Steve B.

I've a vintage '91 Fuji steel HT I want to re-purpose as a gravel/dirt road bike, swapping to a drop bar.

I've a set of 9 spd. Centaur shifters (and rear derailer) I know will shift a triple as well as a Shimano cassette.

Question is re-install the Travel Agents and use the Avid V brakes ? or use a set of XT Canti's I have.

Any thoughts on which brake system would work best with these shifters.

Thx in advance

fietsbob

Door # 3 a short arm mini V brake, will have a reduced cable pull demand..

its the rather short cable pull if the brake part of the brifter that you need to work around..

so probably the cantilever brakes are more adaptable of the 2..

nfmisso

I would go with cantis; but I am very comfortable setting them up. Linear pull (V or mini V) are a lot faster to set up. Braking power - no difference with the same pads.

On one of my commuting bikes I have XT Cantis, the other has a Shimano V on the front, and a generic V on the back.

Steve B.

Andrew R Stewart 

For this combo, Ergo levers with either Vs or cantis it is a question of V against canti.

Look at cable pull needs for the answer. Campy drop levers pull an amount of cable that is less then most V's need for no rub yet full power function. You could go to mini V's, although my experience with quite a few similar set ups is that mushy brake lever feel, minimal pad/rim gaps and still bottoming out against the bars lever travel is typical for this combo. You could add a Travel Agent to the cable path to increase the effective cable pull amount to one that V's like. Many hundreds of tandems have this set up and work pretty well. My choice is to use cantis and establish a good straddle cable/arm angle for best leverages. Andy

Steve B.

Thanks Andrew.

My question certainly deals with V vs.Canti but really it's which brake set works best with Campy Ergo, I didn't want to start a war of V's are better than Canti's, etc...

I know V's are an issue with cable pull, but I couldn't recall if Ergo would work with canti's at all, but think they will if, as you said, I pay attention to straddle cable angle.

I think steeper is better ?, have to go check the Sheldon site. Been a while since I set up a set of canti's.

Dave Mayer

I'm running Campy Chorus 10 on a Lemond 'cross bike. Sure you can use canti's, and I have. But V-brakes are superior in every respect.

But you need V-brakes that match the (short) cable pull of the Ergopower levers. V-brakes come in a range of arm lengths. I've seen them ranging from 80mm (Tektro Mini-V's) to 105mm (Shimano XTR). The brakes on the shorter end of the range are appropriate for the shorter travel of the Campy levers. TRP 8.4 brakes are perfection. They are stiff, and very powerful.

I've used the longer arm TRP 9's, and they provide even greater braking, but with increased sensitivity and chance of the levers bottoming out.

Steve B.

Thanks for the info. I agree that V's tend to be really good, I use them on the Fuji currently, as well as some cheap Shimano things on the Miyata tourer.

This is kind of a cheap conversion. I have assorted drop bars. I have the Centaur levers and R derailer and the bike is 9 spd. I have assorted brakes, the bike has nice Avid V's that I could re-purpose on my tourer (which has Diacompe 287 levers) and as stated I have a set of nice vintage XT canti's. I need to replace the fork, currently a Rock Shock Judy to a rigid fork, and need to get some semi-cross 26" tires, cables, etc.... so going to a set of the TRP's kind of shoots the budget.

My goal is to get a lighter gravel/dirt road bike than what my tourer does as it's easily 26-27 lbs of bike. I know the Fuji (Prestige tubing) was like 22 lbs when I got in '91. Thus the desire to dump the RS fork. Anyone need a Judy ?, vintage ?, 1:" threaded steerer ?

Should be an interesting build.