Ultegra 6800 brakes poor performance in wet conditions

omri

I got myself a set of kool stop pads for these brakes but decided to use the ones that came with the brakes first and replace them when they get worn. And they're tragic in wet, which I found out yesterday. When I got back home there was a lot of black residue on the braking surface of the rims.

The brakes are set up very tight so I only need a gentle squeeze on the levers to start braking (in dry conditions). I ride with my hands on the hoods most of the time and brake with index and middle fingers. It always worked well for me and I did not experience such a poor brake performance in wet when I was using 105 groupset in 2008/09. With the current levers I get better results if I apply much more force on the levers than but that requires changing the position of my hands and perhaps adjusting the position of my body too.

I had the bike fitted so I presume they are in their optimal position but now I'm wondering should I change it or did I miss something in the set up of brakes/cables or levers?

rollingscone

My experience of Ultegra pads on older Ultegra calipers was similar, they're a very soft pad optimised for racing and much more concerned with occassional feathering in the corners than actually stopping the bike. In my first day using them they picked up some glass and gashed the rims of my aksiums.

I'd say try the Koolstops before you go looking at adjusting anything else.

doozerie

As far as I know, the x800 series of groupsets have calipers which require more cable pull. This may change the feel of the levers and therefore how you use them, so if you have them set up the same way as your older brakes they mIght not perform exactly as you are used to.

In the past, stock Shimano pads used to be on the soft side, making for effective braking but short lived pads, I don't know if that has changed in newer versions. In the wet though, it is generally a good idea to feather the brakes to clear water off the rims before you have to pull hard on the brakes. You don't always get the chance to do that of course, and some brake pads are simply crap to start with, but I'd expect stock Ultegra pads to be at least okay and probably good.

Craig06

Stock 6800 pads aren't bad. Much better than the old ones. But saying that I run Swiss stop green pads which are epic in the wet.

Cee-Jay-Cee

I changed my 6800 pads after one spin as they were so poor. They seemed overly hard to me and simply took an age to stop the bike. I changed the pads to Clarks tri-compound and the difference is staggering. One thing though, my wheels are also brand new and so maybe they both needed time to bed in however I needed good brakes and so changed them after the first spin.