Looking for Cantilever B rakes ...

ajames54

I've got XT V-Brakes on the mountain bike ... and two sets of wheels.
One set has a rim that is a whopping 2.5 mm wider than the other. and
every time I want to change the wheels I have to radically re-adjust
the brakes .. this makes me sad.
Add to that the fact that every non-shimano (crappy, no-life,
rim-eating pads) brake pad I've put in them squeels like a banshee and
I want to swap them out...

When I look around all I find for Cantis are the Avid Shorties (which
I know nothing about, and are a special order) or really cheap quality
Shimano Altus/Alevio NOS.

What I'm hoping is that someone here might have a line on a couple
pairs of Diacomp 987 's ... or something similar. Either that or a
review of the Shorties, since I really don't like buying sight
unseen...

Eventually I'll have a pair of XT-Vee brakes to go..

David Kerber

In article <d59c4839.0405050508.3aecbb8@posting.google.com>, ajames54
@hotmail.com says...
> I've got XT V-Brakes on the mountain bike ... and two sets of wheels.
> One set has a rim that is a whopping 2.5 mm wider than the other. and
> every time I want to change the wheels I have to radically re-adjust
> the brakes .. this makes me sad.
> Add to that the fact that every non-shimano (crappy, no-life,
> rim-eating pads) brake pad I've put in them squeels like a banshee and
> I want to swap them out...
>
> When I look around all I find for Cantis are the Avid Shorties (which
> I know nothing about, and are a special order) or really cheap quality
> Shimano Altus/Alevio NOS.
>
> What I'm hoping is that someone here might have a line on a couple
> pairs of Diacomp 987 's ... or something similar. Either that or a
> review of the Shorties, since I really don't like buying sight
> unseen...

My Fuji Touring comes with Avid Shorty 4 brakes, and they've been great
so far (< 1 year, though). The pads do tend to collect grit, so you
might want to look for a different pad if you're putting on new brakes.

--
Remove the ns_ from if replying by e-mail (but keep posts in the
newsgroups if possible).

Sheldon Brown

ajames54 wrote:
> I've got XT V-Brakes on the mountain bike ... and two sets of wheels.
> One set has a rim that is a whopping 2.5 mm wider than the other. and
> every time I want to change the wheels I have to radically re-adjust
> the brakes .. this makes me sad.

Actually, the "Parrallel Push" linkage in those cantis should make them
considerably _more_ forgiving of different rim widths than traditional
cantilevers (or simple V-type brakes.)

> Add to that the fact that every non-shimano (crappy, no-life,
> rim-eating pads) brake pad I've put in them squeels like a banshee and
> I want to swap them out...

Try the Kool Stop Dual-Compound "Mountain" pads.

http://sheldonbrown.com/harris/brakeshoes

> When I look around all I find for Cantis are the Avid Shorties (which
> I know nothing about, and are a special order)

They're quite good. We stock these, and offer several other choices in
traditional cantilevers at http://sheldonbrown.com/harris/cantilevers

> or really cheap quality Shimano Altus/Alevio NOS.

The only problem with those is the stigma of low price. They're
actually quite good, if you upgrade the pads.
>
> What I'm hoping is that someone here might have a line on a couple
> pairs of Diacomp 987 's ... or something similar. Either that or a
> review of the Shorties, since I really don't like buying sight
> unseen...
>
> Eventually I'll have a pair of XT-Vee brakes to go..

I'd love to sell you stuff, but my advice is to stick with the XTs.

Any center-pull cantilever will be a downgrade in performance. The main
reason we carry them is for use with drop handlebars, because most drop
bar brake levers aren't compatible with V-Brakes.

Sheldon "If It Ain't Broke" Brown
+-----------------------------------------------------------------+
| This message has been sent to you using recycled electrons |
| exclusively. Please do not discard them after use, |
| send them along and help conserve these irreplaceable |
| sub-atomic resources for future generations. |
+-----------------------------------------------------------------+
Harris Cyclery, West Newton, Massachusetts
Phone 617-244-9772 FAX 617-244-1041
http://harriscyclery.com
Hard-to-find parts shipped Worldwide
http://captainbike.com http://sheldonbrown.com

daveornee

Ajames54 wrote:
> I've got XT V-Brakes on the mountain bike ... and two sets of wheels.
> One set has a rim that is a whopping 2.5 mm wider than the other. and
> every time I want to change the wheels I have to radically re-adjust the
> brakes .. this makes me sad. Add to that the fact that every non-shimano
> (crappy, no- life, rim-eating pads) brake pad I've put in them squeels
> like a banshee and I want to swap them out...
> When I look around all I find for Cantis are the Avid Shorties (which I
> know nothing about, and are a special order) or really cheap quality
> Shimano Altus/Alevio NOS.
> What I'm hoping is that someone here might have a line on a couple pairs
> of Diacomp 987 's ... or something similar. Either that or a review of
> the Shorties, since I really don't like buying sight unseen...
> Eventually I'll have a pair of XT-Vee brakes to go..



You might want to see if you can swap the shoes for some quality Kool
Stop pads. Clean rim surface with Scotch Brite pads. Why do you have
rims that are 2.5 mm difference in width? I know that swapping brake
type is easier, but is it possible to swap rims? Will your brake levers
handle the difference in cable pull leverage? If not, you will need to
change them too. Only 3 reviews at the Mountain Bicycle review site:
http://www.mtbr.com/reviews/Brake_S...uct_88595.shtml I will add
that I use them on my touring single and both of our tandems since I use
raod drop bars. They work fine, but if I could find a clean and reliable
way to use XT-Vee brakes I would.



--

Steve Shapiro

Ajames54 wrote:
> I've got XT V-Brakes on the mountain bike ... and two sets of wheels.
> One set has a rim that is a whopping 2.5 mm wider than the other. and
> every time I want to change the wheels I have to radically re-adjust the
> brakes .. this makes me sad. Add to that the fact that every non-shimano
> (crappy, no- life, rim-eating pads) brake pad I've put in them squeels
> like a banshee and I want to swap them out...
> When I look around all I find for Cantis are the Avid Shorties (which I
> know nothing about, and are a special order) or really cheap quality
> Shimano Altus/Alevio NOS.
> What I'm hoping is that someone here might have a line on a couple pairs
> of Diacomp 987 's ... or something similar. Either that or a review of
> the Shorties, since I really don't like buying sight unseen...
> Eventually I'll have a pair of XT-Vee brakes to go..



I had similar issues of wheel width adjustment and squeeling pads with V
brakes. I did 2 things:

1. I changed to Cool Stop Salmon pads and that solved my pad problems
including squeeling. I just worry that your Shimano brakes may be
more prone to squeeling then my Avid ones.

By the way, Sheldon sold me Cool Stop Salmon pads, mountain brake
style, for the old Campy NR brakes on my road bike. They are so much
better then the old Campy pads that I am no longer considering to
replace the calipers.

2. I installed noodles having adjusting barrels. They are inexpensive
and added enough adjustment range to accommodate my different width
wheels. It might just work for you. If so, you might consider to
keep your V brakes.

Steve Shapiro



--

ajames54

Sheldon Brown <captbike@sheldonbrown.com> wrote in message news:<4098F086.201@sheldonbrown.com>...
> ajames54 wrote:
> > I've got XT V-Brakes on the mountain bike ... and two sets of wheels.
> > One set has a rim that is a whopping 2.5 mm wider than the other. and
> > every time I want to change the wheels I have to radically re-adjust
> > the brakes .. this makes me sad.
>
> Actually, the "Parrallel Push" linkage in those cantis should make them
> considerably _more_ forgiving of different rim widths than traditional
> cantilevers (or simple V-type brakes.)
>
Well since you haven't steered me wrong yet I'll take another pass at
them but in earlier attempts I had two options either too tight to
take the wider rim or Levers jammed into the grips when trying to stop
quickly on the narrow rims.

and that was with the barrel adjuster almost fully out for the narrow
rims and done up tight for the wider.