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Cantilevers to V-brake? |
I'm really fed up with my stupid cantilever brakes(which I won't go into detail with), so I was thinking about getting V-brakes, since they use bigger and better pads(which are more available at my bike shop), and seem to be pretty good. But I was wondering if they would fit my C-brake frame, and what a good model is (at a good price)? Also: How are V-brakes better? Hey 12volt, -Lets get straight to your question. Change out those crappy old cantis and change over to a new set of V-brakes. You will be totally happy and be able to stop on a dime. -You will need to buy a whole sha-bang. This includes the V-brakes, cables/housing and a new set of levers. You can't use your old set of levers, because of they have a different leverage and cable pull ratio. -When it come to brands of V-brakes, it depends on your budget. You can buy a good Shimano Deore V-Brake from Nashbar for $12.99 or go big and get a Shimano XTR for $99.99 from Beyond Bikes. Shimano, Avid, Tektro etc. all make great V-Brakes. -Try and find a V-Brake kit to save some money. You could also go to your local Bike Shop and check to see if they have some V-brake take offs. Some customers change over to disk brakes or upgrade their brakes and bike shops sometimes have extra V-brakes laying arond the shop they can sell you cheap. Or check out E-bay for v-brake deals. Get those V-brakes on and start stopping with more confidence and you can start doing nose wheelies! Hee-Hee!! Hope this helps. = ) Source(s): www.nashbar.com www.beyondbikes.com Experience Yes, they'll fit, but you'll also need new brake levers as well as arms and cables and all the fixin's. Linear pull brakes- also called "V" brakes- are what is considered "direct pull". This means that there is no intermediate connection between brakes and lever, so braking tends to be more solid. I would STRONGLY urge you to have a shop do this changeover. There are some quirky things to do when replacing them, like adjusting the arms for parallel, spring tension, and setting the correct toe-in for the shoes which are not easily done by a layperson. EDIT: Regarding mechanical advantage, many brake manufacturers market their "V" brakes as being able to stop using the pressure of 1 finger ("Single Digit", as it were) but regardless of the claims the best control is had using 2 or 3 fingers. This advantage comes from the elimination of the canti saddle and center cable along with a bunch of hardware along with the longer arms. Many tandems and cyclocross bikes use cantis for several reasons. First, most road bikes have lighter built frames. Using V brakes reduces the chance for frame failure due to frame flex that accompanies their use. Next, cantis are easier to modulate. They respond better to varying pressure on the lever so they respond less quickly but are much nicer to use on the road. Third, it has a lot to do with tradition. Cantis just LOOK better on road bikes and tandems, and are smaller profile to avoid bags and panniers. 27 years in the industry You should just get a different bike. No decent bike would have to use a "C-bracket" to hold the cantilever's ,or v-brakes for that matter. It should have proper braze-ons mounted solidly to the frame and fork for mount whichever kind of brakes. Further more V-brakes do not offer any real advantage over good cantilever brakes. Touring bikes and tandems both use cantilevers because cantilever brakes have the advantages over other types of brakes. Very good stopping power (loaded touring bikes are very heavy, and tandem bikes are also heavy), and cantilever brakes have excellent clearance for fenders. Go to a bike shop and take a look at some real bikes. Here is a web page by Sheldon Brown at Harris Cyclery explaining Cantilever Geometry. There is much you can learn about bicycles from his pages. http://sheldonbrown.com/cantilever-geome... Yeah, It's true V-brakes (known as direct pull cantilever's) offer a mechanical advantage, but also require the use of special brake lever's to compensate for that advantage. So once it comes down to it from the lever to the brake it is compensated out to about the same. There is no reason that you cannot adjust your cantelever brakes for better braking. Just read Sheldon Brown's pages on how it's done. http://sheldonbrown.com/canti-trad.html... mirageguitarworks answer was great. One other suggestion - in addition to the new brakes, get a brake booster, something like: http://cgi.ebay.com/gorilla-mountain-bik... With the added power of the V-brakes, you'll end up twisting the brake bosses, especially on the seat stays. If you have a decent shock fork you won't need one for the front, but if you have a rigid fork or a low-end shock you should consider one for the front also. If you shop around you will find a dozen manufacturers or so and retailers selling them in the $15-$25 range. They are way too in-expensive _not_ to consider for the added perfomance you get. |
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