Replacing the pads on the Nikola

[AtlasP]

So after 3 months of trying to live with the super thick and frankly awful stock Nikola pads, I finally caved and replaced them with slimmer pads and it's soo much better--I really should've done it sooner. Whereas the stock pads made the wheel feel like riding with a pumpkin between your knees, slimmer pads make the width much more reasonable/much more 'normal'. (It's actually kinda shocking how much of a difference it makes, way more than I anticipated.)

I had been dragging my feet on changing them because 1) I'm not much of a hardware modder (I'm just always worried about messing up the aesthetics) and 2) I kept thinking maybe I just need more time to get used to the width of the wheel. Well I was wrong, nobody should Stockholm-Syndrome themself into trying to live with the stock pads (yes, I just used Stockholm Syndrome as a verb, lol), the stock pads are just awful and everyone should consider replacing them ASAP. In fact for anyone who tried and didn't like the Nikola on account of the extreme width, I'd wager they might have a completely different opinion of it just with thinner pads.

All I did was order some of these https://amazon.com/dp/B078NJNW66/ in the 9"x9"x1/4" size, cut one of the squares in half to have two 9"x4.5" rectangles, and clip the corners so it had a slightly more finished look--then peeled off the old pads and stuck these in their place. Super easy. Final result: https://1drv.ms/u/s!Ag0ky7mWfH9cnIE7cTTa4vEM8ID7ow?e=1eJfLr Highly recommend.

 

Edited September 23, 2020 by AtlasP