"Now that Tektro makes long pull aero levers, and v-brakes are excellent even/especially at the cheap level"
This is exactly the reason I don't use V-brakes on my drop-bar (single) bikes. For me, on a drop bar (single) bike, a very important function of the brakelevers is their comfort as a hand-position, and I really dislike the shape and feel of the Tektro-V-levers. They are way too narrow on the top, almost like they've been sharpened to try to slice my thumb off the rest of my hand. I use them reluctantly on my tandem, because I still prefer them to the travel agent setup, and because I must have the increased braking power of V-brakes on the tandem. Fortunately the tandem only get used for short rides these days, but in one or two more years when my son is tall enough to stoke on multi-day tours, I know I'm going to have some serious thinking to do about those brakelevers. I don't like the Shimano Tiagra shape either. The fantastic SRAM S500 is a dynamite lever for cantilevers. If there were a lever with an equivalently awesome ergo shape that had the correct travel for v-brakes, I'd absolutley consider it. If the S500 had a QR in the lever, I'd use it for everything. The chart of features for me goes like this: Braking Power: V-brakes=excellent, cantilevers=good enough for most applications Modulation: V-brakes=good enough for virtually every application, cantilevers=excellent Acceptable drop-bar brake lever choices: V-brakes=fair to poor, cantilevers=excellent Acceptable flat-bar brake lever choices: V-brakes=excellent, cantilevers=fair to good On Thursday, May 10, 2012 6:40:41 AM UTC-7, Jim Thill - Hiawatha Cyclery wrote: > > The CR720 is now standard issue on Cross-Checks and LHTs, which are the > two models we sell most at my shop. I've come to dislike cantilevers in > general, but I don't understand the appeal of this model in particular. I > doubt I'm making any setup mistakes, as I've been setting them up and > riding them for years, and I dislike them equally on bikes set up by > others. I find them fiddly and underpowered. Here's why, maybe. > > I guess one person's grabby, unmodulated brake is another's significant > technological improvement in braking. When I switched over from Paul cantis > to my current cheapish Tektro v-brakes on my touring bike, on the first > ride, I had to make a semi-emergency stop when a car pulled out in front of > me too close for comfort. I pulled the brakes with all my ingrained > cantilever king-fu grip, and was startled by how fast I stopped. So I can > see how a person who's accustomed to cantis and, perhaps, read enough Jan > Heine and other conventional wisdom that says v-brakes aren't adequately > modulated, would come to the conclusion that v-brakes aren't adequately > modulated based on such an experience. But if you stick it out with > v-brakes and make a few good stops, your hand recalibrates, and modulation > is just fine, ultimate "oh sh!+!" stopping power is greatly improved, and > cantis start to feel like something from the rod-brake era. Plus v-brakes > are cheap and easy to set up - the number of forum posts here pertaining to > v-brake setup issues here is nil, while canti setup discussions are a near > weekly occurrence. > > IME, some men and all but the burliest women are unsatisfied with the > braking power of a new, say, Surly LHT with stock cantilever brakes. Now > that Tektro makes long pull aero levers, and v-brakes are excellent > even/especially at the cheap level, it's a $60 upcharge to go to v-brakes > on these bikes. We do the swap more often than not...which means that I > have a bunch of cr720 brakes to sell at swap meets someday! -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "RBW Owners Bunch" group. To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msg/rbw-owners-bunch/-/h3QDi7DPApQJ. To post to this group, send email to rbw-owners-bunch@googlegroups.com. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to rbw-owners-bunch+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/rbw-owners-bunch?hl=en.
