This is wrong. I ride almost everyday with v-brakes, and find that I can apply the brakes in a wide range of modulation from zero to "locked". After years with cantilevers, the first time with the added power of v-brakes did take some practice to modulate (two or three stops was enough practice), but now when I ride others' bikes with cantilevers, I get scared when I squeeze the lever and nothing happens beyond a hissing noise (until I squeeze really hard, which I can because I have strong hands). Most women and lots of men don't have cow-milking hand-strength and can't effectively use cantilevers with aero levers, but v-brakes will work well even for those who have less than a kung-fu grip.
I just put some Avid Elixir 5 hydraulic discs on my Surly Disc Trucker. Now THAT is a powerful brake. On Thursday, May 10, 2012 9:32:54 PM UTC-5, Steve Palincsar wrote: > > On Thu, 2012-05-10 at 17:02 -0700, Jim Thill - Hiawatha Cyclery wrote: > > I wonder why folks value modulation so highly? In my view, the primary > > purpose of brakes is to stop effectively, and therefore, the more > > powerful brake is my usual preference. > > It's because when I put the brakes on I do not always want to lock them. > Sometimes I just want to slow down a little bit, without locking the > brakes. > > > With v-brakes, scrubbing speed in tight downhill corners or whatever > > isn't difficult at all to modulate, UNLESS you are accustomed to > > squeezing the bejeezus out of cantilevers to get the same result, in > > which case the v-brake will seem to lack modulation. In that case, the > > brake is hard to modulate because the rider has no finesse on the > > brake lever. No problem though, because it's easy to learn the > > necessary finesse. > > Right. If you want full lock, touch the levers, or just blow on them. > If you want anything else, keep your hands in your pockets and your lips > sealed. We call that "modulation." > > 8=) > > > > On Thursday, May 10, 2012 9:32:54 PM UTC-5, Steve Palincsar wrote: > > On Thu, 2012-05-10 at 17:02 -0700, Jim Thill - Hiawatha Cyclery wrote: > > I wonder why folks value modulation so highly? In my view, the primary > > purpose of brakes is to stop effectively, and therefore, the more > > powerful brake is my usual preference. > > It's because when I put the brakes on I do not always want to lock them. > Sometimes I just want to slow down a little bit, without locking the > brakes. > > > With v-brakes, scrubbing speed in tight downhill corners or whatever > > isn't difficult at all to modulate, UNLESS you are accustomed to > > squeezing the bejeezus out of cantilevers to get the same result, in > > which case the v-brake will seem to lack modulation. In that case, the > > brake is hard to modulate because the rider has no finesse on the > > brake lever. No problem though, because it's easy to learn the > > necessary finesse. > > Right. If you want full lock, touch the levers, or just blow on them. > If you want anything else, keep your hands in your pockets and your lips > sealed. We call that "modulation." > > 8=) > > > > -- 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/-/khkKENpxpbgJ. 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.
