unlamo14

Hi there!

I have a Soma Saga that I built from the ground up and used a set of Tektro Oryx cantilever brakes for the front. I used to be a bike mechanic and I know my way around a brake adjustment...so I am a little stumped here. I have removed the brakes, inspected everything, tried multiple adjustments, nothing.

I have never been able to get both brake pads toed in and NOT rubbing the tire. These cantis don't seem to go low enough with the vertical adjustment, so even though the pad is as long as it can go on the caliper, it's still not low enough to be seated on the rim. A small part of it always rubs (or is a little too close to comfort) to the tire.

I have considered replacing the brake altogether. In retrospect, I probably should have spent more than $15 on my front brake, but I wanted to check in with the forum to see if you had any other ideas, or suggestions on which brakes to replace them with.

Other details: Cane creek brake levers (being replaced by Genevalle GX shifters)
Wheel: 700c velocity dyad built on a Deore XT hub
Bike: 56 CM Soma Saga

DHPflaumer

I had a set of these and absolutely hated them. I had no end of trouble trying to get the right adjustment and finally threw in the towel. Incidentally, they were going on a Soma Grand Randonneur. I wonder if Soma just places their posts a touch too high for the Oryx cantis to work right? No idea, but I switched to Tektro 720s and had plenty of room for more adjustment than I needed. I liked them so much that I put a second set on my fancy bike when I got it.

unlamo14

I am so glad someone else can relate. I was getting a little worried I was missing something extremely obvious.

Do you think the Avid shorty ultimates are worth the bump up? They are almost 4x the price of the tektros....but I only need one right now and would rather not replace them down the road.

DHPflaumer

Eh? I guess it depends on what worth it means to you. I've been riding these Tektros for several years now and ever had a problem. I also find them pretty easy to adjust, which is nice. My only real complaint is that the pads they come with are kind of crap but my solution to that has been to ride them until they're dead then replace them with better ones. I also replaced the (very nice) straddle hanger with the cool rolly ones from Velo Orange but that has more to do with my preference for weird finicky stuff than any actual shortcoming.

When I built my Norther up I actually thought long and hard about getting some nicer brakes for it (vs the 720s that I have on my Soma) and ultimately decided I wouldn't mess with a good thing and would save the money for other stuff (hellooooo brass fenders!).

dsbrantjr

I have '720s on two of my bikes and am very satisfied with them. Instead of link wires I use straddle cables and Problem Solvers Wide Cable Carriers; extra points for using fork crown mount cable hanger up front to avoid brake shudder. I agree with DHPflaumer that the OEM pads are somewhat lacking and use Kool Stop Salmon pads instead.
If you use straddle cables you need something to catch the wire and keep it from fouling the tire and locking up if the main cable comes loose or breaks; existing reflector brackets, fenders or even a loop of string will suffice.