I can't believe what I've just seen

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tyred

Legendary Member
Location
Ireland
I've just been out for a walk around town on my lunch hour and seen someone on an old MTB with canti brakes with the pads installed at a right angle to what they should be so that only the top tip of the pad was contacting the tyre and no part of it was touching the rim.:eek:

Who the fark would install brake pads like this and why?:wacko:
 

Arjimlad

Tights of Cydonia
Location
South Glos
There certainly are plenty of bozos about and some of them get to ride bikes.
 

PpPete

Legendary Member
Location
Chandler's Ford
Some Cantis are sold with pads at 90 deg to the correct position - because they are easier to install that way (can get the pads past the forks & stays).
Evidently this bozo didnt read the second half of the instructions ?
 

lordloveaduck

Well-Known Member
Location
Birmingham
Makes the rims last longer tut some people know nothing.
I find dropping an anchor and releasing my parachute to be
sufficient;)

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I've been mucking around with the wheels, tyres and brakes on a canti-equipped bike this morning and I'd like to say the following:

Cantilever brakes are a sin and a crime and an abomination.

Calipers, V-Brakes and even hydraulic discs are moral, honest, decent and God-fearing.

The only nice thing was being able to put the bike stand out on the drive and enjoy some sunshine.

You all know that I'm right.

Message ends.
 

e-rider

crappy member
Location
South West
I've seen worse - whilst cycling around Rutland Water one time, I saw a couple shagging in their car, middle of the afternoon and parked right next to cycle path. To make it worse, a middle aged woman walking her two dogs had stopped for a very long look!
 

PpPete

Legendary Member
Location
Chandler's Ford
I've been mucking around with the wheels, tyres and brakes on a canti-equipped bike this morning and I'd like to say the following:

Cantilever brakes are a sin and a crime and an abomination.

Calipers, V-Brakes and even hydraulic discs are moral, honest, decent and God-fearing.

The only nice thing was being able to put the bike stand out on the drive and enjoy some sunshine.

You all know that I'm right.

Message ends.

I beg to differ. To those of us who grew up in the days when the choice was between crappy single pivots which you could never keep centered, and the woefully floppy centrepulls, cantilevers were absolutely brilliant. And they are still not bad. Quite happy to have them on the tourer.

Entry level V- brakes OTH have the potential to be utterly lethal. Yokes made of pressed steel that will bend and let the noodle slid through as soon as you look at it. No, No, No !
 
I beg to differ. To those of us who grew up in the days when the choice was between crappy single pivots which you could never keep centered, and the woefully floppy centrepulls, cantilevers were absolutely brilliant. And they are still not bad. Quite happy to have them on the tourer.

Entry level V- brakes OTH have the potential to be utterly lethal. Yokes made of pressed steel that will bend and let the noodle slid through as soon as you look at it. No, No, No !

I accept this response. I spoke without caution.

The bike with the Cantis that I was working on is a circa 1990 rigid MTB (now relegated to horsing around).

When it was new the brakes were a revelation. I accept that. I was astounded at their capability in comparison to what went before.

However... I now find a good V-Brake infinitely superior and much easier to set up and maintain. Much, much, much easier.

I also like the caliper jobs on my light road bike because they are up to the job and look yummy and are equally easy to set up and adjust.

I begrudgingly like hydraulic discs because as a late convert to their use on a hardtail MTB, I regret to say that they are peerless.

Cantis are not a sin or a crime or the other thing I said... But I hate setting them up, hate fiddling with them and hate removing wheels past them.

Is that any better?
 

Cyclopathic

Veteran
Location
Leicester.
I beg to differ. To those of us who grew up in the days when the choice was between crappy single pivots which you could never keep centered, and the woefully floppy centrepulls, cantilevers were absolutely brilliant. And they are still not bad. Quite happy to have them on the tourer.

Entry level V- brakes OTH have the potential to be utterly lethal. Yokes made of pressed steel that will bend and let the noodle slid through as soon as you look at it. No, No, No !
I quite like cantis. However to set them up nicely does require that you be able to hold them firmly in place in three different planes whist applying the spanner. There's a definite knack to it and it can be frustrating but once done they're darned good brakes. Adjusting them gets a bit easier with practice but never completely easy.
It could be that the guy with the blocks in at 90 degrees just hadn't tightened them and they spun round the first time he put applied them. That's about the most generous assesment I can think of.
 

Cyclopathic

Veteran
Location
Leicester.
I accept this response. I spoke without caution.

The bike with the Cantis that I was working on is a circa 1990 rigid MTB (now relegated to horsing around).


Cantis are not a sin or a crime or the other thing I said... But I hate setting them up, hate fiddling with them and hate removing wheels past them.

Is that any better?
I just let the tires down and this seems to do the trick.
 
I just let the tires down and this seems to do the trick.

I thought I was the only one to do that. It's been my guilty secret for years.

I usually work on that bike alone and with the door shut.

On this occasion the brakes were being fettled (bollocksed up, in truth) so the deflate option was unhelpful.

I'm so happy to learn that I'm not the only Pssssssssssssssssssssst Merchant.
 
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