Ithaka

Two quickies:

-Can cross levers work effectively with center-pull cantilever brakes? I believe my LBS said something about them feeling mushy (or maybe it was cross levers with V-brakes?)

-When you replace a flat, do you leave one side of the tire on the wheel, then slide the semi-inflated tube up into the tire, or do you take the entire tire off and work one side of the bead on? It took me 2 hours last night to get my tire to seat properly...

corkscrew

I have cane creek cross levers on my T700. They worked GREAT when I had canti's installed.

When I went to new v-levers and v-brakes, not so much, the brake levers work great, but the cross levers bottom out before they are truly effective. I'll be removing them once a new roll of brake housing comes in the mail. So yeah, you should be fine with cantis.

On tubes, I lever off one half of the tire and poke the tube in there. Makes re-seating the one bead easier. Also when re-inflating you can work the tire back and forth with your hands - will aid in the one side seating properly.

FBinNY 

I've done it both ways. On mtn wheels and some road wheels with deep center wells I remove the entire tire, switch tubes, and remount. On tighter fitting tire/rim combinations I work from one side only. Another consideration is whether you know the cause, because it's easier tom inspect with the tire off the rim.

Ithaka

Okay, thanks for the quick responses.

I think I finally had more success in leaving one side of the tire on, then wedging the tube up in there.

Gonna head off to the LBS to get some new brakes on my Lotus to finally get him back on the road!

fietsbob

The Aero lever on the end of the cable and the cross lever in the middle pull different amounts of cable.

so adjusting them at the cantilever caliper is a compromise,

between the actuation feel within the travel arc, of the 2 levers,

and the movement distance of the brake pad to the rim.

HillRider

I always remove the tire completely from the rim when I repair a flat as it's the only way to inspect the inside adequately to find what caused the flat in the first place. I'm sure everyone has seen someone do this or done it themselves; you rush to repair the flat by yanking out the old tube, stuff in a new one and inflate it only to have another flat a few hudred yards further along because what caused the first flat is still in the tire.

When I reinstall the tire, I do fit one bead over the rim, then stuff in the lightly inflated tube and finally seat the second bead. Pinch the beads together and check all around the wheel on both sides to be sure the tube is completely inside the tire before you inflate it.

ryker

No argument with any of the advice above.

But if it is taking 2 hours to fit a tire, I would be inclined to inspect your components for damage. If you have damage to the tire bead, it can be very difficult to get the tire to stay put. In this case you are also at risk of having the tire come off the rim while riding.

Andy_K 

I like cross levers with canti brakes. I also have cross levers installed on one bike with a V-brake with Travel Agent in front, and that works pretty well too.

Standalone 

was just reading Sheldon Brown's site and he thought that "mushiness" was important to a good high mechanical advantage brake like the cantilever. He explains it better than I can, so I'll leave it to you to read.

But more simply, aren't cross levers pretty much designed for cantis?

Greyryder

They can be too mushy. I used a short pull lever with a V brake, once. It was so mushy, that the wheel would be completely locked up, well before I could feel any resistance in the lever. I had to feel for what the bike was doing. The one fingered braking was nice, though.

Ithaka

Sort of unrelated, but it ends up my brakes are a specifically weird setup. The cable that hangs down has two little knobs on the end, that then engage a semi-circle loop on the brake itself. The cable that hangs down is too long, so my LBS ordered some part that shortens the cable after a little adjusting. Once that hassle is taken care of, they are going to install the new cable/housing, Tektro cross-levers, and some black bar tape.

Last upgrades are those MKS Sylvans and a black saddle. Then I'll be done