My crosscheck had Vs all winter.
Now it has cantis and I miss the Vs.
Looks nicer though.
V-brakes are also a hell of a lot easier to set up.
All this talk makes me want to switch back.
All I need are a couple travel agents.
so what’s some baller-ass Vs?
Those are mini-vs too, that apparently work alright with road levers. I’ve read mixed reviews on their compatibility, it’d depend on the cable pull of the lever, and each one is different. I seem to remember that campy ergolevers pull a bit less than shimano brifters. Post a link if you find those campy vs for sale anywhere, I haven’t had much luck.
I know some people that run Vs on their cross bikes, not that uncommon I don’t think.
Just guessing here as I have not run Vs, but I’ve read that the mud clearance issue is in relation to where the pads sit when the brake is not engaged. I guess that wIth wide profile cantis the pads fall pretty far away from the rim when they are not engaged, but with V brakes they have to be closer to the rim, causing sticky mud to interfere when not braking.
Just run disks if you’re looking for the best in mud proof all conditions stopping. I just have one in the front and it’s so nice.
In reply to the Paul vs Empella/TRP comment,I do not own them, but in theory I like Paul’s easier adjustment where you don’t have to bend the brake pad posts. I know you can buy adjustable shoes to fix this anyway though. Also, the wide profile of the TRP or Empellas doesn’t work for some people in the rear. I know that I rub my leg on my touring style ones every once and awhile, it’d probably get pretty annoying with wide profiles back there too. But yes, the carbon and magnesium wide profile cantis are so sweet.
In reply to Fix’s comment about braking while racing, I should have clarified more. When racing I don’t mind brake shudder, squealing, whatever, the rim is always dirty and there’s always other factors compromising braking anyway. But, when commuting or road riding, generally riding faster, over harder surfaces, with more dangerous things around shudder and little brake things are scary. So, in racing as long as I can modulate my brake ok and stop the bike in enough time it’s fine, while commuting I want something with smoother braking action that has a more “sure” braking feel. That’s why I went with a front disk…the best in all areas, racing or not. In regards to braking to a stop while racing…I guess…if someone goes down in front of me and I can’t ride around them, I’m generally on the brakes for a second, then dismounted and running around them a second later. I think some of this stuff depends on what courses/fields you’re doing for cross. I’m definitely not a strong or especially knowledgeable cross racer, so I can only speak on my experience of racing the Bs in North East Ohio and finishing somewhere in the top 10 most of the time.
Fugly:
Badass:
Also badass:
I don’t have tons of experience with linear pull brakes, but the Shimano XTs work really well in my experience (hell, replace the pads on Deore and they are probably great too). I would think given their popularity on mountain bikes mud shouldn’t be that big an issue.
What I was thinking. I’ve been running my MTB with a rear v-brake during the muddy Michigan spring, and I haven’t ever had mud be an issue until I actually try to use the brake.
Hmm, maybe that’s not the exact one I have, but mine work fine with 105 brifters.
They do stop very well, certainly better than the shitty Avid cantis. Setup was also easier and there’s no brake chatter. The only drawback is that when not “engaged”, the pads sit much closer to the rims than cantis do. This means that if your wheel is out of true or you have a lot of muck in there, it can get clogged. This is not a problem on Florida’s “cyclocross” dirt crit courses.
I just cured my squeal! I haven’t read this technique in any of the long lists of things to try if your cantis squeal, so here it is. My cantis have cartridge pads with two hemispherical washers that fit into a thick and thin washer. (see pic)
They were set up with the big washers in between the pads and the canti arms as in this pic.
This must have set up the possibility for flex in the shaft. I moved things around so that the thin washer is on the inside. I set it up with no toe in just to see what would happen, and the squeal is totally gone. We’ll see what happens in the rain etc but for now it’s a huge improvement.
The joy of cantilever brakes.
[quote=mander]I just cured my squeal! I haven’t read this technique in any of the long lists of things to try if your cantis squeal, so here it is. My cantis have cartridge pads with two hemispherical washers that fit into a thick and thin washer. (see pic)
They were set up with the big washers in between the pads and the canti arms as in this pic.
This must have set up the possibility for flex in the shaft. I moved things around so that the thin washer is on the inside. I set it up with no toe in just to see what would happen, and the squeal is totally gone. We’ll see what happens in the rain etc but for now it’s a huge improvement.[/quote]
D’oh… this technique causes the brakes to lose a lot of power. : ( : ( I’ll try a shorter transverse cable. If that doesn’t work i might go for some wider-profile brakes.
I had a hard time getting rid of the squeal with my Shimano cantis. The Kool-Stop mountain pad helped.
You can also try replacing the one-piece traverse cable thingy with a traditional cable and hanger. This gives you a lot more adjustment options.
Also, did you make sure that the brakes were centered properly? I found that the hardest part of installing the BR-R550s. I messed it up slightly at first and they squealed like a piggy.
I have those Shimanos on my Cross Check and they took awhile to dial in before getting rid of the squeal, I messed with the washer configuration (can’t remember offhand how they ended up but not how they come stock that’s for sure) toe in helped a bunch. After some fiddling, riding, fiddling they now work great and unless i really pull on them super quick and hard no noise or shudder. Have now replaced the stock pads with the black Kool Stops and there is a little difference but not a huge amount. I have been thinking about changing the stock traverse cable with a traditional hanger/cable set up but that’s just for the looks though.
One thing I do like about brake squeal though is if your riding on the street and some dumb fuck does something to make you slam your brakes on, the squeal frightens the shit out of 'em which is fun.
never seen 'em before. anyone have any experience? sounds too good to be true.
Seems cheap enough to try.
They might add a bit of braking power, but those were originally meant to help center the shitty old cantilever brakes on early 90’s mountain bikes. If you couldn’t center your brakes, you bought these. If you were actually capable of centering your brakes, you’d buy the Ringle peace sign cable hangers.
I’d avoid buying the black ones though; products like this are really supposed to be sold in hyper anodized colors.