My rear calliper brake gets sticky almost immediately after any wet ride I happen to take it on, which results in a flappy brake lever. Since they're a bit of a pain in the ass to take apart in the flat, are there any easy fixes to stop this, is it just mine that do it?

Was contemplating stretching an old bit of inner tube around it but that would spoil the looks 🙄

I've not heard of that before, have you over torqued the fixing bolt? I don't know what the setting is, but it's not much there's almost a degree of float.

Fitting mudguards is the best way to keep them sweet but not always an option.
A quick spray with GT85 to get rid of water after wet rides and a drop or 2 of oil on the pivots will help.

Oldgit, I'll have a fiddle, but they were perfectly smooth before I took them out last time so they must be set up OK to begin with.

I'll stick to blasting them out with brake cleaner and then oiling them again then, forgot last time though, hence the post and 1cm play at the lever, rrgh.

This is why £1000 racers maybe shouldn't be used as commuters… damn you bike-to-work scheme!

cheers

what are the brakes? my experience is that the cheap bushed calipers don't like bad weather. The washers corrode and the brakes don't work very well.

Aha, nail on the head there Mrmo, just looked at the shimano site, mine are bushed non-series brakes, but 105 and upwards (the 'super' dual pivot design) have bearings.

Will strip+clean the rear calliper one last time, wrap a section of inner tube around it and then treat myself to a new calliper next winter 8)

are you sure it's not grubby cables?

I have the same problem with my cheap Tektro calipers.

I'd add that even Dura-ace brakes (especially the rear) will start to corrode around the central pivot if their ridden in the salt and wet, and not cleaned immediately afterwards. Its just an unfortunate effect of having such close clearances,
As had been said, guards are the best defense (if you can fit them) or a pre-emptive sqirt of GT85 or similar in the area can help.
Interestingly, Campag Super Record brakes never, ever get eaten by the salt though*
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.* thats cos their wealthy dentist owners never take them out of their climate-controlled, air conditioned, sealed chambers 🙂

If your brakes are getting sticky after riding in wet weather it may be down to the fact that the wet brake pads have been mashed into the wear indicator line on your rims and have formed a ridge which then gets stuck in there when they are applied.

Its happened to me on wet rides where I've had a lot of steep descents to tackle.

I've experienced that when the pads have become misaligned and somehow stick to the rim, though mainly on the cross bike.

Should have gone to campag.

All good suggestions, thanks, but i know its not cables because they're new, and there is a clear gap betwixt pad and rim.

Its definitely within the mechanism itself, i think I just need to get used to maintaining the bike a little more than i do, makes me realise how much I've taken disc brakes for granted!

I find that taking them apart, greasing them and then reinstalling them works, but make sure you slightly undo the bolt that is on the driveside for the rear brake- this keeps things loose and lets the spring work more smoothly.

This applies to any bushed brake.

Mudguards.