Ironfish653

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Can't you just flip it back down? Is that not allowed?

Or does that qr coming undone cause a violent disassembly of the entire front end of the bike, possibly wounding bystanders with flying shrapnel and throwing the rider under the wheels of the nearest transit bus or gasoline tanker?

bulgie 

Yes it's conceivable, but in all the 60+ years those have been in use (Universal 61 being possibly the first), I have never heard of it happening. (OK I'll admit I could have heard about it and then forgot, but that also seems somewhat unlikely, it's the kind of thing I would remember.)

Plus, I trust that I would feel it if it happened, and click it back. The scenario where I knocked it open without noticing is just too vanishingly unlikely to bother worrying about, for me. Maybe I'd worry about it for a child, or an adult who's just very much not mechanically inclined. NTTAWWT! Some of those un-mechanical people have skills I can only dream of!

A co-worker at the bikeshop once accepted a ride home from the bar after being over-served. To put the bike in the car, the kindly designated driver (another bikeshop dude) disconnected the canti brake straddle cables and took the wheels out, then put the wheels back in at the drunk guy's house but didn't hook the brakes back up. Next morning, my hung-over friend jumped on his bike for his commute to work, which starts with a long downhill. It wasn't until it was time to brake that he noticed he didn't have any. He crashed through a hedge, with some tearing of flesh and significant damage to the hedge, then went across a parking lot still way too fast and crashed through the hedge on the other side. No stitches required, but a lot of bandaids! Moral of the story, don't let anyone else work on your bike! OK maybe that's not the #1 moral, something about demon alcohol maybe? Or, "when you have no brakes, look for something soft to crash into or through."

zukahn1 

I have road about 40 years with these or similar front or rear without any real problems. For looks and function I like the early 90's Marin hanger that came on a lot of MTB's simple bolt on and with a bit of adjustment. I will post a pic of one from one of my bikes later today.

52telecaster

I have had those quick releases and I never had an issue.

zukahn1 

Some canti stud brakes that work great late 80 classic shimmano



But if just want good brakes that work semi cheapo linear pull semi modern brakes with modern brake pads will out brake pretty much anything vintage and will work with nearly any bike with studs no studs go to center pulls all tried and proven,

The Golden Boy 

There is no real upside to these for cantilever brakes beyond being nifty. You still have to squeeze the calipers together to disengage the brakes. Best case scenario is it makes it a little easier to loosen the tension- but you still have to squeeze the calipers together to disengage the brakes, and there's better and safer solutions- such as the QR on the levers that re-engage when the lever is pulled.

Can you flip the lever down, yes- if you know you flipped it up. Or, once you realize you don't have brakes you're quick thinking enough to evaluate why you don't have brakes and realize that you've bumped it enough to disengage it when you apply pressure to the brake cable- and then have the presence of mind and the time to reach forward and re-engage the QR.

I've been riding with the front QRs on a couple bikes for a long time- in fact- one bike I had a rear QR on it- and no, it's never happened to me- but it could. I don't trust myself to know that I did it- especially if I'm in a hurry or cold or hot or flustered trying to get into something in my front bag.

bulgie 

Respectfully, I don't think that's true. I can open the lever without squeezing anything else. Maybe mine are more slippery than yours. But if yours require squeezing the calipers, that should make them safe against accidental opening, no?

I can't hardly imagine getting on a bike without giving the brake levers a test-squeeze. Maybe from years in bike shops, test-riding other people's bikes. If you get in that habit, then I think the only real worry is if the QR gets opened while riding, which just seems so dang unlikely.

I do think that style of QR gives an advantage over just disconnecting the straddle on a canti, namely that the brake stays connected, and you can flip the lever down while riding if needed. I don't have them on any bike o' mine currently, but I have in the past, and I liked them. I have never even heard anyone mention a safety issue with them before now, that I can think of.

If I die from forgetting my brake QRs are open, you can put that on my epitaph!

P!N20

bulgie 

P!N20 — couldn't be more perfect, thanks! I will use that for sure.

"He died doing what he loved." Crashing a bike, apparently.