On Monday, December 17, 2018 at 8:36:56 PM UTC-5, John B. Slocomb wrote:
Snipped
Not to start another "this is better/no that is better" argument but
years ago I bought a 75(US)$ bike in Singapore to keep on the boat. By
the time we sold the boat and moved ashore the bike was in pretty poor
condition - all that salt spray, you know. Anyway, I decided to
rebuild the bike and as I disassembled the bike I'd check each part
and "Nope! Junk!" and finally ended up with a very nice aluminum
hard-tail MTB sort of frame. I found a conventional aluminum fork and
rebuilt the bike as a sort of 26" road bike. To make a long story
short I fitted Shimano "V" brakes, probably Deore or one of the other
Shimano low end sets. When I got the bike assembled and first rode it
the brakes were really fierce, I had to keep reminding myself "don't
squeeze the brakes hard".

When the discussion of "rim brakes don't work in the wet" started I
took the bike out in the rain and tested it. Coasting down a medium
steep hill in a medium rain (rain drops only bouncing bout an inch
when they hit :-) on a normal black top road I could skid either wheel
(scary skidding the front wheel :-) or both at the same time.

This bike had conventional aluminum rims and I was using what looked
like Cool Stop but made in China pads.

I've since passed the 26" bike on to a friend but I have two classic
light weight steel frame 700c wheel bikes here (at our new country
estate :-) and one of them has short reach Deore caliper brakes -
sometimes difficult to match modern brakes with old frames - and,
again with aluminum rims and Cool Stop like pads it stops rather
abruptly. I haven't tried deliberately skidding he wheels but I
suspect that I can.

The point of this dissertation is that I suspect that rim brakes are
suitable for road bikes whether rain or shine and most of the static
about "I couldn't stop" is probably a problem of either poorly
maintained brakes, ineffective pads or brakes with insufficient
leverage.

cheers,

John B.

I think the major problem with rim brakes is that people are simply riding too fast for the conditions. Then again sand and grit on trails or pure off road can work like an excellent grinding paste if wet and one doesn't clean the pads and rims periodically. However, a friend of mine a number of years ago spent $1,500,00 Canadian on a DaVinci MTB with mechanical disc brakes and had nothing but trouble with them. Numerous bike shops were unable to find and correct the problem. he was really doing through brake discs on that bike. Many times on different rides he'd say look at this. He'd be riding along with the brake lever touching the handlebar. I never did figure out what the problem was or why he went through disc brake pads so quickly. I do know that he got fed up with the issues and not having strong braking when he wanted it. So much so that he swapped out the disc brake wheels for V-brake ones. He still rides that bike and is quite happy with it.

I find that V-brakes are easier to set up and to keep adjusted than are cantilever brakes. Just a few millimeters in difference of the length of the straddle cable can make a HUGE difference in how power cantilever brakes are.. gthere's a sweet spot for that distance and if the straddle cable is too long or too short you might end up with a very spongy feeling brake.

Cheers