Brake question: First week of commute :)

[VeloVT]

Do I remember correctly that you are on a MTB? Or was it more of a hybrid? I remember that it's black and sleek-looking!

Do you have caliper brakes (like on your road bike) or canti brakes? I'm not actually sure which is better in the rain, but generally I think cantis are a little more powerful, so if you have them (as I suspect you might), that should give you an added measure of confidence.

I have ridden my bike with cantis in the rain quite a few times, as well as in sloppy wet snowy conditions. They work well enough to be safe. The big thing to remember is that wet rims will take longer to stop because there is less friction -- so just allow yourself about twice as much room to stop -- that is, start braking with about twice the distance you normally would. And be a little more conservative in how close you ride to the car in front of you if you are taking the lane (though as I'm sure you've discovered this is a fine line, you have to stay close enough that the car behind you really believes that there isn't room for it to pass you).

Some brake pads are better than others in the rain. The ones that came stock on my bike seem to melt . Which reminds me -- if you do a LOT of riding in the rain, make sure you periodically check your rims and your pads, if you have pads that don't hold up to water very well, your rims can get coated in brake-pad residue and/or your pads can become glazed. Either condition will cause poor braking. But fortunately cleaning your rims and/or sanding the pads lightly will fix the problem.

Edit: just looked at your bike on the commuter thread and it looks like you do indeed have cantilever brakes (not calipers), fwiw. I don't know that it makes much difference in the rain per se, but like I said, cantis are a bit more powerful, so all the better.