[jroden]

I have the froglegs brakes and coolstop salmon pads, which should be a good setup. I was riding in pretty difficult conditions today, wet, snowy and muddy. My brakes did not stop the bike much after a while. When I was done, there was the usual layer of black crap and filth on the braking surface.

If one were to buy those expensive pauls brakes, would they really offer any improvement, if so what do they do better, squeeze the pads harder against the rims?

 

[single1x1]

Pauls are good

I have the froglegs brakes and coolstop salmon pads, which should be a good setup. I was riding in pretty difficult conditions today, wet, snowy and muddy. My brakes did not stop the bike much after a while. When I was done, there was the usual layer of black crap and filth on the braking surface.

If one were to buy those expensive pauls brakes, would they really offer any improvement, if so what do they do better, squeeze the pads harder against the rims?

The paul brakes have very good springs and they are fairly easy to set the spring tension to be equal, by using a 15mm wrench. They also provide very good lever feel even with cheap levers, I had unsprung cheapo diacomps for a while and even they felt pretty good with the neo retro brake. The v-brake style pads are also easier to set up.
Even paul brakes will need occasional readjustment. They will also have decreased performance in bad wet, dirty conditions, but will still work fairly well, and better then most other canti brakes.
I believe that springing for the paul front brake was one of the best upgrade performance parts I have ever bought. Obviously also the black crap that happens to wet dirty rims will still happen and you will still wear down rims and brake pads as you use them esp in wet grimy conditions

 

[cliff]

I agree with S1X1. The pauls offer ease of setup, tight tolerances (yielding good lever feel and reduced squeal), pivot durability since the pivot is sealed, and a good ration of rim clearance and lever pull. In the conditions that jroden described, they really do little better when the aluminum, dirt and rubber mix up to make that black glop. Disks would kick ass in those conditions.

 

[jroden]

Yes, for once I was missing my disks, I had one experience of no brakes and launching over the bar on a tight turn. It's remarkable how poorly the rim bakes work in the wet snowy conditions.

I may get the pauls, I think I have a pretty good set in the froglesgs and was just wondering how the pauls would differ from a functional standpoint, i.e. I assume my straddle cable length will be roughly the same, do they offer a longer arm or something to increase the mechanical advantage and squeeze the rims harder?

 

[cliff]

I may get the pauls, I think I have a pretty good set in the froglesgs and was just wondering how the pauls would differ from a functional standpoint, i.e. I assume my straddle cable length will be roughly the same, do they offer a longer arm or something to increase the mechanical advantage and squeeze the rims harder?[/QUOTE]

I'm not convinced that the Paul's will allow you to "squeeze the rims harder" for a given lever pull, but I'm no expert in this area. Check out Sheldon Brown's article on cantilever leverage. What you'll be gaining wth the paul's over the froglegs is not more stopping power, but the easy set up and maintainence, mostly.