"Brown Cat" wrote in message
news
Whilst cycling it started chucking it down with rain and I was wet
through after 5-10 minutes. I noticed when I braked it didn't seem to
have any effect at all, which forced me to get off and push my bike.
I was able to have some brake power if I held the brakes down for about
5 seconds which I guessed was getting the water off the brake pads.

Is this normal ?

Yes - ish. Yours sounds a bit extreme. Rim brakes don't like rain much, but
it's "not as good" rather than "not at all".

It's water on the rims, not pads.

Some setups cope better than others - Steel rims are a no-no, and
salmon/pink koolstop pads are supposed to be pretty good.

They will work better if you have them set up better - squeezing hard does
work.

Brake early in the wet, and learn the limitations of your bike.