Singlespeed & Fixed Gear - Ready to buy my frame: canti or side-pull?

After lots of reading and thinking and test riding, I have decided to go ahead and start my single-speed build. Bike purpose: hilly urban errand-running, friend-visiting, casual riding. I want to get a steel frame with semi-horizontal drop-outs, so I have option to go geared in the future.

Decision: Surly Cross-Check or Salsa Casseroll. The biggest functional difference between the two frames looks like the different brake requirement.

I am leaning towards the Surly [color, durability, fork design], but I read about problems adjusting cantis. Is this brake requirement a good reason to steer clear of this frame, and go with the Salsa? Or, am I worrying about nothing?

Thanks for your insights and advice!

- JP

I have side-pulls on my bike, and they're really easy to adjust. All it takes is a few twists of the Allan wrench and I can increase/decrease the stopping power. but.. I've never really adjusted canti brakes. plus i'm drunk so disregard this if you wish

GL!

Put v-brakes on the Cross Check. I've got Avid SD-7s fore & aft on my bike and they work great ;)

Canti brakes can be a ***** sometimes, but I like mine.
And I wouldn't consider them hard to adjust by any means.

I've heard cantis are hard to adjust, but you could always get v brakes, if that's a concern for you, they use the same mounts as cantis and are easier to adjust. Personally I think side pulls look better though, but I don't know if that matters to you or not.

Can anyone suggest a long reach sidepull?

Can anyone suggest a long reach sidepull?

Tektro R536 works fine on my conversion.

Based on some pics I've seen, it looks like the CC is drilled to take F/R side-pull brakes too. You don't need to run canti's if this is the case. Hopefully someone who actually has a CC can confirm.

Todays cantis are not hard to adjust. The older post style cantis were more troublesome, but not bad. If you decide to get something like Avid shorty's then you should grab some extra washers as your goal is to have the flat section of the arms be parallel to the rim when your brake pad is touching the rim. If you want more adjustability you can also run an older style cable yoke and transverse wire so you can really change how the brakes feel.

get the bike that need cantis and use v brakes easy great power and they don't stick out all wierd

Based on some pics I've seen, it looks like the CC is drilled to take F/R side-pull brakes too. You don't need to run canti's if this is the case. Hopefully someone who actually has a CC can confirm.

the crosscheck is drilled for calipers but the reach is crazy long. even long reach calipers might not work, you might be stuck with a bmx caliper or the like.

calipers are no-brainers. cantilevers aren't that hard but do require some attention. if you have any aptitude towards working on bikes you'll get canti adjustment down quickly. if you just want to set it and forget it, calipers are the way to go.

edit: v brakes are also a great choice. require a tiny bit more attention than calipers, and easier to set up than cantis.

You may want to reconsider building your own bike if adjusting brakes is a major issue ;)



/sorry, I had to :bike2:

Can anyone suggest a long reach sidepull?

Cane Creek SCR-3L FTW.

http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/41V6CTUqfQL._SL500_AA280_.jpg

i would think less about how difficult the brakes are to adjust and more about what size tires you want to run.

canti's/v-brakes will allow you to run a large tire on the crosscheck, like 38, 42 maybe. with the cassaroll and calipers, you can probably only run 35's.

to me, that's the decision, both types of brakes will adjust fine, and if you get them right the first time, neither need much adjustment.

You may want to reconsider building your own bike if adjusting brakes is a major issue ;)

Don't you mean "breaks?" :thumb:

canti's/v-brakes will allow you to run a large tire on the crosscheck, like 38, 42 maybe. with the cassaroll and calipers, you can probably only run 35's. to me, that's the decision, both types of brakes will adjust fine, and if you get them right the first time, neither need much adjustment.

Cool. Ultimately, I want the option to run FAT tires ... so I am going to go with the Surly. Thanks!

How fat? Big Apples or go home.

I'd be all up on that Salsa. Loves me some matchy-matchy stems. But you gotta go complete.