Thought I would do a little comparison of my old pads and my new ones
Firstly it is difficult to really compare comfort and fit for a perfectly worn in pair of pads and a brand new out of the packet pair.
However the new version seems to be slightly heavier (970 vs 1070 per pad) which given that the poron XRD is suppose to be light and they only have 8 canes compared to 9 is a little odd. In fact I was disappointed by. The GM pads typically are the same most years with different branding - although the difference between these and the previous model is marked.
Other than that the reverse of the pad is basically the same, I am not sure if the new ones are slightly thicker - that may be because they need to be worn in a bit more. The are the same dimensions regardless of the 7 vs 9 canes - pics may be a little misleading due to me wrapping up the new pads tightly.
Sorry the pics are so out of focus.
The branding on the new pads is great - especially how the branding on the front is all part of the pad rather than a bit stitched in at the end...
Here are the pictures
Other differences include increased padding behind the knee roll and a wider instep (hopefully no squeaking then..!)