worldtraveller

Is it still possible to get old Cantilever Brakes.

Really all i need is the triangle part as i do have some old Cantilever Brakes

for an old mt bike i have , as the v brakes are not working too well. since bike was originally just Cantilever Brakes

on a quad 21 forck

Juha

Yes. Pretty much any shop that sells bike parts has them.

Why didn't the V-brakes work? Did you change the brake levers at handlebars to V-brake too (v-brakes need more cable pull, so standard cantilevers will not do)?

--J

TurbineBlade

Yeah ^^ +1. I'd go further in saying that there really isn't any good reason to use cantilevers vs. linear pull (v-brake) -- they're inferior in almost all braking aspects, including design problems with varying mechanical advantage through the arm arc that v-brakes don't have. They're also harder to set-up, require more mounting parts on the frame, and even with good pads have lower power than a cheap v-brake with crappy pads.

STI use is the only reason they continue to exist that I can see.

jimc101

Nothing wrong with Canti's if you can set them up well, what didn't help canit's was the way Shimano wanted you to set them up with the fixed length cables, and outers, if you know what you are doing with them, and can get a yoke part like the Avid tri-dangle or Onza Chill Pill, they should work better than with the Shimano parts.

That said, would always go for V-brakes over canti's if I had the option.

Monster Pete

I use cantilever brakes on my commuter, and find them to work just as well as v-brakes when set up properly. I'd use a proper straddle cable rather than the fixed length yoke. That allows for easier adjustability to get the mechanical advantage right. You should be able to get small parts from a good LBS.

cyccommute 

Wrong.

Correct. Cantilever brakes get a bad rap because they are a bit more difficult to set up. I have 8 bikes: 3 with cantilever, 2 with linear brakes, 1 with disc front and linear rear, one road bike and one hydraulic disc. All stop just fine with similar characteristics - except the hydraulic which are just awful. But all of my cantilever brakes use tradition straddle cables.

Do a google search for "cantilever cable yoke", worldtraveler. You'll find tons of them. My favorite - and favorite cantilever brake - is the Moon Unit from Paul Components. Expensive but they work so well.

JiveTurkey

If V-brakes would work, too, why would I choose cantilevers that are more difficult to set up just so that I can have equal--but not better--stopping power than V-brakes, assuming I set them up correctly? The additional requirement to set them up correctly just to have equal performance is a disadvantage in my mind. V-brakes take the guess-work out of it.

dabac

In canti's I've only ever used the ones where there's a single bolt/nut that does it all - brake pad distance, angle, rotation. And I must say I find that a seriously sucky design.
Still, once past that hurdle I have no quarrel with their actual braking.

cyccommute 

Because cantilever brakes work directly with road levers. If you use STI, like I do on two of my bikes, the cantilevers are easier to use than v-brakes.

Setting them up correctly isn't all that hard either.

JiveTurkey

That's why I began my sentence with "If V-brakes would work, too...." I agree with TurbineBlade that the integrated road shifters/brake levers are the only thing keeping cantis mechanically relevant. If I had a bike with STIs and canti posts, then sure I'd use cantis, but only in that situation.

fuzz2050

Not to mention that cantilever brakes usually have better clearance for racks and fenders, better mud clearance, have a lot more flexibility in their set-up, and look better to boot.

fietsbob

Actual cyclo-cross racing, popularity has made a lot of really nice
cantilever brakes come to market.

Spooky .. and Empella, so TRP had something to copy..

Traditional profile sits well off the rim, so the wheel won't lock up
after encountering the 1st Mud Bog.

LesterOfPuppets

I tend to like the modulation of many canti's better than any Vees I've had. Even my not-so-fancy STX cantis have a real nice feel to 'em.

Them Vees sure are easier to put together, though.

And as already said, worldtraveller, V-brakes with canti levers can make for some pretty poor braking, so either get some V-brake levers or revert to cantis.

reptilezs

tell me with a straight face that these are user friendly and easy to adjust https://cyclocrossworld.stores.yahoo....4zacicybr.html

fietsbob

I Have a 30 year old set of Mafac cantilevers ,and a 20 YO Modolo cross set
Not drastically different
Toe is is bending the Post in the shoe..
Though I'm looking at some adjust in Place brake pads/and holders , recently..
bolt runs thru the Post.
Low priority I ride other Bikes More
Magura HS33 or Avid disc BB7 on my RohloffHub Bikes.

You need to have the frame bosses in the right spacing and height.
Pro Cyclocross race frames tend to have wide fork spacing ,
for those brakes , Now..

I built the frame I installed the Mafacs on ,
the adjustment was done in brazing before the paint went on.

They are rather Narrow on the fork.. , on road touring crown steel ones .

The AlAn Cross Super had them much wider apart, front was like the rear..



Libras balance .. cantilevers, better.. perhaps .. with 30+ years of practice..

MikeWinVA

No one has mentioned using a set of travel agents from QBP to change the leverage ratio so you can use V-brakes with STI's.




Personally I like the feel of properly setup canti's over v-brakes and calipers. I find V-brakes and Calipers a bit mushier, but the V-brakes do seem to have the greatest stopping power.

xenologer

Who said "-but not better-" stopping power? Set them up right and they can be made stronger than v-brakes.

also, that the mechanical advantage of cantilevers is dependant on setup method is not a liability if you want the ability to choose how strong they are


primary disadvantage of cantilevers; highly sensitive to brake pad gap as the pads wear down
-better ones have a barral adjuster on the (horizontal)straddle wire to eliminate this issue.

cyccommute 

That's one of the reasons I converted the third bike to cantilevers from v-brakes. I just couldn't get a 60 mm fender under the v-brakes.

gyozadude

If I recall, another reason for V-brakes appearing and Cantilevers disappearing - was lawyers. The yoke on the main cable might slip off, get caught in the knobby tires, and the bike would come to an abrupt halt. Not sure if that's worse than a linear pull with noodle that has slipped out and now you have zero braking. Got the notice from some suppliers in the late 1980's telling all shops to use the brake bolt holes on fork and rear stay-bridge to put in reflector brackets that would effectively catch the yoke cable and stop it from falling onto the tires. My manager showed me the letter. That hasn't stopped me from riding the same sets of Deore and Deore XT canti's for 25 years - without a brake-bolt mount reflector bracket.

TurbineBlade

This guy is a huge cantilever fan and I've run across this article a few times: https://www.rodbikes.com/articles/brakes.html

It's quite outdated and IMO attributes problems to v-brakes that I've mostly just had with cantilever brakes. (yeah, I get that they're both technically a cantilever brake before some smart ass points that out).

He fails to mention the ready availability of v-brake road levers, the fact that using a headset mount for the front cable on cantilevers often causes a "shutter", and he says that v-brake pads don't last long -- but doesn't mention that it's pretty easy to just put cantilever pads on a v-brake provided you have fork clearance.

Nothing he writes is a convincing arguement to use cantilevers over v-brakes.

One of the biggests things I've noticed, is that even with the world's crappiest brake pads -- not even set up to align all that well, a cheap no-name v-brake with still provide excellent power. A cantilever will (IME) not tolerate anything even close to this imperfection in set-up -- and even when set up well (low yoke, pads extended toward rim to get 90 degree angle) have only "decent" stopping power. And they usually squeal if they're low profile brakes.

They have STI and retrostyle to thank -- otherwise they're pointless. I don't like how they look enough to use them over v-brakes .

Monster Pete

That's what I found too. My commuter had v-brakes originally, which wouldn't fit over the fenders I bought. I switched to some cantis from my parts box and the problem was solved.

TurbineBlade

That's another possibility too. Oddly enough, my Surly has fenders and front and rear rack (jandd) which all clear v-brakes, and I don't use STI.

Asbolutely no reason to use cantilever brakes for me . Tektro RL520 work great.