Maybe a bit late into the discussion. I don’t know if someone else has spotted it already, but the angle of the cables for those cantilevers doesn’t look right to me. The straddle line (or whatever it is called) looks way too long. It apoears to me, that when you pull the lever, plastic or not, you pull the cantilevers more upwards than to the center.
i’d start there. Then go for better pads, then perhaps new aluminium levers. Just make sure you get levers for canti brakes, not V-brakes.
cantilever brakes are pretty good when set up properly. (And they look a lot better than any v-brake I have ever seen) I’ve got Old Shimano XTR m900’s on my Parkpre Pro Image, and while I haven’t done much downhill with it, the bike stops when I want it to. And the pads are original from 199x... (they have not seen a lot of miles, no)
Last edited by Berko; 07-08-21 at 03:54 PM.