on 8/31/11 5:15 AM, Earl Grey at [email protected] wrote: > I have always liked cantis, and the Tektro 720s are my favorites. I > have disc brakes (Avid BB7 wit h8" rotors) on one tandem (didn't have > a choice, and thought may as well give them a chance. Every few rides > I need to adjust the pads because they rub. In the rain, they squeal > like crazy. Don't see the advantage over cantis. I have also had the > last generation of single pivot Campy sidepulls. They were fine, but > not as nice as cantis. > > V brakes have lot's of stopping power (with special levers) and I > concur that they look terrible. In addition, they are so powerful that > lightweight riders can very easily endo. My 100 lb ex did that once > while cruising at 12mph or so in the park, casually grabbing the brake > to come to a stop on a low-end Cannondale mtn bike. So try some Tektro > CR720s with Koolstop pads before going to V-brakes, and warn your wife > about their grabbiness and high power.
The real rub with V-Brakes (or specifically, linear pull) is that they tend to be on or off. It's a matter of the pressure your hands are used to applying, and the more time you spend running canti brakes, the more ingrained it becomes. You can get used to the difference, but you can also really hurt yourself - especially when jumping to a bicycle with different brakes. Braking 101 Review Most of the people I've encountered who complain of poor braking performance have brakes that feel "hard" at the lever. That's the antithesis of power. It's also about learning how to effectively use the front brake. I was out at the trails and listened to some "teacher" from a local outdoor shop carefully explaining to new mountain bikers that they should never use their front brake, because it would cause them to crash. Piffle and hogwash, to be sure, but the wrong techniques are out there... Quick Brake Setup Thoughts Of course, the main reason the switch to lp brakes caught on was that they were bone-simple to set up. For shops where you are building a ton of bikes every day, this was/is important. With cantis, there are a few more variables, and the problem is that you tend to change one while attempting to adjust the other. But, when canti designs incorporated the multi-washer pad adjustment systems of lp brakes, things got better. Here's the procedure which I found helps mimic quickie-lp setup: pre - make sure wheel is centered in the dropouts - work on the same side of the bike as the brake arm unless specified. 1 - release straddle wire. (let's start front left) 2 - cupping the brake pad assembly from below with your left hand, use your thumb on the same hand to position the arm so it is vertical (i.e. at 90 degrees, i.e. perpendicular to the ground. 3 - while maintaining that position, loosen and position the brake pad so it is 90 degrees from the arm, and touching the rim (flat is ok at this point) The trick here is to not move the arm, which should be pretty much lined up with the fork blade, lock the pad down in this position, which applies the most power to the rim. 4 - do the same to the opposing arm 5 - connect the straddle cable. If you cannot see if you can change the straddle relation easily. Otherwise back off the pads a smidge until you get appropriate clearance 6 - make sure things are even, when viewed from the front. 7 - if you didn't back off the pads, check that they have enough clearance at this point. 8 - now go back and set toe-in 4 - > > Cheers, > > Gernot > > > On Aug 31, 6:33 am, dougP <[email protected]> wrote: >> Michael: >> >> Thanks for sharing your experiences. I plan to try a high profile >> canti set-up on my wife's Atlantis as a first measure. Hopefully that >> will replicate the braking performance of her old bike. If not, I'll >> look into V-brakes & new levers, but that probably has its own >> learning curve. >> >> dougP >> >> On Aug 30, 2:53 pm, Michael Hechmer <[email protected]> wrote: >> >> >> >> >> >> >> >>> Doug, you pose the perfect question for me to share my experience with >>> cantilevers and why I continue to believe in hi straddle and hi profile >>> cantis. >> >>> My first experience with cantis, after years of good riding with Campy Grand >>> Sport LR brakes and Chorus SR brakes came around 2000, when I bought a SOMA >>> DBL Cross for commuting and had it outfitted with my first Ultegra 9 spd. >>> system and the then new Ultegra Low Profile canti brakes. The bike and >>> brakes were installed by the best mechanic in VT, including the very short >>> straddle wire supplied by Shimano. Braking was awful, downright scary for >>> commuting. I replaced the pads with Salmons and that helped somewhat. I >>> finally abandoned the SIS brifters, replacing with Cane Creek & Silver >>> shiftes and the braking rose to the level of OK. Setup, with Shimano >>> Brifters, was also pretty tedious and the brakes needed to be re-centered >>> every time I put the bike into the back of the car or did any almost thing >>> else. The brifters, which were designed for short reach side pulls, simply >>> did not work together with cants. I have avoided low profile brakes (and >>> briftes) ever since. >> >>> After a poor-braking-near-death-experience, I bought a pair of hi profile >>> Pauls and found that with a very hi straddle wire, as recommended by Paul, I >>> had easy set up and great braking. >> >>> My next experience with Cantis was a pair of hi profile, short arm di comp >>> which came on a 1984 Trek 620 I bought on ebay. Much to my surprise these >>> brakes also delivered mediocre power, even with salmon pads. >> >>> Now my Ram and my tandem have Paul's Racer Ms and Racers respectively. My >>> Ebisu has neo retros with a hi straddle wire and my now pretty beat up >>> winter bike SOMA has those di comps, which I'm planning on replacing with >>> Tektros and a hi straddle wire. >> >>> When I was much younger I would say, "Who needs brakes, they just slow you >>> down!" Now, medicare not withstanding, I really like having brakes I can >>> rely on. Intimations of mortality no doubt. >> >>> michael >>> recovering from lower back strain and Irene, in Vermont -- Jim Edgar [email protected] Cyclofiend Bicycle Photo Galleries - http://www.cyclofiend.com Current Classics - Cross Bikes Singlespeed - Working Bikes Gallery updates now appear here - http://cyclofiend.blogspot.com "Then I sat up, wiped the water out of my eyes, and looked at my bike, and just like that I knew it was dead" -- Robert McCammon, "Boy's Life" -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "RBW Owners Bunch" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. 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