jambon

Howdy

Quick question ,

I picked up a set of new Shimano cx50 cantis to replace a set of 80s exage cantis .

The cx50 came with a different straddle cable system where the length of the two cable parts connecting to the brake arms are of a fixed length and the height of the yolk seems to be fixed .

The older system has a yolk that can be adjusted in height independently of the straddle cable connecting the brake arms.

Is the cable that cane with the cx50 designed that way for optimum leverage on that particular brake ?

I'm running the cx50 with the old exage straddle cable system and it seems fine , . I can adjust the yolk height and position the yolk so that it pulls up on the centre point of the straddle cable .

Why does the new system seem like a step backwards?

Andrew R Stewart 

[QUOTE=jambon;20240142]Howdy

Quick question ,

I picked up a set of new Shimano cx50 cantis to replace a set of 80s exage cantis .

The cx50 came with a different straddle cable system where the length of the two cable parts connecting to the brake arms are of a fixed length and the height of the yolk seems to be fixed .

The older system has a yolk that can be adjusted in height independently of the straddle cable connecting the brake arms.

Is the cable that cane with the cx50 designed that way for optimum leverage on that particular brake ?

I'm running the cx50 with the old exage straddle cable system and it seems fine , . I can adjust the yolk height and position the yolk so that it pulls up on the centre point of the straddle cable .

Why does the new system seem like a step backwards?[/QUOTE]





Because you have gotten use to and can handle the various adjustments that separate and non specific parts can allow for. This is the opposite of much of what Shimano (and most all the rest of the OEM industry following close behind) has tried to do over the last 20+ years.


Shimano has found (or so they suggest) that a narrow window of adjustment capacity, if designed well, results in a higher average level of performance. They find that assembly goes faster with this designed in narrow window of best adjustment, and when selling to bike brands time is big money. There are two wins.


Of course we all know that the world isn't made to Shimano's spec book (the one that they provide bike makers telling the maker how to design their bikes to work best with Shimano). And when the specified specs drift too far from the Shimano standard stuff starts to work/adjust less well. This is when more adjustment range is nice. Andy

cpach

Yeah, adjustable straddles are, unsurprisingly, more adjustable, allowing you to fine tune the setup in helpful ways. Andrew Stewart is on the money as to why this change is in place--the stock straddle is harder to set up wrong.

jambon

I assume the new straddle was put with the cx50 on the basis that there would be an cable adjuster somewhere to adjust the brake . I don't have a cable adjuster on the brakes so I'd be stuck with one cable tension where as I can get around that with the adjustable exage yolk

dedhed

yoke

Ironfish653

@Andrew R Stewart hit it on the head; It's faster and easier to set up. Since most LBS-grade bikes moved from cantis to V-brakes ~20 years ago, cantis became the realm of low-end and 'big-box' bikes. Moving down-market means the bikes are being put together by assemblers rather than mechanics, so making a fixed-length straddle means it's easier to get 'right'

Fear not, however, you are not alone in your appreciation of a well set-up pair of cantiliever brakes here at BF:
Grail Straddle Cable Yokes!

fietsbob

the ones that split the main cable to 1 brake arm thru the center "button"and have a 2nd short piece to the other..
are a safety measure , for those who ignore the bike to the point the cable breaks and then locks up the front wheel..

that piece is shown above this brake,https://www.universalcycles.com/imag...dium/57466.jpg

Bike shop suppliers offer them, in several sizes
lengths of the cable and the housing portion the main cable passes through...