What brake pads do you use? If any

I just rode home in the twatting rain, and my brake pads ground my rims and now they are covered in black-alu-gunk. They are Shimano pads, which I'm aware are rubbush in the wet.

What would be a good alternative for wet weather?

leg braking

RPM leg braking

yes, very clever

sorry

I can't be bothered to search back, but do you still have noodle bars for sale?

kool stop salmon

RPM: Yeah, I've still got them, they are unused 40cm ones £15 I'm around N1 / E2 most of the time, so whisper if you want 'em

edmundane: thanks

kool stop salmon are much better than Shimano.

All pads leave crap on your rims in the wet.

In the dry you just get dust.

This tends to disapate into the air and hence less get stuck onto the rims.

In the wet it all gunks up.

Bikes get dirty in the wet.

there is so much gunk on the roads since they gritted the other day, when it gets wet my bob jackson gets a coating in sandy shit. today i had zero stopping power with my 105, had to leg brake a lot. still nearly died several times.

Aye, wet weather is great for practising skids.

Belter of a ride home. Friday rush hour, dark and it was lashing down - great way to end the week. Traffic was frantic. Luvvin the fixed-gear :)

erm - trick i learnt from driving a car (hiss spit) was to brake slightly after you go through a partic wet bit. gets rid of the moisture, means you can brake better when you need it. admittedly, when it's really pissing down the improvement is from 'no braking effect' to 'might as well have breathed out heavily', but the rest of the time it works okay.

would never ride in heavy rain in town on a geared bike though. kamikaze shit. fixed is the only way in winter.

edit - i am on a complete tangent. woo!

hmm i have no probs with my brake, but skidding is definately the fun option when the roads are wet!

I've been barely touching my brake recently. So much so that it's massively out of adjustment and I haven't bothered to re-centre it.

Had to use it today though, when some cock cycled off a pavement into the road 5 metres ahead of me and starting heading straight at me whilst clocking some bird over his shoulder. Always feel bad when I scream swearwords at other cyclists :/

[edit] another tangent...

Convert to the Dark Side (Disc brakes).

I have.

No fuss no mess no clenched buttocks when waiting for the BRAKES TO START WORKING.

Toodle pip.

I have discs, but they are on my other bike.

I just got some kool stop salmon/black mixed compound, I'll see how these work compared to Shimano SandPaper™

fc9k I've been barely touching my brake recently. So much so that it's massively out of adjustment and I haven't bothered to re-centre it.

Had to use it today though, when some cock cycled off a pavement into the road 5 metres ahead of me and starting heading straight at me whilst clocking some bird over his shoulder. Always feel bad when I scream swearwords at other cyclists :/

[edit] another tangent...

i sworea t a cyclist yesterday, i was crossing gt portland st and he made to turn across from the other side, then didn't, then did, then didn't, so i sort of went around him, behind him, rather than die. he thought i was turning left, so said, (adopts patronising CTC voice) "you need to learn to signal, mate". i replied (adopts angry young man voice) "how 'bout a nice cup of shut the fuck up?".

Apologies for dredging this one up from the brink of extinction. I'm cheap and didn't want to incur a CoppiThat £1 fee. :)

It's going to be getting wet out soon. Does anyone have any general recommendations apart from the Kool Stops?

I'm currently using a rim with a machined braking surface but I'm considering getting old school non-machined ones. Are there any brake pads out there that'll give me decent stopping power without shredding them to shit?

I should add that I realise it's the road grit/shit that shreds rims and not the brake pads but I thought I'd ask anyway.

aye, some pad recommendations would be great. my shimanos appear to be made out of chocolate in wet weather.

I'm with you on that one. The Shimano pads I have can be pretty sketchy...

I've never been a fan of Shimano pads but to be honest, since I've not bothered seeking alternatives I've not really thought about it. Swiss Stop were getting rave reviews but are damn expensive. I tend to throw in some cheap jobbies like BBB or that other brand I can't think of now.. :S

Cheap(er) calipers + expensive pads = stopping properly as far as I can tell. I'm sure expensive calipers would help too, but swapping out the pads can definately improve things. I've got a centaur front brake with record pads, and it works amazingly.

I don't mind spending a little extra on pads if it means I get to where I'm going a little more safely. I just want them to be predictable (by that I don't mean predictably shit).

Anything soft and wet weather specific is a good bet, you get what you pay for with brake pads, but using a non machined surface if it has paint/ano on it is never as good as using a machined surface.
I would second Hippys recommendation on Swiss stop, always heard lots of good things about them from several road bike owners, never underestimate just how good a decent set of brake pads are, a very worthwhile investment!
I've learnt the values of powerful braking since I got my new bike with a hope hydraulic disc front set-up, awesomeness. Fixed plus super-powerful disc brake=crazy stopping power :)

Cleaning your rims and pads is often as effective as buying new ones.

Awesome!

I was about to start a thread, but now I can jump on this one.....

....ages ago I remember someone saying there was a British co. that made brake pads - the replacable kind. that were amazing and pretty cheap (the inserts anyway).

Does anybody know what I'm talking about? If you wrote it and read this pls say so.

Cheers.

[Insert Standard IUTSF Discalimer]