Old 11-18-11, 03:53 AM
  #2  
dabac
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Originally Posted by tenkerman
My old Bianchi Volpe has the original cantilever brakes. What would be a reasonably priced upgrade?
IMO, the main development in cantis has been in how the brake pads attaches to the brake arms. The old smooth post design, with one nut controlling the position in all directions could be a pain to set up. I'd pretty much consider any brake using threaded posts as superior to that.
Otherwise, get some new pads, check out Sheldon Brown's page on brake set up, clean your rims and see if you're happy with that.

Originally Posted by tenkerman
My old Bianchi Volpe .. has 27" rims on Phil Wood hubs.
Nothing inherently wrong with 27". There's still a decent selection of tires out there.
Originally Posted by tenkerman
I've been advised by my LBS that the spoke nipples are questionable
Don't really understand that. Old nipples, particularly aluminium, may seize, which is n't a concern until the wheel needs to be trued. Whatever the nipples, if they've held together until now odds are they'll keep on holding up. For brass in particular, nipple reliability is pretty much a non-issue.

Originally Posted by tenkerman
Am I correct that I have to stick with 27" wheels ..
probably not. Brakes do come with different reach, even canti brakes.

Originally Posted by tenkerman
..because of the brake design ?
If you're set on keeping the brakes - maybe. It's real easy to check. The brake track with 28"/700C/622 mm rims will sit 4 mm lower. Eyball the current set-up, and you should be able to make a fairly reliable judgement call as to whether you have sufficient adjustability in your current parts.

Originally Posted by tenkerman
... is there a brake option that would allow me to switch to 700 wheels?
Probably, but basically the only ones that can answer that straight off is someone who'd done the exact same conversion that you're thinking about.
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