Cantilever Brakes

[olonwheels]

Heya everyone and happy Friday!

A quick question! - I'm very proud of this bike and tentative to treat it correctly...!

After cleaning and re-greasing the mounts for my front calliper breaks, they are still not centring and I can see the springs are not quite the same shape. Is the solution my trying to overstretch the weaker side?

As you can see, I have no adjustment control on the cradle.

Thank you so much,
Ollie

 

[T4tomo]

On most canti's there are little adjuster grub screws to alter the tension on the springs once you've mounted them.
Sheldon is your friend...
https://www.sheldonbrown.com/canti-trad.html

 

[presta]

When I saw the title, I thought this thread was news from the summit of Glyder Fach.

Cantilever bosses usually have three holes to choose from for the springs, are you using the same hole at both sides?

 

[Big John]

I've got cantis on one of my bikes and I hate the bloody things. Centring isn't a problem though. They just don't stop me. However, the comments above from Presta and T4tomo should help with your problem.

 

[fossyant]

I've got cantis on one of my bikes and I hate the bloody things. Centring isn't a problem though. They just don't stop me. However, the comments above from Presta and T4tomo should help with your problem.

You've got bad ones, poor set up or poor brake compounds. The ones on my cross bike are crazy powerful.

 

[88robb]

Heya everyone and happy Friday!

A quick question! - I'm very proud of this bike and tentative to treat it correctly...!

After cleaning and re-greasing the mounts for my front calliper breaks, they are still not centring and I can see the springs are not quite the same shape. Is the solution my trying to overstretch the weaker side?

As you can see, I have no adjustment control on the cradle.

Thank you so much,
Ollie

The springs are worn out.
Don't stretch the weak one. It will likely break.
You need a new spring. A bike shop will have a spare that matches the strong side. That's the real fix.

 

[PpPete]

You can buy a replacement yoke which has grub screws so that it is held on the straddle cable at the correct place to ensure even operation

 

[mickle]

Just gently bend the spring back - on the side that's hitting the rim first - until both sides rest at the same distance from the rim. Its standard procedure. Theres no reason to imagine that the spring will break. Ive never seen a cantilever spring break in 30+ years of fettling.

Grub screws in straddle cable hangers serve no useful purpose.

* Run your straddle cable hanger as low as possible to maximise power and brake modulation.

 

[olonwheels]

Thank you so much everyone!

I'm going to give bending the spring a go