Brakes

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simonali

Guru
This might seem a daft question, but are the frame studs for V brakes in the same place as canti ones?
 

barq

Senior Member
Location
Birmingham, UK
Yep, the bosses are interchangeable.
 

Dave5N

Über Member
Doesn't mean a direct swap will work properly though. STIs and campag equiv.s are notoriously bad with V-brakes. Dia Compe levers (as pointed out here t'other day) should work but won't help you change gear.

Mini V's will be ok.

I assume that's what you're doing. Nobody in their right mind would surely swap Vs for Cantis?
 
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simonali

simonali

Guru
Here's the plan: gonna try and make the old MTB into a single speed (not fixed as I can't think of a way of tensioning the chain properly). It is has cantis on it and as my Rapidfire shifters and brake levers are as one, I thought I'd treat it to some new V brakes and the applicable levers.

What are mini Vs and how do they differ from the normal ones?
 

Landslide

Rare Migrant
Check what braze ons your frame has in the way of cable stops. V-brakes require a run of outer to the brake, whereas cantis require a stop for the outer, allowing only the inner cable to run to the brake arms.
I know of some frames where the rear brake cable routing for cantis is less than ideal for Vs, and might result in needing to run cable outer all the way from the lever to the brake arms.

I'd agree with Rhythm Thief, if you're on-road only, then cantis will be fine. Dave5N just needs to pull his levers harder! ;-)
 

fossyant

Ride It Like You Stole It!
Location
South Manchester
Now't wrong with canti's - I've got some good 'uns on my commuting MTB and hooked up with V-Pads they are great.
 
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simonali

simonali

Guru
Landslide said:
Check what braze ons your frame has in the way of cable stops. V-brakes require a run of outer to the brake, whereas cantis require a stop for the outer, allowing only the inner cable to run to the brake arms.
I know of some frames where the rear brake cable routing for cantis is less than ideal for Vs, and might result in needing to run cable outer all the way from the lever to the brake arms.

I'd agree with Rhythm Thief, if you're on-road only, then cantis will be fine. Dave5N just needs to pull his levers harder! ;-)

So I could upgrade the front to a V brake then regardless, as there aren't any braze-ons for front brakes. Mind you, I have a set of original Pace RC35 forks on it with backward brake bosses, but I think these are clamped on and therefore reversible?

It's all getting complicated in my brain box now. Maybe cantis will be fine!
 
Linear-pull brakes (Shi**no call em 'V-brakes') need linear-pull specific levers which pull much more cable than levers designed to work with regular cantilevers/sidepull calipers. In other words, you cannot use linear-pull levers with cantilever brakes and vise versa.

You can wire them up but they'll be either exceedingly weak and hard to pull or exceedingly spongy and over powered and rub on the rim the whole time depending on the combination.
 

Landslide

Rare Migrant
simonali said:
So I could upgrade the front to a V brake then regardless, as there aren't any braze-ons for front brakes. Mind you, I have a set of original Pace RC35 forks on it with backward brake bosses, but I think these are clamped on and therefore reversible?

I can't imagine a situation where you'd have a problem fitting Vs on the front cabling-wise. If you're mounting them on the back of you RC35s you might want to check the top of the arms and/or the cable "noodle" don't foul the downtube when turning, but as long as that's ok your cable run shouldn't cause too many issues. I think I've seen Vs mounted on Pace forks before, but they may be newer models.

Might look a bit odd, but if you really want the extra stopping power you could run a V brake on the front (where most of your braking effect is applied) and a canti on the back (if your cable runs don't suit Vs). Usual rules about lever/brake type compatibility apply.
 

Dave5N

Über Member
Landslide said:
Check what braze ons your frame has in the way of cable stops. V-brakes require a run of outer to the brake, whereas cantis require a stop for the outer, allowing only the inner cable to run to the brake arms.
I know of some frames where the rear brake cable routing for cantis is less than ideal for Vs, and might result in needing to run cable outer all the way from the lever to the brake arms.

I'd agree with Rhythm Thief, if you're on-road only, then cantis will be fine. Dave5N just needs to pull his levers harder! ;-)

I'll break me bleedin' hands if I pull any harder.
 
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