Originally Posted by
Nomad2
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I have a steel bike which has a Reynolds 853 triangle and a carbon fork with an alloy steerer. It has cantilever brakes and I am now finding these harder to operate due to arthritis in my thumbs. ....
I do not know if you have fenders (mudguards) on your bike or how much clearance you have over the tires, but I have mini-V brakes on my folding bike and use regular road brake levers, not mountain bike brake levers. I have to be careful that I do not pull too hard on the brakes because they take very little pressure to stop.
I had cantilever brakes on that bike earlier, the mini-V brakes require a lot less brake lever pull to operate.
Also, converting to Koolstop Salmon pads for rim brakes often improves braking.
I do not recall which model brakes I used, but I am pretty sure they are Tektro and 85mm long.
https://www.gravelbike.com/v-brake-arm-lengths/
That table would tell you what is available if you can measure how much clearance you need for the brake cable where it goes across the tire or fender so you can get a long enough brake arm.
My bike is packed away in a bag in my truck, I can check the model of brakes I used if you are curious.
All my bikes have steel forks, I can't comment on Carbon.