Functional bikes. Not Porn not Anti

@dangeek On-one had very similar cantis from the same manufacturer that these VO. I found them very flexy and as such pretty useless.
Shimano BR-R550 were very good (better than Tektros), and pretty cheap too.

Considering this is how VO suggest setting up their cantis I'm not surprised they don't work.

My thoughts exactly, however I don't see how you can set these up any other way..

With the straddle cable a helluva lot lower.

I think they're meant to be set up like that. They're like the Paul touring cant rather than the neb-retro canti. It gives better clearance for panniers etc but I guess you pay for that with less braking power.

Looks faulty to me

This is a good deal: http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Paul-Components-Touring-Canti-Brake-Set-Complete-with-New-Pads-and-Cables-/192168178243?hash=item2cbe1db243:g:gkoAAOSwmCVY~y89

That is really good!

^so great...

(according to Jan Heine, who knows his stuff) the straddle cable has to be at a 90º angle with the straight line between the pivot and straddle mount on the canti.

Which is impossible on the above setup..

How so? If the straddle hanger was dropped down to around the level of the headset and the slack on the straddle cable taken up you'd be close to 90° wouldn't you?

true, you'd get close to 90º just above the fender

Setting them like this would massively improve braking. (I'm bored and looking for excuses to not do real work)

Yup, 90º is the ideal and I've heard differing opinion on the line being through the pivot and cable mount and the pad/pad mount and cable mount.

Either way, while 90º might not be totally achievable on that VO brake, you could certainly do a lot better than it is in that photo.

@dangeek the brake arms are like a Touring but that cable set up is more like you would use on the wider armed Neo Retro.

Yeah, that's the way

I picked up a Deore XT (RD-M772-SGS) to replace the Ultegra (RD-6700-GS) on my touring bike so I could use a larger cassette. I've got one on the tandem too and they work really nicely, but I was having problems getting into the smallest sprocket. Anyone here got any experience with the shadow derailleurs?I found I had to use the B-screw to move the derailleur away from the cassette for it to happily shift - does that jive with anyone's experience?

In my experience those are really fine stoppers but they use dedicated brake pads that are waaaay to expensive (and only a matter of time before Shimano stop supporting them).

No experience but just about to make the exact change, I will be using bar end shifters too- what size cassette are you using?

This is fit.

12-30 but may go up to a 11-36 (I hate the 11spd sprocket, a 12 is much better). I'm using 6700 STIs, otherwise I would probably go for a full dyna-sys 10/11spd RD and a microshift bar-end.

Think I am going to have to get a basket - will be so much more useful than just a front rack for me 90% of the time.

Any reason not to get the BLB option - apart from generally avoiding BLB?
https://www.bricklanebikes.co.uk/blb-rack-basket-combo

They don't they're just standard pads and standard holders. The bolts and spacers are unique though.

Why not get a wald?

I feel like mini rack to fork mounts with a basket is a bit more elegant than the full Wald giant legs plus handlebar bracket?