antokelly

can anyone recommend a good set of cantilever brakes,,and leavers,,.
im starting to build my new touring bike ,,looking for your help
what works for you guys,im useing drop handlebars,,
thanks..

Lolly Pop

Ant'ny, I had cantis and I changed them cause there are too many hills in Ireland! Or more precisely, too many downhills that end in T-junctions!

I switched to Alhonga Deep-drops (calipers), which I got from Spa Cycle in England. They are the business, no more stopping problems. They aren't dear and I am very pleased with them.

All of which to say. . . I can't help you with canti suggestions!

Have you got your frame?

antokelly

thanks lolly pop,yeah got the frame thorn sherpa,well pleased, looks like its
made for canti brakes,calipers wont fit,,
so ill just keep looking,
ive never used cantis ,cant be that bad ,can they ,

Lolly Pop

Normal calipers wouldn't fit mine either, that's how I discovered the "deep drop" ones.

That's a lovely frame you have. I am sure you'll find the perfect brakes. Have you searched the forum for ideas?

cyccommute 

Shimano, Crane Creek, Tektro, IRD Cafam, Paul's, etc all make good brakes. Here's a pretty good selection.

The one brake I'd stay away from is the Avid Shortys. They work just fine but the squeal like crazy.

Lolly Pop

See, I told you someone would come along and give you some great ideas!

Oh, wait, I didn't actually *post* that. . . I just thought it.

metal_cowboy

I ridden with Paul's brakes and they work great;a little on the expensive side, but really nice brakes. I have also heard good things about the new Shimano Cantileaver brakes. For levers, I use the Diacompe 287V's.

NoReg

I have pauls. I have the neos, but probably the touring brake is more practical, or you can go the Cyclocross route and have one of each. You can run vs on those studs also I expect.

A cheapo that is certainly good enough for anything is:

https://www.nashbar.com/profile.cfm?c...20ATB%20Brakes

Mchaz

I find it curious that you can get better braking with long reach calipers. Cantis by design are seemingly less prone to flexing. Maybe your canti's weren't set up very well before, or had lacking brake pads?

Anyway, I'm sporting Avid Shorty 4's and Tektro R200a's on my LHT. They do their job well, but the front one does squeak. The severity of the squeaking is dependent on humidity, temperature, and wetness. They are quiet when it's hot and dry.

NoReg

I think breaking merits some consideration. I am not sure anyone makes such a thing as a long reach caliper brake designed for heavy touring or tandem use. Calipers do stop fairly well within the universe of brakes that work with road levers. Long reach is mostly there to accomadate users with certain frames or fenders. It's not necesarily the caliper that breaks the bolt is not all that rugged.

Bekologist

I'm partial to the Shimano BR-R550 cantis. In a word, 'stout'.

martianone

The brakes listed above are probably all fine;
Avid Shortys are very nice too, but seem to squeak as noted.
Paul brakes, as indicated, are great also.
Great not just because they are well designed and very nicely made
but also because they come with Koolstop pads. The pads on Pauls
IMO, have as much to do with great stopping as the brake itself.
If you get one of the other mentioned brakes, throw the stock pads out
and get Koolstops. I like the salmon pad because of it's coverage in a
broad range of conditions, black is very nice if you live in a dry area or
only ride in nice weather, they seem to wear better than salmon.

NoReg

One of the funny things about the kool stops that came with the Pauls is that they are these long boats and given the narrow size of my fork you have to remove the brakes to take a wheel off. So far KS hasn't actually blown my socks off. I have an old tech brake on the rear which is a lot stronger stopping with it's old black pad than the Pauls are. I'm not saying it's better than KS, but overall it brakes better. The nice thing about the Pauls is that being machined they are pretty much bullet proof.

antokelly

thanks everyone,never heard of pauls brakes,they look the buisness..
i had avid shorty 6, at the top of my list ,there now at the bottom.
shimano 550 also looks good, the pauls could be a bit on the expensive side,(we will see)

thanks again

cyccommute 

Early mornings are the worst with the Avids. They are fun if you are on a group ride however Follow some one down a hill at high speed and stand on the brakes, they squeeeeeeeeaaaaaaalllllllll and the guy in front of you hits the ditch

antokelly

yes i can see how you would make of plenty new friends
with brakes like that,
but is the noise not down to the brake blocks,

NoReg

Most noise I have ever had can be tuned out by toening in the brakes. Cleaning rims etc... Isn't there a good essay on this over at Sheldons. However if it were that easy CC would have nailed it already. Some brakes do have a problem. Probably could be nailed by drilling the arm and inserting a limbsaver.

cyccommute 

With the Shortys you have to toe the pads very severely to avoid the squeal and then, when the pads wear down to flats, the brakes start up again. Doesn't take too long either. No issues with the stopping power, it's just the noise.

staehpj1

Tektro Oryx, but change the pads. Koolstop is what I would use.

ricohman

After touring the rocky mountains on 4 different bikes over the years I have never been out of brakes.
Even the stock canti's.
How much weight do you have to stop?
Is it the wet weather?

Lolly Pop

I am not sure what was wrong with my cantis. They use to work fine, started to work less well, I replaced the pads, they got better for a bit, and then just weren't stopping the bike.

Besides being very hilly, it's also wet and mucky here a lot, and they were crap in the wet. I was frustrated with them, having at one point had to put my feet down to stop the bike, and a guy in my club suggested trying the Alhongas. (I was going to buy some expensive pads and try them, but I opted for the new brakes since they were so cheap.)

He put them on for me and they have been perfect for a year and a half so far.

Bekologist

oh, if you're going to run cantis, go for brake levers that have a button cable release like the Cane Creek SCR-5 or the Tektro A200 (?). this allows you to drop and insert wider tired wheels without fumbling with the straddle cable.

I had been running Shimano brake levers with cantis on my last couple of builds, but running a brake lever with cable release is a big plus with cantilevers.

Lotum

Lolly Pop is right, long-reach dual-pivot sidepull brakes are the thing to go for. I have BR-R550 cantis on one touring bike, and BR-R600 calipers on another. Both bikes have BL-R600 levers and Mavic A719 rims. There is no comparison--the BR-R600's win hands down. While the BR-R600's (or equivalents) may not be compatible with every touring frame and fork out there, it is quite possible to build a frame and fork that will accommodate them, fenders/mudguards, and tires up to and including 700Cx32.

antokelly

thanks lotum,lollypops bike will obviously accept calipers mine wont.
made for cantis ,anyhow ive just emailed my son in america,
asked him to look for the paul cantis ,,that was recommended by ,cyccommute ,,a man of great knowledge and wisdom,.

bullwinkle

I run the Shimano center-pull cantis (with Campy levers) on my tourer. No braking problems at all.