I have a road bike with Ultegra components.

Just moved to San Francisco and I feel like I can't stop, and in some cases can't.

The breaks appear to be adjust properly, but the pads don't seem to have the grip that I am used too...is this possible?

There is plenty of pad, the bike has never really been ridden all that much.

Could the pads be old and hard, and not doing what they are supposed to do?



For the record I have them set pretty tight, such that I only need to pull the break levers a little bit to get them to engage....so its not a case of the brake cables not being tight enough.

throw away the shimano pads and use kool stop salmon pads. Then you will be able to stop. I do this on all my family's bikes.

I have no problem with Ultegra brake pads.

Yes, the pads can harden over time and become less effective. I just replaced the front pads on my bike for that reason even though there was plenty of pad material left. It's also possible that the rim has some contamination on it resulting in less braking power. You could try cleaning it to see if that helps. But if the pads are pretty old then I'd replace them as well - KoolStops are pretty good.