IdahoBrett 

I just returned to biking this summer. Started with MTB's. I bought a couple of road bikes a few weeks ago. One to tinker on and one to ride. I turn 55 next month and it has been close to ten years since I did any type of serious physical conditioning.

That said, lately I've been alternating between two road bikes. Tinkering with one, while keeping one roadworthy. I've been getting out for a ride 2-3 days a week. Last week I was feeling great and on a 1/2 mile, flat, straight stretch of road I "put the hammer down". I felt proud I attained a whopping 20 m.p.h. So yesterday, same bike, my wife joined me. We got to the 1/2 mile, flat, straightaway and I went to put the hammer down to show off to my Mrs. And I STRUGGLED to get to 15 m.p.h. I didn't have it in me. I couldn't find the right gearing. Age related? Fitness level?

No. This morning I needed to fine tune my FD just a bit. So I put the bike in the stand and discovered I couldn't turn the crank by hand very well at all. What the .....? I went to spin the rear wheel by hand and discovered one brake pad dragging hard. Whew what a relief!

Between the two rides I had pulled the rear wheel and removed, cleaned and reinstalled the rear cogs. Somehow when I put the rear wheel back in I must have gotten the caliper off center. Don't know how. As I had cycled the release lever for the tire to pass through and the pivot bolt was still plenty tight.

Well, that's my story and I'm sticking to it. I shall check my abilities on the road tomorrow....

EDP

I have both caliper and hydraulic disc brake bikes.

Hydraulic disc brakes are so much better in wet/muddy conditions as the braking surface is so high up, but the downside I've found is unlike caliper brakes that you can just look at and think "The pads are getting kind of worn out", disc brakes can be 100% great and can all of a sudden lose all power and be 0% great.

gobicycling

Good for you for getting out on a ride. The dragging brake just made more exercise.

IdahoBrett 

Resistance training

OldTryGuy

Great diagnosis and resolution.

I'm 73, slow IS ME

big john

Whenever you take a wheel off, lift the bike and give it a spin after you put it back on. If I take a wheel off and the bike is upside down or whatever, I put the bike on flat ground and open the quick release to ensure the axle is bottomed out before I tighten it.

IdahoBrett 

Something I'm sure to become OCD about, checking and rechecking post maintenance.

big john

Just takes a second to spin a wheel before you hop on the bike. Unexpected crap happens, though. A friend of mine was a pro racer and a climbing specialist. She was in the Ore-Ida women's challenge and got a rear flat. The support car put a wheel on for her and sent her off to chase the peloton. She struggled on the climbs and she didn't know why until the end of the stage when she got off the bike and the rear brake was so tight it would hardly roll. The rim was wider than the one that had the flat and the support guy just jammed it into the brake.

skidder

Been there, done that. Once I had a wheel that was just slightly going out-of-round, it spun great on a repair stand, but when I was on the bicycle weighing it down it would rub against a brake pad each revolution. Fixed the spoke tension and it worked fine after that.

peterws

And some cheaper calipers have no adjustment for lining up.other than the wheel centering stuff. I now am the proud owner of a simple trike. (Sad, I know, I know. Not how I expected drawing on my childhood experiences but it's still fun trying to stay upright, all the while knowing that the main reason for buying the damn thing was for that very purpose).
The calipers.are old school and require old school solutions. Shimming the operating spring ever so slightly seems to be the best way so far. I could have bent it a tad instead but that's more of an exact science.

Wildwood 

5mph reduction for a 'dragging' brake caliper. Oh pshawww. Best 1/2 sided braking calipers in the known universe. But it's 50+ so tall tales and phony theories accepted.
¡!

Chuck M 

My routine after a wheel removal on QR bikes is to not just check if the wheel spins freely, but to look to see that it is centered between the chain stays.

staehpj1

MTB racing shouldn't be ruled out too quickly IMO. Longer distance races tend to spread our riders pretty quickly and you generally aren't riding in close traffic. You ride your pace and can compete to be where you want to finish. You can shoot for any place overall that makes sense. The races I am thinking of tend to be one long loop or out and back. Many are destination events. Events like the Wilderness 101 come to mind.

I used to ride events like that when I was pushing 50 and beyond and would still consider doing so at 72 if I were looking for the challenge.

Another option might be getting off the bike and trail running. It is a lot of fun and I know that I enjoyed it despite being very slow. I liked that I could share it with my dog who was a great trail buddy. I'd probably still be trail running more than riding if my dog hadn't gotten too old and feeble to run. I miss those hours in the woods with my pup!

Warbird21

I have cable disc brakes on my Salsa, and was just thinking that I hadn't adjusted them since early last year. I know what I'm doing tomorrow night....