Braking in the wet?

[EasyCrank]

Hey everyone,

I'm currently riding with Caliper breaks and pretty damn thin tires. In the dry they work like a dream and even in the pouring rain I stick to the road like velcro to a woollen jumper.

However, with the declining weather, as soon as we get serious rain my breaks are completely useless. It can take 30 ft to come to a stop at the worst of times.

Short of fitting disk breaks, is there any thing I can do to improve performance of my breaks? As far as I can tell it isn't a tyre traction issue but rather the wheels just aren't slowing down.

Any help would be much appreciated

Thanks

 

[Kiwiavenger]

koolstop salmons are the way forward so ive been told!

 

[BSRU]

Koolstop Salmon or SwissStop greens brake pads.

 

[EasyCrank]

Amazingly fast response guys. Thanks very much. Just had a quick glance online and sounds like these will hopefully do the trick. Can't be worse than what I'm running right now anyway.

 

[mrandmrspoves]

koolstop salmons are the way forward so ive been told!

I think you mean they're the way NOT to go forward?

 

[EasyCrank]

I think you mean they're the way NOT to go forward?

Haha, precisely

 

[ianrauk]

You need to clear your rims of water. Start braking a good time before you have to stop. Give the brakes a few gentle pulls so it clears the rim. Your brakes should then have a lot more bite and stopping power.

However.. since I swapped over to disc brakes for my commute bike. I wouldn't swap back.

 

[ohnovino]

Make sure your wheels rims are regularly cleaned of greasy road gunk.

 

[Rob3rt]

You need to clear your rims of water. Start braking a good time before you have to stop. Give the brakes a few gentle pulls so it clears the rim. Your brakes should then have a lot more bite and stopping power.

However.. since I swapped over to disc brakes for my commute bike. I wouldn't swap back.

As Ian says, pulse the brakes. The answer isn't necessarily to go and spend money on new brakes or brake pads (although some good ones will certainly help) but learning how to alter your braking technique to best deal with the given conditions.

 

[Andrew_P]

Great thread, which gnerates from me one reply and two further questions!

I found an improvement in overall braking by fitting some Jagwire ripcord brake and gear cables.

Which leads me to my question, I also bought the koolstops as part of my winter upgrade but I am finding it really difficult to get my old blocks out of the holders (shimano 105 5700) Any tips?

Last Thursday I put new shimano ultegra shoes and holders on to the bike, been pretty damp on all my rides and after about 150 miles they look 50% worn?! Are Koolstops any better fro wear?

 

[EasyCrank]

You need to clear your rims of water. Start braking a good time before you have to stop. Give the brakes a few gentle pulls so it clears the rim. Your brakes should then have a lot more bite and stopping power.

However.. since I swapped over to disc brakes for my commute bike. I wouldn't swap back.

I've been doing this the last week or so and it has definitely helped but anything I can do to aid that "emergency" breaking would be nice.
I'll give the KoolStops a try combined with this technique and see how it goes.

Make sure your wheels rims are regularly cleaned of greasy road gunk.

I cleaned the rims fairly recently but I'll give them another good go over tonight just to make sure

 

[Rob3rt]

I've been doing this the last week or so and it has definitely helped but anything I can do to aid that "emergency" breaking would be nice.
I'll give the KoolStops a try combined with this technique and see how it goes.


I cleaned the rims fairly recently but I'll give them another good go over tonight just to make sure

Increase the gap you usually follow a vehicle or start applying the brakes earlier before manoeuvring. If you can't brake as effectively, take actions to mitigate the need to brake hard and suddenly.

 

[fossyant]

Pads can wear very quickly is very wet weather. I've had pads vanish in a few days of very wet weather.

As has been said, make sure you give the brakes a quick pulse every so often or do it before approaching traffic lights. In very wet weather your rims will soon be soaked again, so you want them clear before you need to stop quickly.

 

[PJ79LIZARD]

I find if your in torrential rain your calipers will not brake very well regardless of Rim type/pad choice. Its their design flaw. Your not going to beat disc in those types of conditions. But pad choice can help and the ones mentioned are your best bet. I know this may sound strange but in torrential rain I try to stay off the brakes as much as possible. Slow gradually. I know sometimes you have to make an emergency stop, but just pray when you do it's not peeing down.

 

[Kiwiavenger]

I find if your in torrential rain your calipers will not brake very well regardless of Rim type/pad choice. Its their design flaw. Your not going to beat disc in those types of conditions. But pad choice can help and the ones mentioned are your best bet. I know this may sound strange but in torrential rain I try to stay off the brakes as much as possible. Slow gradually. I know sometimes you have to make an emergency stop, but just pray when you do it's not peeing down.

i've been sat up on the hoods yesterday going home and with baggy tops to slow me down without the need to brake! my normal 35-40 MPH descent turned into a 20 mph one which was too fast really but any slower and id be using a set of pads every other day! lol

i try and pulse the brakes if i know i need to slow but i hate roundabouts in the dark, wet and wind!