Here is the source of my original confusion; extracted from the article linked by Alan: "*Straddle cable and yoke position* To get the most out of your canti brake, it's crucial to get the straddle cable carrier (yoke) installed in the right position based on the type of brakes you are running. Simply put, you want to try to achieve a 90 degree angle between the pivot bolt/cable anchor/straddle cable. The angle formed if you drew a line from the pivot bolt to the cable anchor on the arm and along the straddle cable should be around 90 degrees. This gives you a good combination of modulation and power. It's possible to alter this angle to get more power, giving up modulation. A rough rule of thumb is low-profile brakes require a low straddle cable carrier position, wide profile brakes require a high straddle cable carrier position. Going even lower on a low-profile brake will give you more power, but the modulation will be lower and the brake pads will need to be set closer to the rim. This position also will feel a little mushy at the lever. Most lower profile canti brakes I see have the straddle carrier set too high. This might feel good at the lever; solid feeling, you might say, but when you need to hit the brakes you won't have the power needed to stop."
See the sentence that starts with "A rough rule of thumb..." So I checked my Neo-Retro yoke position; it wasn't too high, limited by the crown fork cable hanger, probably around 1 - 1.5" above the fender (recent photo: https://flic.kr/p/Huku4A). Lowered it to almost touching the fender, just 5 - 6mm away, and though the feeling increased slightly, the braking is still less powerful than the rear Touring brake. Next step is to remove the rack (hassle!) to install the Touring brakes and check if the MiniMoto fit or not. Stay tuned... René On Thursday, August 25, 2016, adam leibow <a...@lightvision.net> wrote: > http://blackmountaincycles.blogspot.com/2013/03/get-most- > out-of-your-canit-brake.html > > On Wednesday, August 24, 2016 at 4:49:20 PM UTC-7, René wrote: >> >> Hi all, >> >> I've had Paul Cantis on my Atlantis (and Hunqapillar) since I acquired >> them. Paul Centerpulls on the Homer after using the original Silver brakes, >> and now will have Compass brazed Centerpulls on the custom. I've also read >> everything I could find, including BQ's excellent volume on brakes to >> understand how to adjust these brakes properly. >> >> The question is regarding the brakes on my Atlantis. On the front it has >> the Paul Neo-Retro and on the rear the Paul Tourer. Per my education, the >> Neo-Retro needs the cable yoke to be as high as possible and the Tourer as >> low as possible for optimal function. >> >> When braking, the rear Tourer brake which by design should be less >> powerful, feels excellent, both in braking power and modulation. In fact, I >> can brake really well with it alone, and use it primarily to slow down >> prior to turns. >> >> Braking with the front Neo-Retro feels as if it has very little power and >> is very hard to stop the bike unless you press really hard. It doesn't feel >> as if it modulates, it's just that it's hard to stop the wheel. >> >> My experience before was usually the opposite, where the rear brake >> wasn't enough on its own, but you had to be careful with the front. >> >> I changed the pads on both brakes to see if that made a difference, but >> it didn't. >> >> Is there anything I'm missing? Is that just how these brakes work? I'm >> tempted to switch the front Neo-Retros for a set of Tourer brakes that were >> in the rear of my Hunqapillar, but am concerned I won't be able to get the >> cable yoke low enough with the front rack attachment. >> >> Any feedback would be appreciated. >> >> René >> > -- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > "RBW Owners Bunch" group. > To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an > email to rbw-owners-bunch+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com > <javascript:_e(%7B%7D,'cvml','rbw-owners-bunch%2bunsubscr...@googlegroups.com');> > . > To post to this group, send email to rbw-owners-bunch@googlegroups.com > <javascript:_e(%7B%7D,'cvml','rbw-owners-bunch@googlegroups.com');>. > Visit this group at https://groups.google.com/group/rbw-owners-bunch. > For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout. > -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "RBW Owners Bunch" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to rbw-owners-bunch+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. To post to this group, send email to rbw-owners-bunch@googlegroups.com. Visit this group at https://groups.google.com/group/rbw-owners-bunch. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
