Rim brake pads wear out quietly until the day you grab a handful of lever and realize you're running metal on aluminum. The Shimano R55C4 cartridge pads are the direct replacement for anyone running current or older Dura-Ace, Ultegra, or 105 rim brake calipers on aluminum rims, and this package gets you two full pairs plus the fixing bolts to swap them in front and rear at the same time. If you've been putting off a pad change because you couldn't remember what generation of caliper you're running, the R55C4 covers a wide enough compatibility list that it's usually the right answer.

These are the cartridge-insert style pads, meaning the black pad slides into the existing metal shoe on your caliper and locks in with a small retaining bolt. The shoes themselves are not included — if your current shoes are still in good shape, you're only replacing the rubber compound that contacts the rim. That's the whole point of the cartridge design: cheaper refills, faster swaps, and no need to re-toe-in a fresh shoe from scratch every time.

The R55C4 is the current version of what used to be the R55C3, and the compound is tuned specifically for aluminum braking surfaces. Do not run these on carbon rims. Shimano makes a separate carbon-specific pad for that application, and mixing them up will chew through a carbon brake track in a hurry. On aluminum, the R55C4 is known for quiet operation and consistent modulation in dry conditions, with reasonable wet performance once the initial water gets wiped off the rim.... Read More