you cannot self clear - they make it hard). Make sure you tell them you want to self clear and you need the manifest to pay the GST at the CBSA office. They'll provide you a copy, no questions asked.
4) Go to the CBSA office. It's usually nearby one of the major courier companies near the airport. Submit your manifest to the CBSA officer and declare what is ordered. Most times, if it's under $150, they'll just stamp the manifest and you don't have to pay the GST. Anything over $150, you'll likely have to pay the GST. Make sure you declare all items order that is bike related as bike parts and accessories, even clothing (other clothing can have customs and duties applied). Pay your GST as necessary and get the stamp of approval.
5) Go back to the courier company that supplied you with the manifest. When they see the stamp on the manifest, they have to surrender your package without any further payment. They will take your only copy of the stamped manifest. Make sure you keep the receipt from the CBSA and make the courier service give you a photocopy of the stamped manifest. Otherwise, the courier service may lose their copy and come back to haunt you for payment and you'll have a nightmare on your hands.
- I know how all we all feel when we (Canadians) have to pay for high shipping costs to these courier services and then have to pay even more when it arrives in Canada. But if you follow what I just outlined, the only cost you'll pay is the original shipping and maybe GST on top of that. That's it. If you're the type that don't want the hassle and don't care about saving $25+, then ignore all this and just pay the damn delivery person and give him a tip. I'd save that money and buy my family and friends beer or wine with money I don't have to pay out.
@CSharp: CBSA officer also told me that duty varies depending on different items with clothing being hit the hardest. I had an order come to a broker that was a mix of clothing and parts and the broker put the max duty on everything. When I went to the CBSA they broke down the invoice item by item and charged accordingly so it came out to quite a bit less.
For clothing, if it is related to biking, it can be classified as biking accessories or sporting goods, which in itself is not a fashion garment, but is considered as biking accessories. Most CBSA officers will classify these items this way if the order is complete bike related. As I mentioned before, clothing in itself can be classified in a totally different area where they can tax you heavily.
Also note for any Albertans shopping on JensonUSA. They collect a 13% tax for Alberta residence on checkout. I asked them about it since there is no sales tax like with other provinces. Yet, they will collect the extra 8% because their system (as I was told) does this for all provinces. Yet, if I check out as a BC residence or an Ontario residence, that tax rate is correct for either (as they are different for those provinces). So, any discount is offset by both currency conversion and a hidden 8% fee! So, Albertans are getting screwed left, right, and down below!
No brainer for DH bikes, but they are definitely heavier. If you are an enduro rider who prioritizes going fast on mostly downhill segments... I think the thicker rotors are definitely the way to go. The larger diameter rotor on the other hand is probably more personal preference and dependent on things like rider weight, bike weight, wheel size, outer wheel/tire/insert weight, physical intensity, and and maybe most importantly... commitment to taking the time to adjust to something new and not sticking with what you know. If you ride mostly XC trails and/or don't find yourself on the edge of grip constantly during DH segments, it probably wont be worth the change.
For reference I'm 180lbs and I do notice a small amount of reduced modulation going to DHR Evos /220mm front and rear coming from Code RSCs /200 front & rear. Mostly I have adapted my finger pressure to this change, but I still over brake occasionally when the front is unweighted or going through an off camber turn mid way through a long/physical decent.
Last added benefit is they seem to stay true when the rotor bumps trail obstacles that would require adjustment on the thinner 1.8mm rotors. Of course if you hit something hard enough or crash, they will still bend and might even be harder to get straight after more serious deformation.
Hope this anecdotal feedback helps anyone on the fence..
@bigtuna00 is correct... I'm running 2.3mm thick TRP rotors with the TRP DHR Evo calipers/brakes
www.bikeinn.com/ciclismo/tfhpc-brake-pads-for-magura-mt5-mt7/137205194/p
I use them with MT7s, red back for winter/wet, black for summer. The reds are good but the blacks arent quite as good as Magura OEM pads for feel and longevity but they are cheaper at RRP
The article mentions in the bump from 1.8mm to 2mm thickness that the reasoning is for more rotor material to improve thermal dissipation. Wouldn't having a solid rotor surface be more effective as it would greatly increase the surface area for heat dissipation as well as contact area with pads.
There are also gases that release off the pads as they heat up/wear down. Same principle applies to water in the wet. It's not a huge amount but it needs to go somewhere. On solid rotors those games can actually form a small barrier between the pads and rotors
"Metal cools best at the edges" could be considered true only because at a corner there is more _surface area_ relative to the amount of thermal mass nearby.
Sharp edges that concentrate the heat could actually be bad if it gets hot enough. It can be an issue in cars that aren't driven often, when the pads leave a slight rust ridge from sitting against the rotor and then that rust line gets heated up more than the surrounding rotor, and that heat hardens the ridge, so it heats up even more under braking, and hardens, rinse repeat. EBC or somebody mentions this in their website's tech section.
@grldm3: My initial post was inspired by a pretty length video on braking systems by PFC which provides the brakes for Porsche's cup cars: youtu.be/Q8eCcPVSeVc
Almost all of your points are refuted by the video. Granted, MTBs are not the same as cars. I'll summarize the video for you since it's almost an hour-long:
Off-gassing is not an issue with modern pad compounds.
Drilled rotors remain popular merely for aesthetic purposes as off-gassing is no longer a thing. Drilled rotors are actually weaker than solid rotors as cracks can form at the holes as the metal expands and contracts.
Slotted rotors are designed to clear the surface of the brake pad (analogy in the video is to think of the slots as a cheese grater that slices off a very thin layer of the pad). Any modern race car that uses iron rotors has a slotted disk design, not drilled.
Regarding cooling at the edges, I think @justinfoil has that one covered.
I specifically mentioned drilling because I mentioned motorcycle brakes. On a vented car rotor drilling is more of a liability, but look at race motorcycles and you will see drilling or cutouts. Because they are solid rotors (as are mountain bikes). I said cooling at it's edges and not surface area because surface area by itself is not the only equation to effect cooling. Brakes are air cooled. Look at anything air cooled and a large flat surface is a very inefficient design for cooling. Air flow matters just as much as surface area and anytime you can get air flowing through something you will be better off than just having air blow across the face of something. Thats why motorcycles still use drilled or cutouts in their rotors. On a vented rotor, which these aren't, it's unnecessary.
Off gassing is very much still an issue with off the shelf compounds designed to operate at ambient temperature. On race pads that will go to 1000+ degrees sometimes it's not an issue, but mountain bike pads don't fall into that category.
The other thing is surface area by itself makes little difference if you have to increase the mass of the product to increase surface area. Larger mass takes longer to cool down. So (random numbers but the point still applies) if galfer decreased decreased mass of the product by 40% and decreased surface area by 25% with these large cut outs, then they will cool better.
Not disagreeing with anything PFC said, I've ran their pads on my track car and they really know their stuff. But little of it applies when talking solid rotors vs vented and pads designed to run at ambient temperature as opposed to race pads that need to be brought up to temp.
Look at motorcycle brakes for a closer comparison and Galfer happens to be one of the top manufacturers in that category.
Henry is saving up to buy an indefinite article. Brian hoards them all in a locked safe.
Now think, If you heated both pieces with the same amount of energy ¿Which would be hotter after a while? The one with the biggest area in contact with air will be able to dissipate heat faster. That's why usually engines or CPU computers have fins surrounding them, to increase the outer area and help with heat dissipation.
Hope that helped!
Regarding your melted rotors working better afterwards, no idea about what happened there either, assuming you didn't lose any mass, maybe it had to do with the braking surface rather than heat dissipation, but again this is all just hypotheses.
"simple fact is once heated more mass will take longer to cool?" Not really, more mass heated to the same temperature than less mass of the same material will take longer to cool because the amount of energy required to heat it is bigger. Think of boiling a 5" diameter pot of water in a fireplace, and then think of trying to boil one of 500" diameter in the same fireplace. The bigger one will need much more energy (e.g. Much more lumber to keep the fire going for a longer time) in order to boil it. After 5 minutes of boiling the small one you couldn't put your finger inside of the water without hurting yourself but you could do it on the bigger one, so more mass receiving the same amount of heat will be cooler than less mass.
About the motorcycles, that's due to overall improvement of the whole braking systems: Better materials on the rotors that dissipate faster, more powerful braking circuits that need less surface, etc. Every technology improves with time and then has to find a balance. Think of the first cellphone ever, super bulky and heavy, inconvenient. Cellphones are much slimmer now, but, the thinnest the better? You'd come to a time where you wouldn't want a phone so thin that it would compromise its stiffness to much and could bend just be simply wearing it inside your pockets, you need to find a balance between thickness and rigidity, which is what I think happens with motorcycle brakes.
In the end, I think is good that some companies try to defy the stablished assumptions and try to improve the standards.
While when you increase the thickness and therefore its mass, you have more mass to be heated.
is 85yrs of racing engineering wrong, and a PB commenter has it correct?
This, it may not be thought of as often, but the cutouts are also there to help remove debris (dirt/grit/gunk/etc).
If you've ever heard a weird grindy noise from your brakes after you wash it/ride through a puddle/whatever, only for it to go away after you start braking, that is likely due to the cutouts, and how it gives a space for them to "go" between the pads when you're braking, and it can then fall out after that section of the rotor passes throught the caliper.
Turns out, Galfer discussed this in an interview recently
www.singletracks.com/mtb-gear/brake-pad-breakdown-with-with-experts-from-galfer
It's not infeasible as such (Hope already sell them) but the cost makes it impractical for what is a wear item - £220 for a pair of BICYCLE BRAKE ROTORS.
www.tredz.co.uk/.Hope-V4-Vented-Disc_61347.htm?sku=178344&utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=google_shopping&gclid=CjwKCAjw07qDBhBxEiwA6pPbHp2pHaI8RoiBxMCDmcT718S0_MRzcNcGfp79I-LN9hovAK-YeSNa-BoCkYkQAvD_BwE
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