Ultegra Pads are rubbish in the wet

+1 for Swiss Stop green, although I had to use their standard (blue or black) compound on the rear to get rid of a nasty squeal.

Swissstop BXP (BLUE) for Allow rims... Used all summer on Campags and now in serious rain on a club run last weekend with some cheaper wheels that came with my bike at purchase .. they work.

I also found alloy particles in my old brake blocks.. not finding them in the Swisstops yet.

I had some Disco brake blocks in the past, not bad, but I got a better winter bike and was similarly disappointed by the stock Ultegra pads. After reading a lot of recommendations from others I put Swisstop Greens on it. Since then I have done over 2000km in all sorts of weather and they have hardly worn, nor have the rims. I'm really not sure how they do that! Impressive bite even in the rain.

I also clean the rims every time I ride in the wet, and occasionally with a tissue dampened with vinegar, which does an excellent job. And sand the pads with a nail file, perfect.

I use an old ski pass card (a credit card also works) to get the required 0.5mm toe-in. It's easy once you get used to it.

I've got Ultegra on a winter bike, the brakes were always fairly unimpressive in the wet compared to my 'proper' bike with Campagnolo on it...I had always just assumed this was one of those shimano things.

The pads were wearing out so getting the bike ready for winter I have replaced them with (don't laugh) Clarks and the power and modulation I got from them is a bit of revelation (on the one ride so far), it certainly inspired confidence coming down Mamhead in the wet the other night.

They came at a fraction of the cost of the swisstop ones, the only thing time will tell is their longevity.

Have a look at Disco brakes , I've been using them for several years with no problems and they are fairly cheap. I like the red ones.

http://www.discobrakes.com/?s=0&t=2&c=52&p=283&

Kool-Stop Dura 2 dual compound salmon & black. Excellent and about £9/pair.

Park Tool and many others recommend using a rubber band for setting toe-in, it's a lot cheaper than a special tool.

The SwissStop rim rubber is ideal for cleaning alloy rims, and is esp effective used in conjunction with SwissStop brake pads. Also very useful is the Tacx brake-shoe alignment jig, which assures perfect toe-in.

I had massive problems in the wet with my Bianchi rims. Put some Swiss Greens on and it helped a bit. I bought some Fulcrum 5's and the bike stops loads better. I found it a bit too late but there is some brake putty that takes the dirt and muc off the rims. I also found moving the brakes shoes around on the rim helped as did giving them a sand. One bike mechanic told me to put one shoe slightly up and one down - makes the shoes bite more evenly on cantilever brakes - apparently pro riders do this - however I cant remember what side goes upwards!

My experience is that Shimano pads don't work very well in the wet and they wear away quickly. I have heard rumours they are abrasive and wear rims prematurely as well. I swap them for Swiss Stop and braking seems better.

Swiss Stops. Green or Salmon. About £30 a set iirc though. Mine (green) have lasted ages so far tbh, 6 months limited wear on pads.

I've descended off of Pyrenean climbs in horrendous conditions (ref: Vuelta stage this year) with no problems, have you been keeping the rims clean? Any amount of grime from the road surface won't help things when it dries on.