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Some tips from years of commuting using rim brakes and aluminum rims in the PNW:
1. Koolstop Salmon pads have good friction in the wet.
2. Rims and pads have better performance if you keep them clean (free of oil and grease) and roughed up. You can achieve this by cleaning them with 3M green pads with alcohol. Finish up with a clean rag or paper towel. If you commute, keep a cleaning kit at work so you can clean up before you return home. Keep a kit on the bike so you can do an emergency clean up if traffic forces you to ride through an oily puddle.
3. If you buy new polished rims you need to rough them up with fine grit sandpaper or emery cloth before you use them.
4. No matter what rim/pad combination you have, you will need to squeeze the brakes to dry off the rims prior to serious braking. So remember to squeeze and dry before you brake for a corner on a descent, and before coming to an intersection where you might have to stop quickly.
5. Panic braking on a wet rim is especially dangerous--you apply strong brake force, nothing happens, you apply more brake force, then the rims dry off and your front wheel can lock up. If the road is slick the front wheel starts sliding and the front end washes out and down you go.
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