The Consumer Product Safety Commission has expressed interest in the development of a riding test method for evaluating the braking performances of bicycles in wet weather. In this report three different testing approaches for caliper-braked bicycles are examined using kinetic analyses, a review of the literature, and an evaluation of available domestic and foreign test results. On the basis of the findings it is recommended that the riding test include the intentional wetting of both the bicycle brakes and the test pavement; the former to obtain meaningful results and the latter to enhance the repeatability of the test results. A tentative pass-fail criterion is also offered, based on a maximum wet stopping distance which, at this time, appears to be generally attainable only with bicycle wheels having aluminium-alloy rims. Error analyses of the test methods are presented.
Abstract