Quote Originally Posted by Ana View Post

Anyway, I have been fortunate enough to have very fair weather so far. I'm concerned about the rainy weather though since I don't have disc brakes.... I have ridden in the rain before but never more than 1 mile and on busier streets, and general find them to be undesirably slippery. Any tips/advice about using my caliper brakes or needing disc brakes in rain?

Thanks!!
Riding in the rain is a lot like driving a vehicle in some cases... When your wheel rims are wet, the brake pads won't be as quick or efficient stopping, so plan ahead and feather your brakes a bit to "squeegee" off the water before you hit them hard. Likewise, you won't have quite as much traction on the pavement so your stopping distance will be a bit longer.

One suggestion is to get out in an open parking lot somewhere when it's wet, and play with your bike a little bit to see just how long it takes you to stop using front, back, or both brakes, to do an emergency stop, how much traction you have, what you can get away with, etc... This is good stuff to know and practice from time to time.