Cyclocross - Tektro 720 Cantis

Anyone here try the Tektro 720's? I've heard some but not a lot of feedback. They're about as much as Shimano BR550's. I know they're not Pauls but how good are they for the money?

I just installed a pair of those a few nights ago ...

They're seriously great brakes, even moreso because of how little they cost. There are set screws to adjust the spring tension of each arm, you can offset the yoke of the straddle cable to either side or perfectly centered and then bolt it in place. What else ... pads with dome washers (included) make toe-in/out a breeze. I also like how wide they are and that they're pretty light.

If I had a con it's that w/ so many different adjustments possible you really need to ensure that those tiny nuts/bolts aren't going to work loose. Blue loctite is your friend.

I recently switched to them as well. They are great for the price.. I didnt like the stock pads.. switched to kool stop mountain pads and they are perfect.

I used them for my Cross Check build. The stock pads were ok for a while then I opted for the Kool Stop Mountain pads.

I too run one in the front with kool stop pads. I haven't tried many others but I do like these better than the avid shorty 4 I had previously (with the same pads).

I'm getting these for my Cannondale build with the IRD Cafams in the rear. NAD now the 720 come in a polished silver to match the IRD's.

I'm getting these for my Cannondale build with the IRD Cafams in the rear. NAD now the 720 come in a polished silver to match the IRD's.

Whe Cafams in the rear, clearance?

I just replaced the POS Avids with these Tektro's on my Jake. For $26 I'm now able to stop relatively well in mud, muck and snow. I like the adjustability and wide yoke. IMO, cantis will never measure up to good calipers, but for the crosser the Tektros are a good deal.

I just replaced the POS Avids with these Tektro's on my Jake. For $26 I'm now able to stop relatively well in mud, muck and snow. I like the adjustability and wide yoke. IMO, cantis will never measure up to good calipers, but for the crosser the Tektros are a good deal.

You mean calipers as in disc brakes. Your probably correct. But most cross and road bikes aren't set up for them. So, we make due with cantis. Which actually work well.

Whe Cafams in the rear, clearance?

I'm trying to avoid heel strikes but I'm not sure that's really an issue. Technically the 720's have more power by design but you really don't need as much power on the rear. According to Paul, there is an approximately 10% reduction in power between the neo-retro's and the touring calipers. I'm assuming that the difference would be the same for my planned setup.

I'm running the cafams on both front and rear on my poprad and they are outstanding. I tried to use 720's but I had problems with the spring not fitting the canti bosses. I guess the 05 poprads had a weird front canti boss.

I'm trying to avoid heel strikes but I'm sure that really and issue. Technically the 720's have more power by design but you really don't need as much power on the rear. According to Paul, there is an approximately 10% reduction in power between the neo-retro's and the touring calipers. I'm assuming that the difference would be the same for my planned setup.

I'm running the cafams on both front and rear on my poprad and they are outstanding. I tried to use 720's but I had problems with the spring not fitting the canti bosses. I guess the 05 poprads had a weird front canti boss.

Was that a problem just Lemond and Tektro or Tektro and everyone? I was thinking about getting a set. I'm not sure they're actually better than the Deore XT's I've got sitting in my parts box though.

I talked to my lbs about the issue and he had never heard of anything like it before. On the poprad canti bosses the spring hole is not closed and the spring would pop out. I tried several other cantis in my parts box including older XT's and nothing else had the issue. If you are deciding between the XT's you have and 720's, they should both be fine but the 720's (or new canti's that use vbrake pads) are significantly easier to set up and adjust. Just my 2 cents.

I switched to them on my IRO Rob Roy for the back brakes because they allowed for more adjustability when positioning the wheel in horizontal trackends.

[i picked a second set for the front because i liked them so much, just haven't gotten around to installing them yet...

If you are deciding between the XT's you have and 720's, they should both be fine but the 720's (or new canti's that use vbrake pads) are significantly easier to set up and adjust. Just my 2 cents.

One of the things that's drawing me to the 720's are the pads. I'm really satisfied with my vintage Shimano brakes but really don't like the pads.

Which koolstop salmon pads do I get for the 720, the ones that come with a threaded post? or the shimano dura-ace/ultegra/105 style replacement pad? is that a little metal clip that I pry upwards to remove them? I didn't see instructions for pad replacement on tektro's website.

You can get just the replacement pads for v-brakes. Looks like they're call 'Thinline Cantilever' on the kool stop web site. http://www.koolstop.com/brakes/index.php#Anchor-Also-6785

Just removed the clip, slide out the old pads, slide in the new ones and replace the clip.

The ones with a threaded post would also work if you happen to have those already.

great, thanks :)

i have the cr720s. I didn't like the screw together yoke that came with it. I ended up using my old yoke.. one less screw to come apart.

I just bought some in silver for my Guerciotti and per your instructions, I'm using some salmon Koolstops on them.

Thanks for the advice!

I have some. I've used them in a bunch of races already. They have great mud clearance, but I'm not super happy with their braking force yet. They are better than the brakes they replaced (frogslegs and avids), but I don't think I have the set up right yet. Mud clearance was great in the muddy race I did. I got a remount wrong today, and I bashed my knee on the rear brake which necessitate stopping to fix it...

I don't have much experience with canti brakes, but I bought these based on the price and the good reviews. Once I got them set up, they work great. I can't imagine that the brakes I've seen for 3 or 4 times as expensive would work much better.

They are inexpensive, $50 total for both front and rear including shipping. I've used them for 3 races now. Love them. MUCH better than the crappy Avid Shorty 4s I used to have. No toe in, no squeal at all. I get some fork shudder, but only when I am going slow ( SUPER SLOW, like 2 miles an hour) across the parking lot trying not hit people after I finish a race.