thanks all for the help! after having a friend work on it with me last night, I think that the brake pads are at fault. I don't quite know how old they are (e-bay find - the wheels were reeaaaaallllly old tho, which tells you something), but the spacing is only a little loose (roughly by a millimeter compared to the front brake pads) [the brake lever is roughly half way down when the pads contact the rims.] It still results in poor braking power. Great at stopping the bike from going backwards, but still has some forward slip.

I've heard that pads with leather are great for steel. I haven't done the footwork on the physics behind it, but it seems like a solid enough idea for me. I don't suppose its kosher to glue/nail down a few strips to the existing brake pads, is it? [btw, I'm from Chi so I definitely need good brakes esp when wet.] I've checked out yellowjersey.org but didn't find what i was looking for. meh

Another idea- any suggestions for brake pads from any steel rim fiends out there ? I know I should swap em out for Aluminum, but its more than I'd really care to do after checking out the prices online. Call me cheap, but there are reasons why I'm doing the repairs myself. =/

and again, if any of these ideas or comments from me seem ridiculous- sorry, but the title says it all.