fender1

I am considering doing a Surly LHT build and was wondering which of the two brakes mentioned above is easier, regarding steup, cheaper in price and has the most stopping power? My guess is the v brake for all 3 but was wondering if anyone knew for sure since most of my brake experince pertains to dual pivot road calipers or avid mechanical discs.

Thanks

cyccommute 

I'm assuming that you are using drop bars. Are you using Shimano integrated levers or bar ends? If you are using STI, you can use V-brakes but you have to use a travel agent. I've tried them in the past and never really had good luck with them. Cantis are a little more involved in set up but so is the travel agent. I'd use cantis. A word of warning, Avid Shorties are good brakes but the squeal like crazy! Go with a different brand.

If you are using barends, you can get V-brake compatible brake levers and can use V-brakes.

Retro Grouch 

What are you planning to do with the bike?

Linear pull brakes sometimes create interference issues with fenders and racks.

ericbuilds

I just set up my cylcocross bike with linear pull brakes (avid), travel agents, and dura ace brifters and couldn't be happier. I thought the travel agents were super easy to set up, and having never used linear pull before, I'm totally impressed with the stopping power. And no squeak. I'm currently a big fan of linear pull over cants. For me the brakes reach over the fenders and the rack goes over the brakes, so with my geometry - no problem.

grolby

I set up my LHT with v-brakes and Dia Compe 287-V levers. I thought, as you're thinking, "hey, v-brakes are easier to set up and are more powerful than cantis!" Well, they're not easier to set up if you use these levers. There are serious cable friction issues. Cable routing is also more restrictive. Power is good until the cables get shifted by a light or something,then it immediately goes to hell. I got fed up with it, and in the next week or two I'm going to be installing traditional cantilevers and levers. I think that I'll be happier with them. Anyway, just one example where v-brakes did not lead to happiness.

roadfix

I have traditional cantis on my LHT with standard DiaComp road levers and bar end shifters. Your choice of shifter/lever combo can somewhat dictate which brakes are better suited for your particular set up. The LHT comes with a brazed-on rear hanger so that's a huge plus when going with standard cantis.

Banzai

I'll echo the fact that the Avids squeal like banshees.

Also...don't "mini-v" brakes work with traditional road levers? I thought I had read that somewhere.

fender1

Thanks for the replies. The bike will serve as 4 season commuter, ocassional child hauler and recreational ride. Racks and fendrs are must. I have racks, fenders, studded tires and dynolights etc. already on other potential donor bikes. What I need is a frame (LHT etc.) wheels for 135mm spacing rear, 1 1/8 theadless head set and brakes. I would be using most other parts, derailleurs, bars, seat post shifters, levers (I have a set of 287's and a set of Cane Creek Ergo) and Phil Wood BB from exisitng rides.

My goal is to get to one bike (I now have 3) for space and economical reasons. Also while I love the look of Rivendell stuff it is out of the budget and I am not looking to potentialy increase theft appeal. I spoke to the guy at Kogswell but they are more oriented in 650b wheel size of which I have no interest. My very limited experince w/ canti's (Shimano on a couple of old Trek touring bikes) is one of frustration in set up and squealing when in use. As a wild card I was also thinking of going with disc speciifc fork for the LHT and a canti in the rear. Thoughts, opinions, flaming barbs?

fender1

I forgot to mention that the Schmidt generator hub for the front wheel is disc specific.

RadioFlyer

Kogswell is going to release a 700c bike too.

What size LHT are you going with as that determines wheel size? What's the objection to 650b?

justinb

The 85mm Tektro mini-v's are working pretty well on my 'cross bike right now. They are set up pretty close to the rim. The stopping power is amazing, took some dialing to get the modulation right, but at this point, I feel they are superior to the LX cantis that were on there before. One unmentioned plus of v-brakes... no cable hanger in the headset stack.

top506

I don't know about road levers, but they work great with the 287V levers.
Top

fender1

I was looking at a 60cm which has a 59cm top tube. Nothing against 650b but no one makes a studded 650b tire that I am aware of and I have always been happy on 700cc 32mm-35mm or 27 1x1/4. That is more than enough choice for me.

Sheldon Brown

If you will be using upright handlebars, go for "v type."

If you will be using drop handlebars, go for traditional center-pull cantis.

Sheldon "It Depends" Brown

justinb

I guess I should've clarified in my original post... the levers actuating my mini-v's are a Cane-Creek SCR-5 on the left, and a Campy Veloce Ergo 9 on the right. There are interrupter levers on the top of the bars as well. As stated above, I've been pretty thrilled with the performance so far. The only thing I can't speak to is long term durability, something you might value in your touring rig.

I've played around with the 287v's and regular (XT) linear pulls, and was never happy with the performance. Seemed mushy and high-friction all the time. Word on the CX forum is that Tektro (and by extension, Cane Creek) will be releasing a linear pull compatible road lever soon.

Retro Grouch 

I've never liked the combination of mini-v's paired with conventional road brake levers. The cable pull provided by conventional levers is marginal so you have to set up the brake pads real close to the rim. To open the brake for removing a tire you have to either clip the nose of the noodle or loosen the brake cable with a barrel adjuster.

justinb

Yet another point for me to make... I must really like this brake setup ;-) What RetroGrouch says is true. The pads are so close to the rim that you can't open the brake without help. If you use levers that have the quick release in the lever body (Campy, Cane Creek, some Tektro), that will open them enough to open the brake at the noodle. Jagwire also makes noodles with a barrel adjuster included, if you want to go that route.

cs1

I don't know why everyone dislikes cantis so much. I've been using the wide profile exclusivley for years. Shimano Deore to be exact. They always perform superb. The set up isn't bad if you know what your doing. Plus cantis can be used with Ergo or STI without the dreaded Travel agent. Good luck on whatever you choose.

Tim

Kogswell

Peter White sells lots of studded tires, including the Nokian A10 in the 650B size:

Peter White Cycles

We use them here in the Upper Midwest:

HardyWeinberg

My limited experience was that mini-v's were extremely unforgiving of any flex in the wheel. I needed constant wheel-truing to keep the brakes from rubbing. Those were truly bad wheels though, when I switched to more reputable ones those problems went away.

BikeManDan

Cantilevers have more mechanical advantage behind them but I find them harder to adjust properly to get that advantage. Vs are simple to adjust and perform more reliably. Just my opinion.

Michel Gagnon

A few clarifications to the ideas posted before.
I think that Sheldon Brown summarized pretty much the best options.


Cantis vs v-brakes?

When properly set up, both are equally effective and can be equally easy to apply. V-brakes tend to be easier to adjust because you have less options, but the newer crop (read less than 10 years old) of cantis that use threaded brake pads are almost as easy to adjust as v-brakes. Differences are here:

Wheel Clearance: You get more with cantis, but v-brakes give you more than enough room. An educated guess tells me that you could run 700x42-45 (or probably something like 26x2") with fenders under v-brakes... which is more than what fits under the LHT. In other words, the choice is yours.
Mini-Vs are a different matter: they only allow 700x35-37 without fenders and barely 700x28 with fenders.

Heel and pannier clearance: Rear-wheel problem only. On a small frame, wide profile cantis can interfere with your heels; on a large frame, cantis and even v-brakes can interfere with your panniers.

Amount of cable pulled: This is where cantis are much better. Cantis work with traditional road brake levers, including the 9$ ones, and also work with STI and Ergo integrated levers (brifters).
V-brakes work only with Dia Compe 287V levers which are great when properly setup (and they are a pain to set up) or with a new model of Tektro levers (still vapourware as far as I can tell). The 287-V levers are 60-100 $.
To work with other levers, including STI, you need to install a Travel Agent on each brake, and this makes the cable more susceptible to breakage, and brake operation a bit more sluggish And on the rear brake, the added height of the Travel Agent is likely to interfere with the left pannier strut. In terms of aesthetics, I have a slight preference for v-brakes over cantis, but the Travel Agent totally ruins the picture.
Mini-V brakes work with standard road levers and STI levers without a Travel Agent, but severely limits your tire selection.

RadioFlyer

So, Avid shorties squeal... I'll remove those as an option.

Does anyone have an opinion on: Tektro or Cane Creek cantis?

Thanks!

rmac

I just installed some Avid shorties and from Sheldon's recommendation put Kool Stop Mountain pads on them (dual compond). They stop great and have no squealing. Because of their design you don't have to worry about the toe-in angle.