Originally Posted by
TandemGeek
Are you sure about that?
...
Perhaps I'm missing something, but the way I've come to understand it, a TA significantly increases the amount of brake arm travel (which you correctly note) for the same amount of brake lever pull, and also increases the braking force once the brake shoes contact the rim when compared to the amount of hand force it would take without the TA.
Nope. The TA changes the "gearing" of the brake cable. Just like when you change gearing in the driveline, if you want to move twice as far per crank revolution, you are going to have to mash twice as hard on the pedals.
Noise: V-brakes have a fair bit of mass a long way from the mounting studs. (large moment of inertia) TAs add quite a bit more. This makes the resonant frequency quite low and easy to excite.
One advantage that has not been mentioned is that the spherical washers used with V-brakes make it a lot easier to align the pads than with the plain studs found on cantis. I can do V-brakes with only two hands, where cantis require that I deploy my prehensile tail as well.
Also not mentioned is the main reason that V-brakes are more popular than cantis on MTBs: Suspension. Cantis require a cable stop that moves with the wheel axle and is quite a ways from the tire.