Crappy Brakes

[Deleted member 35268]

My road bike is terrible at stopping in the wet at the moment.

I've got some Giant PR2 wheels that are low mileage.

The Clarks brake blocks are new.

Coming down some wet muddy descents, I really struggled.

Are there any decent wet weather brake blocks I can invest in?

 

[JD42]

My road bike is terrible at stopping in the wet at the moment.

I've got some Giant PR2 wheels that are low mileage.

The Clarks brake blocks are new.

Coming down some wet muddy descents, I really struggled.

Are there any decent wet weather brake blocks I can invest in?

New bike needed

Just joking ..but I changed from blocks to disc and it is a different world.

 

[pawl]

My road bike is terrible at stopping in the wet at the moment.

I've got some Giant PR2 wheels that are low mileage.

The Clarks brake blocks are new.

Coming down some wet muddy descents, I really struggled.

Are there any decent wet weather brake blocks I can invest in?

I run Ultegra brakes.The blocks are Shimano and are fine in the wet.

Just remember to brake earlier to alow the blocks too wipe away excessive water from the rims
same with my Campag brakes

 

[Dogtrousers]

I'm normally a bit sceptical when people extol subtle differences in components, like the difference to "ride" that a different kind of tyre makes. I often suspect a bit of wine-connoisseur style bluster (Oh! the fruits! Oh! the oak! Oh, Shut up!), or that I am incredibly insensitive (or both).

Anyway, I fitted some Swisstop BXP blue brake blocks recently, and they really did make a difference that even I could detect. Braking felt more positive and less like I was using lumps of coal as brake blocks. But maybe I'm subconsciously making it all up, to reward myself for doing a bit of maintenance.

I can't remember what my previous blocks were. Shimano own brand I think. Or perhaps I was using lumps of coal, I forget.

 

[Profpointy]

clean the rims (and blocks) with meths. If blocks are old, replace. If questionable brand, replace. I concur that swissstops are pretty good, but to be fair I thought my oe shimano blocks were OK. cheapo crappy blocks canbe markedly inferior. Adjust correctly and check the cable is moving ok. Discs may (or may not) be better still but well fettled rim brakes are pretty good even in the wet.

 

[ColinJ]

I second that, Profp!

I had a near miss in the wet on a local 20% descent which led straight onto a busy A-road! My front wheel was poking out of the junction into the traffic by the time I managed to stop ...

The problem was due to filthy rims. I scrubbed them and got all sorts of black, greasy crap off them. After that, braking was fine. I've got a picture somewhere of what I managed to get off my wheels. I'll see if I can find it.

Here you go ... These were clean white baby wipes before they were used on my dirty wheel rims!

 

[Drago]

I'm a very heavy rider, a real test for any brakes, and rims work just dandy for me in all weathers. Like Colin says, when it comes to braking in the wet cleanliness is next to godliness.

 

[Dave Davenport]

I bought some Clarks pads once, they were rubbish.

 

[Kajjal]

As above keep everything clean and well maintained. If you do a quick clean with an old towel after each ride it means the bike stays a lot cleaner generally and needs less maintenance.

I weight about 100KG and find rim brakes to be very poor in the wet. My current bike has discs that work very well wet or dry but in heavy rain they honk like a goose when stopping but otherwise no noise at all.

 

[alecstilleyedye]

koolstop are my go-to pads for shimano, salmon or mixed salmon/black are best for winter…

 

[ColinJ]

[QUOTE 4596061, member: 9609"]thankfully the thread is about bikes[/QUOTE]
I added the word "wheel" before "rims" just for you!

 

[DRM]

My Giant Defy had the factory fitted Tektro calipers which were rubbish, no matter how diligently you kept the rims clean, I swapped them for Shimano 105's which were a vast improvement, and I think give the best price to performance ratio, I did look at Ultegras but comments on both Chain Reaction & Wiggle suggested that the small weight saving didn't really justify paying nearly twice as much and that performance wise there was no discernable difference.

 

[fossyant]

Never had any issues with the Clarkes Shimano replacement pads. I used to commute on these. Make sure the rims are regularly cleaned

 

[mynydd]

Clarks pads are rubbish. I was having terrible problems with mine in a cantelever set up. This picture is a new pad, and one after less than a week of wet riding!!!
I replaced them with koolstops, as advised here, and the difference is amazing. The bike stops, and there is virtually no wear after two weeks of daily wet weather riding.

 

[wonderloaf]

My Giant Defy had the factory fitted Tektro calipers which were rubbish, no matter how diligently you kept the rims clean, I swapped them for Shimano 105's which were a vast improvement, and I think give the best price to performance ratio, I did look at Ultegras but comments on both Chain Reaction & Wiggle suggested that the small weight saving didn't really justify paying nearly twice as much and that performance wise there was no discernable difference.

This exactly what I did, got a pair of as new (after cleaning) 105 5800 calipers off ebay for under £30, fitted them using the old brake blocks and the difference is quite marked. Just need to get some decent blocks now.