Rim brakes working better when wet?
#1
russkie
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Rim brakes working better when wet?
Brake pads on my beat-up commuter bike were worn quite a lot, so I decided to replace them with a set of some generic pads from my parts bin. The new pads still didn't work too well and I even started to regret changing them, but today I got caught up in a rain and whoa! The braking suddenly got much better. I always thought that rim brakes always work worse when wet, so this behavior really puzzles me. Anyone here had the same situation or did I buy some magical brake pads from a sprite?
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Maybe the water and friction helped clean off some junk you had caked on your rims?
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I hit the brakes in the rain a few days ago, and the first pull they chattered and grabbed like hell, surprising me. After that they worked normally.
They're Nashbar ones with replaceable pads. The front rim is a cheap POS that's pretty worn and scraped up (it chews through pads like it was lined with sandpaper).
They're Nashbar ones with replaceable pads. The front rim is a cheap POS that's pretty worn and scraped up (it chews through pads like it was lined with sandpaper).
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#4
russkie
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Originally Posted by deputyjones
Maybe the water and friction helped clean off some junk you had caked on your rims?
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The rims look quite clean to me... And the braking was smooth, not like the pads were scratching dirt off the rim.
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Originally Posted by cerewa
Kool Stop salmon pads are designed to work well wet or dry, and they definitely do, but I (and others) have found them to give poor performance at maybe 97 deg. F. and hotter.