bicycale

Hi all.

The rookie is here again with another rookie question.

I'm doing cables & housings on a few 90's era bikes (all canti brakes) and some have the unified straddle wire (like a tektro z-link wire & shimano made them also) and others use the straddle-wire & cable carrier/hanger method.

Are there any technical, performance or durability advantages to one over the other?

It seems to this new guy like they just use different methods to do the exact same thing.

I will say the z-link wire method seems a lot simpler (way fewer parts) and appears to be easier to install and set up as well.

I'm wracking my brain but that's all I can come up with.

Any thoughts?

fietsbob

Z link was a safety improvement.. before , if front cable broke ,
2 brake springs and cross over cable

put the brakes on , 'clotheslining ' as cable dropped between tire lugs..

Z link failed open.. as cable attached to 1 side..

Of course replacing cables before they broke was always better..








...

BobFishell

If you can find a pair of these https://www.parktool.com/blog/repair...and-adjustment, you can dispense with cantilevers altogether and use direct pulls. I put a pair of them on my wife's mountain bike many years ago, but it's been a while since I've seen them for sale.

bicycale

Thanks Bob.

I guess that's a legitimate improvement if you plan to wear your cables till they fail. Ouch...

But that's it, then? No other material difference?

If that's the case I think I like the Z-link design.

fietsbob

you want technical google it, this place is more opinions..

Not so much "if you plan to wear your cables till they fail."
more you can be bothered to check , at all..




I have 3 bikes with various cantilever brakes and 1 with 'v' brakes.
and,
Drum,Disc, Single and double pivot + 1 with hydraulic rim brakes..





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79pmooney

Those Z-links were a curse at the coop I used to volunteer at. A pain to set up and they completely defeat the ability to fine tune braking performance by changing the length of the straddle cable. Learned just now they are there for safety reasons. With very little attention, I have been running straddle cables cantilevers for 40 years on one bike with zero issues. Unless yhou are planning to ride the heck out of this bike and ignore maintenance, get a standard straddle cable. Leave it long and play with the length for a few rides and get a feel for how straddle length changes power and feel.

Properly set up cantilevers are a joy.

Ben

dsbrantjr

+100 Get rid of those link wires, get some Problem Solvers Wide Cable Carriers
https://problemsolversbike.com/produ...arrier_-_16460 and some Kool Stop Salmon brake pads and enjoy superior braking.
Just make sure you have something to catch the straddle cable and keep it away from the tire if the main cable breaks, as Bob mentions. A reflector bracket or a loop of twine will suffice

bicycale

well I was totally unaware of the adjustability of canti's with carriers as opposed to the z links but now that you mention it it certainly make sense. Longer and shorter cables certainly will change the leverage.

Only thing is I was all excited about the cheap price of the z links, but now you've gone and blown my budget!!

But seriously, thanks for the info.

hokiefyd 

Yes, a shorter straddle cable is generally helpful for mechanical advantage. You can get shorter Z-links to get a similar result. Within reason, you can size down those links so that the effective straddle cable is shorter, and it can make a real difference. I like that there's just ONE cable connection with those -- an extra cable connection is another one that can potentially fail. It's also good that the Z-links fail open as someone mentioned earlier, rather than potentially putting you over the bar if you don't have a reflector mount.

I have a '90s steel Trek hybrid with cantilever brakes and, with good pads and Z-links one size shorter than stock, it's a real stopper.

You can also convert to linear pull brakes as noted above, but you don't necessarily need a travel agent. Get some short linear pull brakes (like Tektro Mini-Vs or Tektro BX-1s) and run those with your cantilever brake levers. That bike will STOP (I've run this combo, too). Or, if your brake levers are separate levers without integrated shifter pods, you can swap to linear pull brake levers pretty inexpensively, and then buy conventional linear pull brakes. You ought to be buying new brake pads anyway (for your cantilevers), and it wouldn't be too much more money to just swap to linear pulls at the same time.

fietsbob

sheldon on brakes https://www.sheldonbrown.com/brakes.html

https://www.sheldonbrown.com/cantilever-geometry.html

nfmisso

Or these: https://www.amazon.com/Tektro-Alloy-.../dp/B001CK0F0W

I have two commuter bikes, one with V-brakes, one with Canti's - they stop equally well. My commuters have fenders, which will prevent the straddle assembly contacting the tires, so no thought given to that. And I keep my bikes well maintained.

Totally agree with Kool Stop Salmon pads.

JohnDThompson 

Another good reason to use mudguards.

bicycale

I found this last night after doing some googling.

Great suggestion all the same.

This was a very deep dive on the canti system

Thanks!!