writes:

On Tuesday, February 5, 2019 at 11:09:28 AM UTC-8, Radey Shouman wrote:
Sir Ridesalot writes:

On Tuesday, February 5, 2019 at 11:24:20 AM UTC-5, Joerg wrote:
On 2019-02-05 07:21, Radey Shouman wrote:
I went for a ride last Saturday -- it was neither long, nor fast, nor
scenic, a little trip to a neighboring town. On the way back it was
about 25F (-4C), below freezing, but hardly frostbite weather.

The sun was shining, the wind was blowing, the crows were singing
merrily to keep the seagulls in their place. The streets were mostly
clear, at least in the travel lanes, but were damp with melted brine.
We haven't had much snow this year, and local governments are dealing as
best they can with the dire prospect of a road salt budget surplus.

The brine tends to get tracked into the mean right tire track, forming a
dark stripe, which is where I rode a great deal of the time. To the
right were piles of ice and snow, patches of crusty salt, dog**** popsicles
and cigarette butts. To the left it was already a bit hard for drivers
to pass.

Two blocks from home, having not touched the brakes in quite a while, I
meant to slow for a left turn, and applied the brakes. Just perceptible
slowing obtained, even when squeezing hard. This was a little
disappointing, not what most would expect from brakes at all. Unlike
rain, the problem didn't go away as water was wiped from the rims -- it
stayed crappy until I almost missed my turn in the neighbor's front
yard.


I remember many snow rides from Europe. Sometimes I had to let the pads
gently rub on the rims well before an intersection to make sure there'd
be some stopping power. Rim brakes are about as "modern" as those wood
blocks against the wheels of a chuckwagon.

Also, winter rides tend to eat rims. So do rain rides. Replacing a brake
rotor takes five minutes (with coffee) and about $20-$25, changing out a
rim is a different story.


When I got home I looked at the rims. They were coated in white frosty
stuff that looked a lot like snow, but stuck much more resolutely. Not
normally much for washing bicycles, I spent a few minutes cleaning off
the frost and salt.

To be clear, the brakes are not modern equipment, but Weinmann Vainqueur
centerpulls, albeit with Kool Stop cartridge pads. I do find them more
than adequate ordinarily.

If I ever buy a new bicycle, I believe I'll favor those fashionable disk
brakes.


Try them out on a friend bike or a rental. You'll never look back.

--
Regards, Joerg

http://www.analogconsultants.com/

CRIKEY! What am I doing WRONG? I ride all year round and I don't have
problems with my rim brakes stopping any of my bicycles. That is even
true for my ancient long out of production Shimano Adamas AX brakes
and my Shimano Dura Ace AX brakes. Grant the Dura Ace AX bicycle is
kept for nicer weather but I have got caught out in the rain with it
and never had a problem. Not have i ever worn out a rim because of
brake wear. I ride thousands of miles every year too.

What causes you to eventually discard rims? Do they just last forever?
Truly we must live in different worlds.

I just don't get how some people have such drastic problems with rims
wearing out.

Not sure what you mean by "drastic". Rims are a wear item.

--

This morning the normal Tuesday ride was scheduled until I emailed
them that the temperature was 2 degrees above freezing in the end town
and that in between there was probably ice on the shady
downhills. Suddenly they changed their minds. Didn't matter to me
since I had to go to the Dentist and I'm still too numb to drink a cup
of coffee.

If your buddies knew how they were embarrassing California on an
international forum they might butch up a little.