Travel Agents need to be set up correctly so the cable has no relative motion with respect to the pulley, especially around the bridging hole. Otherwise, the sharp kink and repeated motion may possibly cause the cable to fray. The key is to ensure the bridging hole is set correctly within the rotation range of the pulley. Here's Park Tool's tutorial on Travel Agent setup <https://www.parktool.com/blog/repair-help/travel-agent-installation-and-adjustment> .
Given that there are people with good experiences with Travel Agents, I don't believe the mechanism is always inherently bad. OK, maybe if you consider being sensitive to setup as bad. Furthermore, having a shop do it doesn't guarantee that the job was properly done. I can't tell you how many times I've been aghast at "professional" work that I could have done better, if I had their tools (which I didn't because it's too expensive for one-time use). Finally, the leverage/cable displacement change provided by the Travel Agent is not adjustable. It's kind of hit-or-miss whether you like the feel. For many people, having a spongy feel isn't great, and they prefer a solid feel. However, if the brake is set up and adjusted correctly, those two feel types only indicate how much leverage the brake system has – the spongy feel is high leverage, and the solid feel is low leverage. See St. Sheldon <https://www.sheldonbrown.com/cantilever-geometry.html> for more info (applies equally to canti and V-brakes). Some brake levers have adjustable leverage though, and with those, one can customize the leverage to vary the feel to one's liking (again, trading power for "solidness"). On Monday, October 19, 2020 at 1:46:47 PM UTC-7 fugd...@gmail.com wrote: > Twice I had frayed cables even when installed by LBS. I was told by 2 > different bike mechanics frayed cables were not uncommon - also I remember > the feel was not as good as direct. YMMV > > On Monday, October 19, 2020 at 11:00:48 AM UTC-7 vhans...@gmail.com wrote: > >> Please expand? I have used travel agents for years, even replaced >> cables on them.. I have had no issues. >> >> VTW >> >> On Monday, October 19, 2020 at 9:34:19 AM UTC-7 fug...@gmail.com wrote: >> >>> There are real problems with Travel Agents, including safety. I just >>> changed levers. >>> >>> On Monday, October 19, 2020 at 8:26:56 AM UTC-7 Michael Baquerizo wrote: >>> >>>> i'm not a pro mechanic by any means but i've used the standard shimano >>>> lever on a tektro canti front and shimano v brake rear and didn't really >>>> have beef with the stopping power (casual use, not performance at all, in >>>> NYC) >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> On Friday, October 16, 2020 at 5:18:09 PM UTC-4 greenteadrinkers wrote: >>>> >>>>> Anyone ever use a Canti brake up front and V-brake in the back? I know >>>>> I'd need different pull levers, which complicates things, but I've >>>>> noticed >>>>> up front, the V-brake can sometimes be a little more than I need, it's >>>>> great in the back though. I have two sets of Paul neo-retro canti's >>>>> sitting >>>>> around and was thinking the combination might be something weird worth >>>>> looking into. >>>>> Thx! >>>>> Scott >>>>> >>>> -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "RBW Owners Bunch" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to rbw-owners-bunch+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/rbw-owners-bunch/be9e035a-5d6d-4e06-9e91-6fa9c651c2bfn%40googlegroups.com.
