Retro mountain bikes

Pull harder.

You can use canti-levers for V-brakes, but your wheels need to be absolutely true so you can run the blocks only a fraction of a mm off the rim.

Well, the v brake lever has a larger cable pull than a canti one, so you lose a bit of “modulation” but that’s much better than running the opposite setup like ffm describes.

Why would you mix different levers and calipers? There's plenty of cheap options out there. It does work but one combination is just dangerous and the other annoying.

Yeah, it's a minor annoyance that it seems easier to get nicer looking levers for v-brakes, but I'd rather my brakes worked well rather than just adequately! I managed to get some okay looking Altus (I think - with the 'A' logo?) canti levers in the end so I'll see how I get on with those.

@alexd any reason why you're using with cantis instead of switching to Vs?

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My two cents on the topic: having tried V-levers with canti brakes multiple times on multiple setups, I would really and I mean really advise against this. I currently have a proper high-end Tektro V-lever matched with LX cantis on the rear end of my Rockhopper, and even with brand new Kool-Stop pads the braking force is rather crap compared to when I used a proper canti brake lever. I can stop if I pull hard, but I weigh 60 kilos and don't usually go very fast...
V-brake pulls a lot of cable but with small force, canti is the opposite. Won't work well if you mix em up. It's acceptable for when there's no other option I guess.

Worth noting that Avid speed dial levers have adjustable cable pull so you could wind them in for cantis to get enough leverage.

I had those as well (SD5), currently have a Tektro that allegedly has the same adjustability. After all it's just modulation control, won't change the cable pull that much to make a huge difference. It's noticeable better, but it won't actually change the ratio from 2:1 to 1:1.

Coming soon my way...

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Finished the obligatory gf build, more pics in my thread.

Fresh AF

Nice! Gunmetal Maguras & all.

Have you used those magura hydraulic rim brakes before? Are they much better than v brakes and worth the extra faff?

Not a fan personally. Pads need to be set up close to the rim in order to get a decent lever feel then you get rub if the wheel is knocked out of true or picks up mud.

Power puts Vs to shame in perfect conditions but once the rims get wet I found them much of a muchness with Vs.

I had Magura HS33 on my bike back in the nineties. For where I live, these are great. Lots of power and less spendy when used under wet/muddy winter conditions (compared to disc brakes). But not very easy to tune, that's true.

I have a set on my current commuter and they’re great; loads more powerful and tactile compared to Vs in the dry, not terrible in the wet (I have rims with ‘CSS’ tungsten brake tracks and corresponding Kool Stop CSS pads).

They do need setting up well though. Worth it on the whole for me.

Got a pair for sale if you want to find out. Silver-grey, not fluoro yellow, unfortunately.

I used a set of Racelines for actual mountain biking for ages and thought they were brilliant, personally

With V-brake levers on Cantis, you just end up with a very short lever throw. Some people like it because it gives your brakes are a very on-off feel.

With Canti levers on V-Brakes, you end up with too much lever throw, sometimes reaching the bar before the brakes have fully engaged the rim.

Oh possibly, would you post to Ireland? How much would you be looking for?

Gunmetal Maguras & all.

I will probably use these for my vintage tandem and put my Ritchey canti's on the Kona.

Yeah I'd post. I'll check how much I paid for them and get back to you

Cool thanks a lot!

Cape Wrath '97 after muddy ride

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Any Italians allowed?

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