Just returned from a tour using a rental bike with V-brakes, and now giving serious consideration to that option. Day One I almost pitched over the h'bars when a pedestrian stepped into a crosswalk as I was mid-instersection. Note this was a totally unfamiliar bike and different riding position, etc. Paying a bit more attention to what I was doing, it took a couple of days to adapt to the braking power. An interersting observation is that the rear brake actually was quite useful for stopping, not just as a drag brake on downhills. Now that I've had a couple of weeks use of V-brakes, they may be coming to my Atlantis before long.
My Atlantis came with a low profile Shimano canti that always felt inadequate, especially given that the bike is meant for loaded touring. After the BQ brake issue, I changed to the CR-720s. They are not difficult to set-up BUT all the hoopla about straddle wire height was lost on me. I could not tell much, if any, difference regardless of wire length. They are better than the stock brakes; much better modulation but do require plenty of gription for a hot stop. My wife's Atlantis came with some really super crummy low profile Shimano cantis that were scary even with no load. I swapped out her front for an old high profilce canti off a 20 year old MTB (new pads). Huge difference. Picked up a pair of the Shimano V-brakes plus Travel Agents when Riv had the sale but so far have only installed the rear. The Travel Agent is a PITA and probably 3/4 of the installation time is dealing with it. If she'll warm up to the idea of the Tektro levers that pull V-brake cable I'll go that route to stay away from the Travel Agents. One of my touring buds recently changed the front brake on her Surly LHT from the stock low profile canti to V-brake. She has flat bars and MTB levers that are meant for V-brakes (maybe part of the issue with the cantis?) so it was a simple upgrade. Her description is "it's like power brakes on a car." Side thought on modulation: V-brakes were designed around MTBing, right? It would seem riding on dirt would require an easily modulated brake. My guess is those of us used to cantis, sidepulls, etc., are used to using a lot of force when braking. dougP On May 10, 8:42 am, newenglandbike <[email protected]> wrote: > The topic of v-brakes vs. cantis has been rehashed again and again- it's > well-trodden territory here and elsewhere on the net and of most folks are > probably not going to change their once they've settled on one or the > other. But, among cantimount brakes, the CR720s are among the best > I've ever tried, easy to set up and quite capable of sending you over the > bars if that's what you're after. They're relatively inexpensive too. > > Matt > > On Thursday, May 10, 2012 9:40:41 AM UTC-4, Jim Thill - Hiawatha Cyclery > wrote: > > > > > > > The CR720 is now standard issue on Cross-Checks and LHTs, which are the > > two models we sell most at my shop. I've come to dislike cantilevers in > > general, but I don't understand the appeal of this model in particular. I > > doubt I'm making any setup mistakes, as I've been setting them up and > > riding them for years, and I dislike them equally on bikes set up by > > others. I find them fiddly and underpowered. Here's why, maybe. > > > I guess one person's grabby, unmodulated brake is another's significant > > technological improvement in braking. When I switched over from Paul cantis > > to my current cheapish Tektro v-brakes on my touring bike, on the first > > ride, I had to make a semi-emergency stop when a car pulled out in front of > > me too close for comfort. I pulled the brakes with all my ingrained > > cantilever king-fu grip, and was startled by how fast I stopped. So I can > > see how a person who's accustomed to cantis and, perhaps, read enough Jan > > Heine and other conventional wisdom that says v-brakes aren't adequately > > modulated, would come to the conclusion that v-brakes aren't adequately > > modulated based on such an experience. But if you stick it out with > > v-brakes and make a few good stops, your hand recalibrates, and modulation > > is just fine, ultimate "oh sh!+!" stopping power is greatly improved, and > > cantis start to feel like something from the rod-brake era. Plus v-brakes > > are cheap and easy to set up - the number of forum posts here pertaining to > > v-brake setup issues here is nil, while canti setup discussions are a near > > weekly occurrence. > > > IME, some men and all but the burliest women are unsatisfied with the > > braking power of a new, say, Surly LHT with stock cantilever brakes. Now > > that Tektro makes long pull aero levers, and v-brakes are excellent > > even/especially at the cheap level, it's a $60 upcharge to go to v-brakes > > on these bikes. We do the swap more often than not...which means that I > > have a bunch of cr720 brakes to sell at swap meets someday!- Hide quoted > > text - > > - Show quoted text - -- 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]. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected]. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/rbw-owners-bunch?hl=en.
