corkscrew

I'm in the process of upgrading my T700 to v-brakes, and while shopping a thought occurred to me. "I wonder if brake boosters would give a bit extra oomph".

Anyone else tried them on their touring rigs? If so, what are your impressions or suggestions?

gregw

OK what are brake boosters? Never heard of them, got a link?

I upgraded my T2000 to V-brakes, best modification I've made, v-brakes are MUCH better.

TurbineBlade

I've never seen boosters run on v-brakes, but I've seen them run on cantilevers several times (I know v-brakes are a type of cantilever, but we're talking common speech here).

I've heard from the folks who use them that they give a little more power....dunno really. Properly adjusted cantilevers are just fine -- you just have to lower the yoke as much as is practical and extend the brake pads inward toward the rims further when the brakes are at rest. 2 best tips I ever got for getting power.

I went to v-brakes too. I liked my cantilevers just fine, but v-brakes are so much easier to deal with.

Garthr

https://www.bikepro.com/products/brakes/brake_boost.html

They've been around since the 80's. They are for cantilevers.

staehpj1

I used to use them back in the 80's on my MTB. They help if the frame is flexing in the area of the brake bosses, otherwise they don't do much other than add weight.

FWIW, properly adjusted cantis without booster plates work fine in my experience and I never have had any desire to go to either booster plates or V-brakes on my touring bike.

corkscrew

My canti's stop me just fine (Now that I got rid of the cone-wrench adjusted dia-compes, UGH). Threw an older set of shimano ones on.

However I got an awesome deal on Tektro V-brake drop levers when a LBS went out of business. I just prefer V-brakes for the ease of adjustment, so I'm going to swap them out again.

Thanks all, just thought that with the loads we carry a booster might not be a bad idea, but live and learn.

plodderslusk

I put some old XT lowprofile cantis on my CX bike. Put a booster on and I think it helps a bit on the braking power.

Bacciagalupe

I concur that with v-brakes, a booster is unlikely to provide a significant amount of assistance.

I also happen to think that properly adjusted cantis, with the right type of brake shoes, should be more than sufficient unless you're hauling a ginormous amount of gear. V-brakes will feel snappier, but that does not necessarily mean they're really functioning better, especially in wet conditions....

safariofthemind

My sentiment too. Has the original poster already exhausted the low-hanging fruit, like using Salmon brake pads? Couldn't tell from the post.
https://www.sheldonbrown.com/harris/brakeshoes.html

gregw

If, in your upgrade you were going to be changing brake levers anyway, then definitely go with V-brakes. But if you are just trying to improve your existing braking ability, then shorten the cable yoke and get better pads.

Canti's don't brake as well as linear pull brakes for two reasons; 1. the lever arm on canti's is shorter than linear pull brakes, 2 as you pull in the cable on canti's the leverage decreases, while linear pull brakes remains constant. In addition, you can easily adjust each side of linear pull brakes, a bonus on top of better braking.

Garthr

Stopping power really depends on the type of canti used, and the type of canti used is influenced by the distance between the mounts. I've used low profile and high profile, and I prefer the higher profile because of their huge amount of adjustability and stopping power. LP canti's have a very narrow window of effectiveness, in my experience. You have to have the right mount width, as tire and fender(if used) clearance can limit their angles and therefore their effectiveness.

Then of course pads can make a bid difference.

I've never used v-brakes myself mostly because I can't use any brake lever with them like I can with canti's. I use Tektro RX 4.1bar end brake levers w/Nitto Albatross bars on my bikes.

fuzz2050

the test for a brake booster: Take your hand, and wrap it around the frame (or fork) at the cantilever studs. Then give the brake lever a squeeze. If you can feel the bosses flex, a brake booster can help.


I have a brake booster on a frame, but it's a pair of the super wide profile cantilever brakes paired with the old Magura motorcycle levers. The amount of leverage you can get with those levers is a little frightening.

NoReg

I assume you are right in general since the linear pulls have displaced cantis on Vs...

"Canti's don't brake as well as linear pull brakes for two reasons; 1. the lever arm on canti's is shorter than linear pull brakes,"

This is true at the brake caliper. At the lever, the opposite is true, the linear lever pulls more cable for the same lever travel. Doesn't seem to mater with straight bar gear, but it does affect the overall performance on drops. Probably linears are still stronger, but they are awkward. Or one can use the travel agent kluge.


" 2 as you pull in the cable on canti's the leverage decreases, while linear pull brakes remains constant. "

If the canti is properly set up, the leverage increases it all has to do with the optimized cable angle. In practice, people may set them so it gets less, and even clued in people may set them so it gets worse under actual loads vs set-up configuration.

"In addition, you can easily adjust each side of linear pull brakes, a bonus on top of better braking. "

What does that mean? One thing people do say is that there is a difference in forgiveness if you get rim problems, that the cantis can deal with that better. Which is mosty a wheel, issu, but anyway,

On another topic, how does that carbon booster play with racks?

Nigeyy

To put my .02 cents in....

1. I have used a brake booster -but not for increasing the braking power. I had a squealing problem, and after trying several different pads, cleaning the rims, etc I found the booster seemed to change the harmonics enough to solve the problem. However, I would actually think they could be effective on a flexier frame.

2. I don't know about about the theory so much, but I will say I've had perfectly satisfactory results with both v-brakes and cantis (with the caveat both are reasonable quality, well setup and have good levers and pads). In fact, I much prefer the feel of cantis over the digital feeling of v-brakes.

My own theory on v-brakes replacing cantis is due to a simpler design (less parts if you consider the hanger) and hence probably cheaper to manufacture. They also give the impression of being more powerful (though power and modulation is my preference!). All that coupled with easier installation -though in all fairness the new cantis with v-brake type pads are much much easier to adjust compared to the old style.

well biked 

The Shimano brake booster in the photo a few posts above was a product Shimano highly recommended for use with their v-brakes when paired with their v-brake servo-wave brake levers. The servo-wave levers, which were also used during the canti era, have a little roller bearing at the pivot point on the lever that had the affect of varying the amount of leverage at the lever depending on how far you pulled the lever towards the handlebars. The further you pulled the lever, the more the little roller bearing assembly moved, and the higher the leverage at the lever. They are great levers, but they would typically pull so hard on the brakes that the seatstays would flex A LOT. If you've ever used these levers, you probably know what I mean.

Brake boosters are not canti or v-brake specific, both types of brakes can benefit from them. They are needed if there is a lot of frame or fork flex during braking, simple as that. Brakes that use the servo wave levers I describe above, for example, can cause so much flexing that you get what's known as brake fade; you reach a point with the lever pull that the braking power decreases instead of increases, or at least it feels that way. With brake boosters, the frame and/or fork is stiffened up at the brake bosses to the point that brake performance is rock solid and you can take full advantage of the extra leverage at the lever when using such devices as servo-wave levers.