Brakes in the wet

Carpenter

Help I need good break shoes for the wet and was thinking about these http://www.swimcyclerun.com/break-pads/swissstop-flash-pro-green-high-performance-blocks.html are the ok or any recommendations

Idleater

Yup, the greens work great on my bikes.
Sometimes the "SRAM" green pop up cheap and are identical. Just make sure you get shimano / campag as appropriate.

Carpenter

Idleater wrote: »

Yup, the greens work great on my bikes.
Sometimes the "SRAM" green pop up cheap and are identical. Just make sure you get shimano / campag as appropriate.

Great thank you do you buy from the same place ?

ford2600

Good price for two pairs.

I find greenstop great. Descending with a friend in August and when I turned around there was no sign of him.

He had crashed and stated he had very little braking power and couldn't control his speed. I was on greenstop and on very similar calipers and rims had no issue.

Have well over 10k km on them since I purchased last summer. Plenty life left yet

Carpenter

So that's 2 votes for them on the boards run descending stocking lane I had nothing to stop me in the rain so I am looking for the best possible thank you for the help:D

ford2600

Carpenter wrote: »

So that's 2 votes for them on the boards run descending stocking lane I had nothing to stop me in the rain so I am looking for the best possible thank you for the help:D

I've heard Ashima(wiggle do them) recommended as a cheaper alternative but I've never used them.

There has been threads before if you try a search.

I've find swimcyclerun has very good prices at times on different gear. Athy based I think

krowan008

there is a 5% discount code going around for swimcylerun ---- Nov5Extra

never have problems with descending myself but i am probably going too slow to really test the brakes!

aFlabbyPanda

Bought these myself recently too. Much better than the stock block I had.

Amprodude

I have had this problem lately too where my brakes have been poor despite me tightening the cables up etc for max tension when brakes are applied.. I find they dont bring my bike to complete stop at all but will slow it down. How many kms should you be getting out of the brake shoes before changing them?

smacl

Amprodude wrote: »

I have had this problem lately too where my brakes have been poor despite me tightening the cables up etc for max tension when brakes are applied.. I find they dont bring my bike to complete stop at all but will slow it down. How many kms should you be getting out of the brake shoes before changing them?

Checking them for wear will show how much life they've left, there's usually a wear indicator on the pad. In the wet give the brakes a light squeeze prior to your descent to clear water off the rims, and it is much more important to clean your rims between rides in the bad weather as the crap that accumulates reduces your braking. It's also important to check how well they're lining up on the rim if you're changing cable tension. A rub of emery paper and wipe with a cloth on the brake pad surface also does no harm if you find you're cleaning a lot of crud of the rims.

I'm currently on cheap and cheerful Clarks pads, and don't see a big difference between them and the more expensive swissstops when properly maintained. Mind you, I don't descend at full tilt in the wet, usually keeping to <50kph and much less if there's leafy cornering involved. I'd guess the more expensive pads really only come into their own for people racing, or pushing hard on wet descents.

Seweryn

Carpenter wrote: »

So that's 2 votes for them on the boards run descending stocking lane I had nothing to stop me in the rain so I am looking for the best possible thank you for the help:D

I only use these on my bike. Previously used the black version (still good).

In the past I tried stock Shimano 105 for short period of time, but found them dangerous in the wet in comparison.

Carpenter

I was on motor bikes for a long time and cannot understand why they have not developed a wheel with holes in the rim to drain away water (like on disk brakes) I am going to play around with an old set I have and see what happens for the fun off it

Idleater

Carpenter wrote: »

I was on motor bikes for a long time and cannot understand why they have not developed a wheel with holes in the rim to drain away water (like on disk brakes)

The grooves are in the pads as opposed to the rim

Carpenter

Idleater wrote: »

The grooves are in the pads as opposed to the rim

I know that but if there was even small drainage of water from the wheel rims I bet it would make a huge difference

smacl

Carpenter wrote: »

I know that but if there was even small drainage of water from the wheel rims I bet it would make a huge difference

The wheels in my hybrid have grooves, which I guess is for this purpose. Only problem is the braking surface on the pads wear into the shape of the groove pretty quickly. Pads are also much bigger on the hybrid brakes.

I wonder for the amount of rubber you have on the road for a 23mm or 25mm tyre whether harder braking in the wet would necessarily be a good thing.

Carpenter

smacl wrote: »

The wheels in my hybrid have grooves, which I guess is for this purpose. Only problem is the braking surface on the pads wear into the shape of the groove pretty quickly. Pads are also much bigger on the hybrid brakes.

I wonder for the amount of rubber you have on the road for a 23mm or 25mm tyre whether harder braking in the wet would necessarily be a good thing.

LOL it's quicker stopping I need but I think I will play about with a rim for the fun off it

ford2600

Carpenter wrote: »

LOL it's quicker stopping I need but I think I will play about with a rim for the fun off it

Rim design on motorbike wheels takes places before manufacture.

Reversing the order on a safety critical structure is rarely a good idea

smacl

ford2600 wrote: »

Rim design on motorbike wheels takes places before manufacture.

Reversing the order on a safety critical structure is rarely a good idea

Memories come to mind of cobbling together go-carts from old Dunnes trollies, nail strewn planks, and brown string with the intent of going down Killiney hill full tilt. Great days!

cdaly_

smacl wrote: »

The wheels in my hybrid have grooves, which I guess is for this purpose. Only problem is the braking surface on the pads wear into the shape of the groove pretty quickly. Pads are also much bigger on the hybrid brakes.

These grooves are more than likely rim wear indicators. Once the groove disappears, the rim is worn out.

I use Koolstop Salmon pads which give good wet performance and don't seem to wear my rims as fast as the black BBB pads.

Paddigol

The brake pads that came with my Campag Veloce calipers seem to do the job very well. Am I a) not riding hard enough before braking, or b) not cycling in wet enough conditions??!!

Briando

cdaly_ wrote: »

I use Koolstop Salmon pads which give good wet performance and don't seem to wear my rims as fast as the black BBB pads.

+1 for the Koolstops, I've been using these Koolstop once the stock break pads ran out. I'm pretty ****e(scared) at descending but found the modulation of these break pads nice. The stock ones were like pieces of wood, probably why they lasted so long. I actually though my breaks(Tektro) themselves were the problem but it was just the pads.

rab!dmonkey

So what's the preferred technique for keeping brake tracks clean? Normal soapy water doesn't seem to do it for me.

I'm slightly regretting not going for disc brakes on my winter bike now.

Konkers

Carpenter wrote: »

Help I need good break shoes for the wet and was thinking about these http://www.swimcyclerun.com/break-pads/swissstop-flash-pro-green-high-performance-blocks.html are the ok or any recommendations

So crc have a different RRP for the same product.

http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/ie/en/swissstop