A theory

freddiegrubb
freddiegrubb Posts: 448
edited January 2014 in The cake stop
Out the other day with my riding mate when it wasn't raining but with very wet roads, towards the end of the ride I asked him to brake & the brakes sounded normal whereas mine sounded like a bag of rusty spanners.When I got home the amount of rubbish around the brakes was daft. Now he rides without m/guards & I do (cruds) now my theory (forming) is that the m/guards contain the muck till it drips down onto the brake area causing the problem. His wheels having no guards throw it clear of the brakes also Iv'e noticed his braking is better in the wet than mine even though I try to dry the rims off before I need to brake , I'm using salmon k/stops but in the wet I've no faith in them even though they are kept in good condition. Anything to add to the theory?.

Comments

  • Garry H
    Garry H Posts: 6,639
    His rims have a better braking surface.
  • nweststeyn
    nweststeyn Posts: 1,574
    About seventeen, I think.
  • Giraffoto
    Giraffoto Posts: 2,078
    Test your theory then - take the guards off and give it a go next time the roads are wet. And let us know how you get on, at which point you'll have published a research paper for peer review.
    Specialized Roubaix Elite 2015
    XM-057 rigid 29er
  • rolf_f
    rolf_f Posts: 16,015
    It's not a theory, it's a guess! You need to test all variables. New pads, old pads, mudguards on, mudguards off, wheel rims cleaned, wheel rims dirty. Road conditions need to be similar - ie test different kit on the same day - eg a rainy day after a long dry period might generate more crap on the roads than during a period where it has already recently rained a lot. Once you've done that you'll have a theory!

    My own thoughts - I keep my bike clean and ride with cruds. My homebound commute is mostly uphill and I have to brake little at speed until the final descent to my house. On a rainy day, I often notice my bike stays immaculate until that last downhill stretch. The act of applying the brakes causes a load of dirty water to be sprayed off the rim and over the brakes and stays and forks. So if you want to keep the crap off your brakes, don't use them!
    Faster than a tent.......
  • Giraffoto
    Giraffoto Posts: 2,078
    Rolf F wrote:
    It's not a theory, it's a guess! You need to test all variables.

    You need to test all the variables if you're answering the question, "where's all the muck on my brakes coming from?". But the OP's theory is that it's the fault of his mudguards, so all he has to do to test this theory is to try the same ride without the mudguards in the wet. If he comes away with immaculately clean brakes, the theory is proven. If not, continue the research.
    Specialized Roubaix Elite 2015
    XM-057 rigid 29er
  • rolf_f
    rolf_f Posts: 16,015
    Giraffoto wrote:
    Rolf F wrote:
    It's not a theory, it's a guess! You need to test all variables.

    You need to test all the variables if you're answering the question, "where's all the muck on my brakes coming from?". But the OP's theory is that it's the fault of his mudguards, so all he has to do to test this theory is to try the same ride without the mudguards in the wet. If he comes away with immaculately clean brakes, the theory is proven. If not, continue the research.

    It's not quite that simple. At the moment he has no real evidence so it is a guess. If he comes up with some evidence it becomes a theory that may or may not be proven (to a degree). Simply riding without mudguards in the wet and not getting the brakes dirty won't prove the idea (and neither would riding without mudguards in the wet and getting the brakes dirty necessarily entirely disprove it) but it will make it a theory of sorts at least. To get close to proving the theory would require testing it against all the likely variables - and there are quite a few.
    Faster than a tent.......
  • Any theory which makes a mockery of mudguards gets my vote... :mrgreen:
    left the forum March 2023
  • briantrumpet
    briantrumpet Posts: 17,689
    I postulate that his theory is actually a hypothesis.
  • nweststeyn
    nweststeyn Posts: 1,574
    Seriously, seventeen.