SamSpade1941 

As I continue plow through my 91 Model Trek 7900 Multitrack project to make it road worthy again , I am at a point where I need to rehab or replace the brakes. In the vintage forum I was told everything on the bike was top tier for its time, and while I believe that may be true it appears the brakes will need new pads, and I am missing the straddle cables for the cantilever arms. The springs on the arms seem to be soft but that may just be the way they are supposed to be. I am a total newb when it comes to bike mechanics ..

Has anyone used the the Cane Creek cantilevers ? Or the TRP Revo X Alloy cantilever brakes ? I am told they are both supposed to be decent quality brakes ... I had also considered the HS33 Magura hydraulic rim brakes, but my neighbor told me they might not work with the 700x40 Schwalbe Marathon Guard tires I bought which are currently mounted on the wheels I purchased. He told me cantilevers would be optimal since I already have deore cantilever levers that are in good shape.

Lastly should I use jagwire or regular shimano cables ?

Thanks so much for everyone's help...

dsbrantjr

I have HS33 on the front of my Mongoose Alta running 47mm City Tires and have tons of clearance. I have Tektro CR720 cantis (which seem to have similar geometry to the Cane Creeks) with Problem Solver Wide cable carriers on the rear and they are well balanced to the HS33 in terms of braking power. I have the CR720s with the same setup on my other bikes as well. I would recommend either of them, but the HS33s are superior for certain.

jyl

You can buy a new "BR-CT91 Link Wire For Cantilever Brakes" for $3, to use your existing brakes. There is an A length and a B length. I don't know which you need, but it wouldn't cost much to buy them both. With new pads and proper adjustment, those brakes should work just fine.

dsbrantjr

I dislike link wires and use straddle cables and wide carriers instead; they are more easily adjustable and as long as you have something like a fender or reflector bracket under the straddle cable there is no danger of it catching the tire in the event of a main cable failure, which is why I believe the link wire was introduced.

fietsbob

I got HS33 on a Bike running 26-1.75 tires .. it will work on many bikes with V/Cantilever Brake posts on them.


people have published books on that topic , have you considered reading some of them?

Delmarva

The original brakes should work just fine unless they are damaged. Just replace the pads and straddle cables and be done with it. Replacing all the brake hardware needlessly adds more complexity to the project.

Homebrew01

The springs only need to be strong enough to pull the arms & pads away from the rim when you release the brake lever.