For my steel hardtail bike I was using Shimano RT51 brake rotors (149g x 2). When I was unwrapping the brake rotors, I noticed a sticker saying that I should not use metal disc brake pads on the RT51s. But I was thinking aluminum is aluminum, right? I don't know what is Shimano on but surely metal sintered pads never hurt any XC rider. However, it seems that I am wrong (never second guess the manufacturer). I don't know what happened but after a few days of using metal pads on the RT51 there seems to be some sticky deposits on the rotors... and my brakes seem to be dragging due to these deposits.
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So I replaced the RT51s with the Ashima rotors pictured above. They weigh 82g per piece !!! I got them second hand so they are quite cheap. Best of all, I asked the previous owner if they came with a sticker that says not to use metal pads. He said 'nope, none, nada'. Nice :-i)
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So, did I feel any benefit from the lighter weight? Uhhhh... no. I hate to say that I didn't feel any. But I can say that these rotors seem to dry faster than the RT51s. My brakes seem to 'pulse' / 'shudder' though. Maybe it is due to all the holes on the Ashima.
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Would I recommend these? I saw in one SG forum that there are users who complained that these rotors came warped 'out of the box'. Some also complain that they get warped easily... Then there are those who think these rotors the best thing since sliced bread. All I can say is if you get an unwarped Ashima rotor, the price of these things are among the lowest, couple that with the low weight so this should be a win-win situation. Now if you get the warped ones 'out of the box' .....
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