Lorenzo

Hi,

I've a 1993 Kuwahara that I'm bringing back to life. I know cantis are no longer the ultimate bit that's what's on there now and I'm trying to retain some level of consistency.

What's the thinking on those still available - any standouts or dogs.

L

Jeff Neese

All of my bikes except the road bike have cantilevers, by choice. In general, they have the best combination of stopping power and modulation. A lot of people refer to V-brakes as an "upgrade" but that's just because they're just more grabby. The only knock on cantis is that they can be a bit tricky to set up. V-brakes were just invented so that stockboys at Walmart or Dick's Sporting Goods can get them working.

There are a lot of good choices for cantis, depending on how much you want to spend. You have everything from inexpensive Tektro to really sweet Grand Cru Zeste or Paul Components, and many in between. I've got a few bikes with Avid Shortys which work very well and are easy to set up, but a couple of my bikes have the original Shimano brakes which also work just fine. Koolstop or Velo Orange brake pads make all the difference too.

What's wrong with the brakes that are on the bike now? What are they?

cyccommute 

I would suggest Paul’s in either Classic or Touring. A little expensive but they are easy to set up and work very well. I have them on a single touring bike and they have been through many loaded tours including some pretty hair raising downhills. Koolstop pads are also a good choice but I like the dual compound ones over the salmon ones.

Steve B.

"The only knock on cantis is that they can be a bit tricky to set up'

HUGE understatement. PITA and time consuming to set up. When you get it right, they work great.

Not always a choice for more modern frames that were designed for V brakes as the canti brake cable and housing is designed to feed to the cable straddle directly in line with the center of the bike, some bikes designed for V brakes don't easily allow a cable feed that way as they often have direct housing feed to the top of the V brake cable stop. There are work arounds including a cable stop that installs on the headset and one that can install onto a seatpost binder bolt, good luck finding those parts though.

Lorenzo

The existing cantis work fine, however they're pretty beat up looking, and as the bike is being repainted I'd like to go with something a bit more pleasing to the eye;-)

cyccommute 

You’ve greatly overstated the difficulty of cantilever set up. They really aren’t that hard…Paul’s are easier than most.

Finding a cable stop, assuming the bike doesn’t have them isn’t that hard either. Paul makes the Funky Monkey which works with threadless headsets but could also work with threaded. Tektro and Origin8 make a fork mount brake cable hanger that works very well and can be a solution for brake jutter. There are any number of seat post brake hangers if the bike doesn’t have a frame mounted version. The Surly Brake Hanger is one of my favorites. Examples of the various ones use below

Tektro fork mount

Surly seat clamp mount



Funky Monkey

79pmooney

I'll second Cyccommute. Hangers aren't hard to find. Any bike coop should have plenty to choose from and every time I've done a web search I've seen a few. Headset hung hangers can lead to shudder. My Mooney has a little but it has also ridden me down some impressive descents just fine and I have never addressed it. I've looked into the fork crown hangers but I've gone to using long straddle cables that require a higher housing stop so I'd have to make my own. (Another back burner project.)

jccaclimber

If it were me I'd replace the pads (Kool stop, salmon or mixed), and then ride it around on the current cantis. A little Scotch-Brite goes a long way to making them look nice if needed. If you're content with the setup other than appearance, get whichever new model you like. If it turns out you really don't like how they feel or just don't like setting them up, maybe cantis aren't your thing.

Lorenzo

Thanks all - good guidance.

L

ACH57

Another plug for Paul components cantis. They are so much easier to set up than 80's Shimano cantis.

bwebel

I've phased out all the cantis and V-brakes frames that I previously had, but am left with various spares like pads, cable hangers both front and rear, straddle carriers and cables, brake boosters (Davinci and Magura). Would be happy to throw any of these into an envelope if anybody could use them rather than just throwing them away. Send me a direct message to arrange shipping.

Leisesturm

https://tenor.com/view/chris-jericho...w-gif-16784838

Russ Roth

The nicer tektro will stop just fine, look good and save money. V-brakes are only better with v-brake levers. I've even used the shorter length with current road levers that are meant to work with them and the feel is lousy. Even the bike that came with Vs sucked. Decent modern cantis are easy to set up and stop well on a cross or touring bike.

Lorenzo

Paul Neo-Retros ordered. Thanks for all the guidance and offers of help!

L

born2pdl

A little late but for future readers Tektro Mini-V brakes perform great with road levers. Other requirements: true rims, Koolstop pads, barrel adjuster in the brake cable housing for wheel removal. Been running these trouble free for ~15k miles.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/15490597253...MAAOSwbyFiNRqr