Out on my Raleigh Lenton yesterday

[ren531]

A short ride out on my Lenton, it is proving to be a very likable bike stable solid ride with a nice relaxed feel to it great for just ploding about just my type of bike, the only isue is the brakes are awful my rudge roadster has exactly the same leavers and calipers and work ok I've tryed lots of different shoes on it including koolstop ones intended for steel rims but they are still realy bad, just got to plan ahead if you want to stop.

 

[Cycleops]

Thats always a problem Are the rims steel?

 

[biggs682]

Thankfully my Lenton has alloy rims but uses the original calipers with grey koolstop pads and the brakes are ok .

 

[ren531]

Yes the rims are steel but so are the Rudge rims although they are stainless steel and they work fine ,maybe its the s/steel rims and a better hand position on the Rudge being flat bars allowing a stronger pull than the drops ,the Lenton has what are really flat bar levers and not dedicated drop levers was this Raleigh cutting costs ? they would perhaps work better with drop levers but I want to keep it original !.

 

[SkipdiverJohn]

I'm riding two flat bar hack bikes with chromed steel rims ATM and both of those stop fine - in the dry anyway. When its wet I have to apply the brakes periodically just to keep the rims dry even when I don't need them, so I've got some braking when I do need them. It's no different to driving an old motor with drum brakes through a ford and having to dry them off afterwards. I've found it especially important on steel wheels to minimise cable friction by keeping them well lubricated, as friction losses in the mechanism are subtracted from the amount of force applied at the levers. Same goes for wiping the rims clean of any oil deposits.
You can be a maintenance numpty with alloys and get away with a certain amount, with steels every bit of friction counts.