Cyclocross - fork and brake upgrade...first hand experience?

as i've posted in the 'poprad fork...' thread, i've been having problems with mine (06 non-disc poprad) and have had only mild success with adjusting brake pads/swapping pads. so here's my question: i have a shop discount and a desire to make my bike (a) not shudder/squeal as bad or ideal not at all (b) be a bit more comfy on long rides (i see my cross bike becoming my primary ride once winter sets in).

what i'm thinking is upgrading my brakes to either avid shorty 6's or maybe shimano canti's (but i'm open to other suggesitons) and upgrading my fork to the ritchey carbon CX comp (there's one sitting on the shelf at work). i can't really afford anything more than the ritchey fork; as much as i'd like one, the alpha q's are just way outta my price range.

does anybody here have experience with any/all of these brakes or forks? any suggestions? should i even replace my fork (will it make a big difference)? i've been loving my first season racing cross and i don't mind that my brakes shudder and squeal or that the ride is a bit rough while racing (i can't really hear/feel much during the races), but i plan on longer winter rides (lots of dirt roads around here) and want a more functional and comfy ride when it gets chilly...any experience or advice would be appreciated.

Get a fork mounted cable stop, and maybe some better cantilevers. It will get rid of any shudder you have.

what canti's are you using?

Originally, I had tektro cantis and a kinisis crosslight alu fork (same company makes the poprad fork-they are nearly identical). With a steerer mounted cable hanger I got major chatter. To the point where I could not use the front brake. Pad changes (koolstop salmons) and toe in, toe out made little difference. I switched to some diacomp 987 cantis I had lying around and things were better, but I still had too much chatter for my liking. Then I tried a fork mounted hanger and all was right with the universe. Now I'm using XT cantis from just prior to the switch to V brakes, and a redline alu fork (bent the kinisis in a crash) and everything is still great. No chatter whatsoever. Give the fork mounted hanger a try-I was skeptical, but it worked.

where did you get a fork-mounted hanger? i've tried googling it and searching by manufacturer and i can't seem to find anybody willing to sell me one?

My CX bike cam with the Avid Shorty 6's. While they could be tuned for remarkable stopping power it wasn't pleasant to use. I switched to Paul canti's (http://aebike.com/page.cfm?PageID=30&action=details&sku=BR8869) and love them. Easy as pie to tune and with Kool-Stop Techtonic pads (http://aebike.com/page.cfm?PageID=30&action=details&sku=BR1125) installed today are proving to be just out of this world. I did an endo in the driveway no problem. Sure the neighbors loved that.

where did you get a fork-mounted hanger? i've tried googling it and searching by manufacturer and i can't seem to find anybody willing to sell me one?

I got mine from a LBS. Harris has them:

http://sheldonbrown.com/harris/cables.html#brakecablehardware

darkmother,
LOVE the avatar. "f***er won't sit still."

i think in a brake thread awhile back you suggested that a fork mounted cable hanger was the only real thing that worked to get rid of shudder for you, but i still haven't tried it... i've got my 6's tuned ok now (after tireless toe in/out adjustment, koolstop pads, etc.), but still some shudder under super hard braking. a friend just switched from the 6's to the 4za canti's and absolutely loves them. it totally got rid of all his shuddering and squeaking with quick setup, unlike the black magic needed to get barely acceptable avid 6 performance.

castiron,
did you go with the paul touring canti's for both the front and the rear, or did you use the neo retro's in the front and touring in the back? that's a good price on them...

i'm really thinking i want new brakes, rather than more messing around with the 6's... i still want to try the fork mounted cable hanger though. if i still can't get good performance, it's either some pauls or the 4za's...

darkmother,
LOVE the avatar. "f***er won't sit still." ...

Sort of twisted/bleak, but I enjoyed it too.

Brake chatter:

I'm still really kind of puzzled by this. What's weird is you can take the same fork, brake and bar set up off a really badly chattering CX bike and toss it on a MTB frame and the problem goes away. I think it is related to a combination of things-HT angle, fork stiffness etc. I think part of what is happening is the brake cable, when hung from the steerer makes a kind of feed back loop-like as the fork flexes back, the cable tension loosens or tightens slightly.

i also think the headtube length is another factor in the chattering equation.

i also think the headtube length is another factor in the chattering equation.

Yeah, I bet you are right.

Get a fork mounted cable stop, and maybe some better cantilevers. It will get rid of any shudder you have.

I'm not sure I understand how moving the cable stop from the headset to the fork crown can help eliminate/reduce brake chatter.

I'm not sure I understand how moving the cable stop from the headset to the fork crown can help eliminate/reduce brake chatter.

I don't either. But I played around with a lot with it, just out of curiousity, and it does work.