Good Canti's, or go linear?

neil0502 wrote:

The shifters on my old MTB blew out last week. Replaced them, the bars,
and all cables. That all seems fine.

Pulled off my cantilever brakes, f&r, greased studs, then looked the
parts over. Pads have dry rot, hardware is rusted. Small parts add up
quickly. I'd like to replace.

My ?'s : Seems like there are some pretty good canti's on the market
right now, reasonably priced (e.g., Avids). There's also the option of
using a pulley gizmo (Sheldon Brown's article: http://tinyurl.com/37fcx)
and installing a direct-pull brake.

Are canti's dated technology, or a brake that's applicable only to
tourers and obsolete MTB's? I never had a problem setting them up, or
getting an appropriate degree of mechanical advantage. Are direct-pulls
just a better design, and worth any compromise that the 'Travel Agent'
gizmo might imply? Should the brake boss care which I put on?

V-brakes are lovely, although you'll have to get the right levers. A
full Deore set including cables is very cheap and works better than
anything else I've tried. The LX and higher V-brakes have parallel push
arms, which can squeal like a pig if the pivots get sloppy. So
personally I'd have the V-brakes :-)

I don't think V-Dapters are made any more, so Sheldon's (and my) canti
conversion is no longer an option, I believe. You could machine a piece
of aluminum to accept a Travel Agent. But it's clunky.

I recently switched out my V-Dapter canti converted uprights for a set
of Tektro mini-v's and with a travel agent they work perfectly, even
with STI road levers.

http://www.bestwebbuys.com/bikes/sea...=tektro+mini-v

- -

"May you have the wind at your back.
And a really low gear for the hills!"

Chris Zacho ~ "Your Friendly Neighborhood Wheelman"

Chris'Z Corner
http://www.geocities.com/czcorner

I don't think V-Dapters are made any more, so Sheldon's (and my) canti
conversion is no longer an option, I believe. You could machine a piece
of aluminum to accept a Travel Agent. But it's clunky.

I recently switched out my V-Dapter canti converted uprights for a set
of Tektro mini-v's and with a travel agent they work perfectly, even
with STI road levers.

http://www.bestwebbuys.com/bikes/sea...=tektro+mini-v

- -

"May you have the wind at your back.
And a really low gear for the hills!"

Chris Zacho ~ "Your Friendly Neighborhood Wheelman"

Chris'Z Corner
http://www.geocities.com/czcorner

"neil0502" wrote
and installing a direct-pull brake.

Are canti's dated technology, or a brake that's applicable only to
tourers and obsolete MTB's? I never had a problem setting them up, or
getting an appropriate degree of mechanical advantage. Are direct-pulls
just a better design, and worth any compromise that the 'Travel Agent'
gizmo might imply? Should the brake boss care which I put on?

I've switched a couple of bikes from canti to V, mostly because I got new
brifters with V levers and didn't want to screw around with a mechanical
advantage adjuster. I don't think it made any difference. Both types of brakes
seem to work identically.

"neil0502" wrote
and installing a direct-pull brake.

Are canti's dated technology, or a brake that's applicable only to
tourers and obsolete MTB's? I never had a problem setting them up, or
getting an appropriate degree of mechanical advantage. Are direct-pulls
just a better design, and worth any compromise that the 'Travel Agent'
gizmo might imply? Should the brake boss care which I put on?

I've switched a couple of bikes from canti to V, mostly because I got new
brifters with V levers and didn't want to screw around with a mechanical
advantage adjuster. I don't think it made any difference. Both types of brakes
seem to work identically.