Carbon Ceramic Rotors... Worth it?

I'm thinking about picking some up... Anyone bought CCRs? Was the weightsavings worth it? Did the bike feel better? Did braking hold up?

I havent, A couple of guys on here have and report improved handling and braking. There was a few comments that they can chip. They are not very popular for some reason.

Like any upgrades, if you have the spare cash go for it but you probably don't need them, if steel is good enough for Toprak it's good enough for me!

IMO, If you can get the right composite rotors, and you can without thinking about it, drop the $$, get them. They are amazing. If you can’t, steel all day long and I would get the TK 330mm SBK. TK can supply oversized (336mm) as well and if you have to add some additional cool factor, you can get the TK carbon carrier covers.

Braking feel is such a subjective thing, but how I like braking to feel they are perfect….progressive initial bite that ramps VERY quickly to big stopping power.

Handling is dramatically improved, you are losing about 5 pounds of rotational mass off the front end, they have a much bigger noticeable impact on handling than even going from stock wheels to CF wheels.

Key thing though, follow the setup procedure, there is no bedding process but you have to transfer and heat cycle material from the pads to the rotors for best affect.

5 lbs off one wheel is an insane amount of weight to lose. If this is a streetbike, and you can afford it, I would do it, it's a no brainer.

I noticed a huge difference in handling when switching from the garbage heavy cast aluminum wheels on the base model V4 to OZ RS GASS-A wheels, which was a good couple lbs on each wheel. I'd definitely go with the brakes too if I had the cash. I have a carbon ceramic rear brake rotor from Sicom just to eliminate rotating mass (I rarely, if ever, use my rear brake) and coupled with the wheel upgrade, it spins up very quickly.

Still really sketchy in the whole pad transfer thing. SBU didn’t use Sicom pads when they ran those rotors on the V4 as Sicom didn’t make pads for those calipers. I believe they uses SBS pads which would be completely outside what Sicom states needs to happen with the material transfer. Those rotors didn’t stay on that bike for long.

endodoc said:

Still really sketchy in the whole pad transfer thing. SBU didn’t use Sicom pads when they ran those rotors on the V4 as Sicom didn’t make pads for those calipers. I believe they uses SBS pads which would be completely outside what Sicom states needs to happen with the material transfer. Those rotors didn’t stay on that bike for long.

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It's been a hot minute, but I emailed HSBK and Sicom when I got my rear rotor because even at maximum retracted pistons, the Sicom pads would not fit in my rear brake caliper without constantly rubbing up against the rotor with a degree of force. HSBK replied and said they'd used other pads with the Sicoms and found no significant difference/everything worked fine. Sicom wasn't as confident, but basically said other pads *should* work but they can't speak to anything but their own pads.

I hardly use my rear as I stated before, but I've had no issues using the OEM V4 pad with the Sicoms. Still on my original pad at 12k miles of mixed street/track because of how little I use it

That was the same story with the Braketech CMCs. You can only use Ferodo pads, says Braketech the Ferodo pad dealer. Horse crap. I use the standard Z04 pad material on the front and I know of a couple of guys here that have years of track use on the CMC rotors and there is no wear to the rotors. Tadashi has endless track days on a set of CMCs and they mic at the same thickness as when they were new. I do have the Sicom rear with the Sicom pads and there is for sure pad material transfer but I think it’s all to sell pads.

endodoc said:

Still really sketchy in the whole pad transfer thing. SBU didn’t use Sicom pads when they ran those rotors on the V4 as Sicom didn’t make pads for those calipers. I believe they uses SBS pads which would be completely outside what Sicom states needs to happen with the material transfer. Those rotors didn’t stay on that bike for long.

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I noticed that too, I think there are several reasons they didn’t keep them on the bike.

1. Brake feel is subjective, and that guy was use to using heavy initial bite track pads, so I suspect that he just didn’t want to make the adjustment to a new brake feel, especially with all the other handling problems they had with the bike.

2. They knew they were gunna sell the bike, and I saw the rotors for sales in their used parts section…..

3. They were unable due to caliper selection to use the proper brake pads…without the proper break pads the only benefit to these rotors is weight reduction…but the glory of the Sicom stuff for me is mix of 3 things: 1. Crazy rotational mass reduction. 2. Crazy stopping power with wonderful modulation. 3. They are forever pads and rotors where no wear occurs, so arguably with the right Sicom pads on there you never have to replace pads and rotors again.

The downside is that there are a lot of badass calipers you can’t use and keep the Sicom pads on the Sicom rotors.



I can’t wait for you to get out here in part because I wanna swap bikes for a ride and compare brake systems. I’m curious to see what you think of my system that has lessor Calipers and MC’s than yours, but the Sicom stuff is properly bedded and sorted. Conversely I wanna see how yours feels with all those bells and whistles.

Agreed and I do think procedures have a lot to do with results. To me the Braketech rotors were always a lightweight alternative to steel with superior thermal considerations which I guess at some point translate to consistent braking by fade reduction. Other than that to me they brake like steel. They also eat pads just like steel.