Rim Brakes - Winter (Snow, Freezing Temps)

[Jay]

I only ride my Roadini in winter when the roads are relatively clear (no ice, snow or slick conditions).  Part of the reason is fear with rim brakes and if it's cold, traces of snow or ice, I'm nervous the brakes won't function properly.

My only other bike is a Salsa Fargo.  I can sum this up in 4 words "I hate disc brakes".  The wheels I use 8 months of the year are great, wheels never leave the bike.  Dial the braking in once and I'm fuss-free.  While the disc brakes are fine , I don't need disc brakes where I ride.  I often ride the Roadini on the same trails and the brakes are perfect (Tektro with stock pads).  I only have the Fargo because it takes bigger tires (thought I needed them), and I eventually got studded tires for it.  But I really don't want a disc brake bike any longer.

The issue is winter.  I have a second wheelset for the Fargo, with studded tires.  And every time I swap wheels I get rubbing on the disc brakes.  I loosen the calliper, squeeze the lever, tighten the bolts, rub.  I have watched all the videos and tried all the tricks.  It is so annoying.  I have three wheel sets for the Roadini and swap them often, I can dial in the brakes perfectly 100% of the time.  Zero stress.

To overcome my fear with riding Leo on sketchy roads, I could get studded tires.  But I want the best rim brake pads for freezing temps, with occasional snow/ice.  I've heard that when you brake and there is build up on the rim, it takes 1-2 rotations to scrape this off and then you're good. Maybe there are better brake pads?  In a separate thread there was discussion about the kool stop e-bike pads.  Swiss stop.  Kool stop salmon.  I don't recall if that thread covered use in cold winters.

[Kim H.]

@Jay,

I am the one who recently posted a discussion about Kool Stop Ebike brake pads about a week or so ago. 

The weather here in western Washington state has not gotten very cold during the day. Its been in the low to mid 50s with rain. Our colder weather begins late December through February. 

Therefore, I am unable to give you a report on the performance of these KOOL STOP E-BIKE brake pads in cold weather conditions yet.

If you like, I can report back to you when the cold weather sets in later on in the winter season. 

Kim Hetzel.

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[Will Boericke]

I ride daily all winter, in all conditions with rim brakes (Boston area).  I suspect you already have Kool Stop salmon pads; if so, you're good to go.  Don't worry too much about it.  I have ridden in snow, sleet, freezing rain.  Never had brake issues.

As for your disc wheels, you likely need to shim one set of rotors so that the spacing from the dropout to where the rotor sits on the bike is the same for both wheelsets.  Many companies sell 1-2mm shims for this purpose.  I found this article to be the best description of the process; I imagine there's a video but I prefer to process a written procedure.  Or...get a set of wheels with exactly the same rear hub.

Will near Boston

[Will Boericke]

Huh, my article link didn't work.  Let's try again:

https://www.tobedetermined.cc/journal/the-dark-art-of-rotor-shimming

W

[Josh C]

I don't currently own any disc brake bikes, but never had any real issues with them. I have ridden rim brakes in the winter for years now. My current commuter (Clem) has Shimano black brake pads on Shimano V brakes. No issues at all; snow, ice, rain, dirt---they just work. I wouldn't overthink it. Occasionally, it'll sound like a chunk of ice or road grime/sand/rock is between the pad and rim. I just try not to squeeze that in and damage the wheel---I will tap the brake a couple times and try and get that to break loose and then carry on. 

I do tend to use Kool Stop salmon pads on most canti bikes, but the Shimano V brakes work so well, I don't think it matters much which pads are loaded. 

[Patrick Moore]

When I had 2 wheelsets for my Fargo I had a shop very carefully shim the rotors so that I could switch without continual pad readjustment to avoid rubbing; that worked pretty well, even with all the dust here which IME makes disk brakes squeal or at least mutter. I did not have to deal with a great deal of wet weather riding, here in the desert. Road BB7s set up with pretty wide pad spacing, but proper setup allowed this with good lever travel and feel. (Install cables with actuation arms at about 30* through their travel; and don’t use high MA brake levers — tho’ I got road BB7s to work fine with old high MA Shimano 600 EX levers.)

OTOH, on the Matthews I swapped the BB7s for TR Hy/Rd hybrids that “automatically” adjust pads for slight difference in rotor position. I’ll switch wheels and within a few hundred feet with a bit of braking the pads are fully clear of the rotors again. I would guess that the same applies for full hydro disks.

On Mon, Nov 10, 2025 at 8:07 PM Jay <jason....@gmail.com> wrote:

… The issue is winter.  I have a second wheelset for the Fargo, with studded tires.  And every time I swap wheels I get rubbing on the disc brakes.  I loosen the calliper, squeeze the lever, tighten the bolts, rub.  I have watched all the videos and tried all the tricks.  It is so annoying.  I have three wheel sets for the Roadini and swap them often, I can dial in the brakes perfectly 100% of the time.  Zero stress.

[Patrick Moore]

+1; only I’ll add, AND use the same hubs on each wheelset.

On Tue, Nov 11, 2025 at 9:52 AM Will Boericke <wboe...@gmail.com> wrote:

… Or…get a set of wheels with exactly the same rear hub.

Will near Boston

[Jay]

That's an excellent article, Will.  Thanks for sharing.

I like the idea of shining one wheelset and easier swap.  I'm going to bring both wheel sets to the LBS and send some money their way - I get too frustrated with things like that ;-)

[Will Boericke]

Glad it's useful!  On my gravel bike, the swap takes 2 minutes and I can go from 700x42 to 650x48 for rowdier adventures.  Adds some zest to the options.

Will

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[Jay]

I did overreact a bit on this.  I rode my studded tires again this morning, but the snow was nearly gone and with rain in the forecast and no snow for a while, I went back to my 3-season wheels.  As I'm swapping them I recalled that these TRP Spyre brakes have pad adjustments on both sides.  Duh.  After verifying a rub on one side with white paper and a light opposite the calliper, turned the outer pad out 1/4 turn and it was fixed.  Now I remember how I lived with this system last year.  Paper and light to check where it's rubbing, slight turn of adjustment and works fine.  This whole process takes more like 5-10 minutes, but all good.