Cantilever brakes on a fixie...

[BenBlundell]

I've recently bought a second hand Carrera Subway fixed gear (well, flip flop hub) bike as a bit of a project, and am looking at giving it drop handlebars as it currently has incredibly wide flat bars. Reading across the internet it would seem that the perception is V type brakes don't work on a road bike. But why is this? Will they work on my fixie? It's fairly obvious that I'll need to change the brake levers as the current ones won't fit onto a drop handlebar, but will the new levers (I'm looking at Cane Creek levers from Chain Reaction) work with the current V brake setup, or will I need to change the brakes to cantilever type?

 

[TheDoctor]

Drop levers that work with V brakes are like hen's teeth. Dia Compe make (made?) one - the 287V or something equally snappy. Any road lever will work with mini Vs or Cantis.

 

[jim55]

its all to do with the amount of cable pulled

 

[BenBlundell]

Ahhh, got you! So a drop brake lever doesn't pull as much cable as a flat brake lever, so I'd need to change the brake mechanism as well as the levers.

 

[jim55]

read sheldons site
http://sheldonbrown.com/brakes/index.html

 

[mickle]

V brakes on a fixed wheel is a travesty!

 

[mcshroom]

But if you want to do so, then there are v-brake specific levers.

I have Dia Compe 287v levers on my hack singlespeed, and others include levers like the Tektro RL520. Another option is to use 'mini' v brakes such as Tektro RX-5 which use normal drop bar levers.

Cantilever brakes are more effective than a lot give them credit for though. Especially if you get the longer armed versions.

 

[BenBlundell]

So it's not as simple as getting the cable as tight as possible then. When I get round to doing to conversion, I'll go for the Dia Compe levers just to be on the safe side. They aren't a lot more expensive than the ones I was looking at anyway.

 

[TheDoctor]

Can't help feeling that V brakes on a fixed might be a tadge overkill. A bike as light as that won't take a whole lot of stopping.
Dead easy to skid though!!

 

[Rohloff_Brompton_Rider]

V brake levers as cross top levers, works fine, earns hipster points. Oh and travel agents can be used...


http://www.sjscycles.co.uk/travel-agent-br0411-black-each-prod6546/