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forum
Cross brakes
Im looking for some advice, I'm building a up a cross bike with a Dolan x frameset. On the whole I'm taking components from my now cracked giant defy, however the question of brake has raised its head. Do I go for V brakes or cantilever brakes. I have used both in my old mountain bike days, unfortunatly it was so long ago I can't remember which worked best.
I intend to use the bike for adventure cross sportives, tipping my toe in cyclocross next autum and it will also get some winter hack use. I know disc would work best but that is not an option for my pocket. So which is it on a cross bike cantilever od V brake
If you're new please join in and if you have questions pop them below and the forum regulars will answer as best we can.
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17 comments
Had a look at some mini v brakes at Merlin, they say designed for cyclocross, look good and I would imagine are powerful. Andy one used them? I'm a bit conncerned thet would clog with mud?
When I got my Dolan multicross the bottom bracket needed facing and chasing, so be aware of that.
I have Tektro CR720s on mine. They are fine for cross, but a bit hairy descending Lakeland passes in the wet. Mini vs don't have much mud clearance, so cantis are the way forward if you actually plan to race cross, also in mud the bike slows rapidly if you just stop pedalling. If you using it on gravel paths and the like then mini vs will stop you faster.
As regards judder, my 56 frame judders slightly at very low speeds (koolstop dual compound pads, slightly toed in), but is fine in practice. The Dolan has a hole in the fork crown so you could fit a fork mounted brake hanger if you needed to anyway.
Not my photo, Sherlock.
Some canti's are rubbish, some are very good indeed; it's all about setting them up well. Try Avid Shorty 6s which have worked very well for me for a couple of years. Remember too that braking in 'cross is reliant on grip which is often non-existant.
I recall David Baker suggesting that brakes in 'cross didn't need to be any good because the object of the game wasn't to slow down...
The best upgrade you can make to a canti equipped crosser is one of these to prevent any judder...
Why do you have your XG on backwards?
Thanks folks, picked my frameset up from Dolan today, the shop is amazing with signed jerseys letters of thanks from Hoy ect. Coolest shop I have been in though very small. I discussed the brakes with Dolan staff who feel good well set up cantilevers are the way to go, so I will be stating pull rate as the main problem. It seems to be the consensus, Will up date when set up in next few weeks and feedback the result.
Will be showering ebay as on a tight budget, thank very much for all your advice
Quelle suprise. I had forgotten how miserable cantis are until I got into cross last year (having originally ridden them on a mountain bike). They got left behind by mountain bikes for a reason. Yes, I know most pro cross racers still use them, I can't understand why.
Largely weight! A lot of bike carrying involved in cross racing so makes a big difference. They also (generally) don't need the top stopping power, they can hold a better line around corners so less braking needed.
I've got trp cx9's on my cx bike paired with 5800 levers, work almost as well as mtb with discs in sunny dry spain- not even going to mention in the mud, as I try not to bother... sticky clay cr@p around my neck of the woods- they work a lot better than the cx70's i had on before. Well worth the money
If you chose to use bar end or down tube shifters instead you could go for drop levers that in are intended to run with V brakes.
I just got some of these in preparation for a drop bar conversion of a fixed with V brakes that will be run as a commuter and gravel bike
http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/tektro-rl520-drop-bar-brake-levers/rp...
If you can find them Magura also used to make the HS66 rim brake which was a more powerful replacement for both cantis and V's, they are one of those bits of kit that are kind of the holy grail of retro bling though so good luck with that.
Or he can still keep the STI levers, provided he uses Travel Agent.
I am well aware he could use travel agents as that was mentioned earlier in the thread, sometime's they work well while others have reported mixed results depending on the mix of components or the cable routing
Being a Luddite I in fact like bar end shifters and down tube shifters as they are incredibly reliable and fool proof. Especially for the purposes the OP is interested in.
What Rod said, up to end of first sentence. Road levers don't pull enough cable to get V brakes to work properly. You can get a Problem Solvers Travel Agent, which will allow you to run V brakes with road levers. Alternately you can buy what are often referred to as mini-Vs - they have shorter arms and thus don't need as much lever/cable pull and work with road levers. (You can get a Tektro from SJS for c£15; or there is the TRP CX9 for nearer £90 or the Paul Minimoto for c£80). Or you can buy cantis and live with mediocre braking and fiddly set up.
V brakes aren't generally compatible with drop levers (though there ways of making them so) so I'd go with cantis. A good pair of cantis has more than adequate performance for what you plan, traditionally Suntour SEs have been thought to be the best (you can get these from SJS cycles) and personally I have found them excellent - better than a lot of V brakes.
From my memory, v-brakes classically worked terribly on road levers as the cable pull rate was so different. I'd be keen to know how the latest batch of Shimano STI units work with MTYB V's now however as I believe they have changed their pull rate..
As for road specific V's I'm not sure of their performance over canti's, but all being equal, if the V's have had the cable pull rate adjusted, then I'd plumb for V's every time.
From my mountain bike days i can say that V brakes are far superior to cantis. Not sure if that still true on the smaller versions found on cross bikes so my advice would be Vs every time.
You might need to consider the impact on brake levers. Cantis will be much simpler from this point of view.