I'm fixing up an old ten-speed that may serve as an additional commuter. Haven't gotten to the point of adding a rack, etc., yet, but that may be soon.

My other bikes have V-brakes. This bike has sidepull calipers and (I think) steel rims.
I've changed out the brake pads for new, but even so, the stopping power doesn't seem to be nearly as good as on my 2-year-old Trek hybrid or Downtube folder.

Are sidepull calipers just inherently weaker than V-brakes?

I haven't yet changed out cables, and I've never worked on any other calipers, so I don't know if this is just to be expected.

Maybe I'm just riding faster in the drops and thus taking longer to stop!