Mountain Biking - v brakes

I am one of those guys still running v brakes and want to upgrade (no, not to disc ) , which is the best v brake ? It seems xt , xtr and arch rivals have the pads not arching toward the rim , in your experience is there any benefit to this ?

What's a v brake?

In theory there is a difference, but IME they all stop good if properly set up.

For the price of XTR, you could get Paul MotoLites. The best V's IMO. I and many run Avid SD7's, and love them. the pads they come with suck, but they are super strong, and no flex under hard braking. One thing to think about is the levers? Many people over look them when upgrading, and wonder why the braking still sucks.

I like the Avid SD7 brakes.

its not so much the actual brakes but the pads that make the biggest difference when it comes to V's

a lot of people like koolstop pads. they do make some for wet weather that stop really well but wear out really fast compared to normal all-condition pads.

i have a set of avid speed dial levers, they were 20 bucks a pair, i think they are the nicest that avid makes. they are silky smooth.

a good set of V's is better than a bad set of discs.

I do run sd5s and I'm a big believer in Kool Stop pads-I've heard parallel push v brakes have an issue w/ chatter as they start to wear , probably because of the extra pivot in the arm

XTR V brakes are nice but do often have some chatter whereas XT's (same design) seem to suffer from this less and after doing some reading it seems that the XT levers can make a big difference when used with the XTR brakes.

I used Avid levers with XT brakes and love the set up.

i'm running avid single digit ultimates and find them to be quite powerful. they don't flex under hard braking either. the pivots have sealed bearings, which makes them super smooth. i'm running them with xt levers.

i've never enjoyed setting up shimano v brakes. too many extra moving parts. they also seem prone to chatter.

a good set of V's is better than a bad set of discs.

Very true.

I agree on the pads too, but some cheaper v's flex a lot under pressure.

BTW, the XTR's squeal like you wouldn't believe. There have been a many we see at the shop that just won't quit. New pads, nada, it's all in the brake itself. Very flexy

I am one of those guys still running v brakes and want to upgrade (no, not to disc ) , which is the best v brake ? It seems xt , xtr and arch rivals have the pads not arching toward the rim , in your experience is there any benefit to this ?

The latest generation of XT V-brakes have lost the parallel push linkage and are advertised as being 152 grams lighter.

The older version of the XT brakes and all versions of the XTR brakes have pads that still travel in an arc, but the parallel push linkage lessens this effect quite a bit.

If cost is an issue, I'd go with the Avid SD7 and a maybe some Kool Stop pads if the stock pads don't feel right.

I've got SD7's as well and really like them although I am seriously considering upgrading to non-Shimano levers. I think the levers add a bit of squish to the equation. I just don't think that for the XC (read NOT freeride or downhill) that I do, discs are not going to be such a huge improvement to warrant buying new wheels, brakes etc...

I got a pair of these:

http://store.icyclesusa.com/shared/StoreFront/default.asp?CS=icycles&StoreType=BtoC&Count1=444469630&Count2=361610054&CategoryID=36&Target=products.asp

and I like them better than the parallel-push XTs I had. The pads suck and the way the cable affixing bolt is situated it splays the cable, but besides that they are surprisingly strong. I thought they'd be a temp deal till I got something new but I really like them.

+10 on Kool stops

SD7 v-brakes with koolstop pads, activated by avid speed dial 7 levers.

I like 'em just as much as my mafac cantis, and that's saying something..

^^please don't say you like them better tho...:p

what levers were you using with the mafac? I ran some with older pauls cross levers on my crosbike for a season. WOW!!!

For the mafacs, I like dia-compe ss5 levers for flat bars, and mafac levers for drops.

If only the damn things weren't just about extinct in northern california.