bikebreak

I am building up a new frame for on and off road, and probably going to race it cx this fall

I have cantis on my Trek 750 and find them a bit weak, squealy, hard to adjust. Love the v-brakes on my commuter, so thinking of going with v-brakes. Most riding will be road or paths, probably not much mud

1. Is there any disadvantage to V for this use?

2. is there a brake pad holder that will let me put carbon specific pads from my road bike brakes into V brakes?

thanks!

corwin1968

I rode a Trek 730 for 12 years and when I bought a Trek FX with V-brakes, I swore I would never go back to traditional cantilevers. I'm now riding a 730 again and it's got V-brakes and I find them to be more powerful and MUCH easier to setup and adjust. The only drawback forme is that the pads are thinner and don't last as long.

I have no idea on your pad question but I suspect there isn't a way to make it work since road bike brakes are completely different from cantilever/v-brakes.

LesterOfPuppets

1. Maybe, maybe not. Some brake levers are adjustable for Cantis or Vees. The V setting has the cable end farther from the bar (more cable pull). If yours don't have two settings, you'll need to get new brake levers.

2. Crabon rims on a Trek 750? YES! I'd probably just get KoolStop Tectonic V holders and carbon pads instead of sharing road bike pads.

Some roadie pads (and holders) bolt right onto some V-brake arms, but some V-brake arms are too thick to do this. I proabably wouldn't go this route either. It's really not that much to just get crabon pads for the Trek.

DirtRoadRunner

Cantilever brakes are not difficult to adjust - they just have a learning curve. Taking the tire off the wheel and putting the bike in a stand helps tremendously. I also use a feeler gauge to set the toe-in on my Tektro CR720's - only $25 per wheel and very powerful when they are set up properly. The CR720's come with pad holders that accept standard road pads. Honestly, I only touch my canti's about once a year, and spend about 10 minutes adjusting each wheel.

The bottom line is that cantilevers that aren't set up right or that have crappy pads will be weak and squeal enough to drive you crazy. When you put good pads in them and spend the time to really dial them in they can be a extremely powerful brake with excellent mud clearance, along with good reliability. Plus they are cheap.

FrozenK

Get mini-V brakes, like the TRP CX 8.4. Will give up a bit of power compared to full sized v-brakes but they will work with road levers and use regular road pads.

Disadvantages vs cantis: a little less modulation, less mud clearance, and less space between pad and rim. So if your wheel is out of true it will rub where a canti setup may still have clearance.

Advantages over cantis: more stopping power, less finicky to setup, no fork shudder.

Henry III

I would do mini v if your using modern road shifters. Being the normal v brakes won't work with modern shifters because they don't pull enough cable. You can get adapters from Problem Solvers as I had some on a dropbar mtb setup I did. They pretty much did the job but I just didn't care for them.

I've been debating on using some mini v's since I have some Tektro CR720 on a dropbar hybrid gravel bike I built. Being they stick out quite a bit I'll clip my heel on the arms. They are really nice cantilevers for the price compared to the higher end brothers in the TRP lineup.

jtbadge

I have Mini-Vs (Tektro Tektro 930AL) on my Nature Boy (SS/cross bike) and Vs (Shimano Deore) on my Space Horse (geared gravel bike). They were each a huge, inexpensive upgrade in stopping power over the stock cantis.

fietsbob

My favorite V Brake, now, is Magura's Hydraulic rim brakes.. they bolt onto the V Brake posts, but dont use them as A Pivot.

in the past year they re introduced a skinny tire center bolt on brake,

for that they have a cable to hydraulic converter , It will work with the HS double piston Brake too.

May be too heavy for your racing cross desires though..

for that there are abundant cantilevers.. I Got a set of Mafacs brand new in 1975.

Modolo's Cross Brakes in 1983,


Kool Stop makes brake pads & Pad inserts in a variety of types and compounds ..

tarwheel 

Properly set up canti brakes with decent pads should stop well. The advantages that cantis have over V brakes are better clearance for removing/installing tires, less chance of rub if wheel gets out of true and less likelihood of jamming up with mud. I've got Tektro CR720 and Shimano CX50 canti brakes on several bikes and they have all the stopping power that I need.

justin1138

another vote for mini-v's. i have tektro 926AL's on one bike and tektro RX6's on another. both sets work great. not as blingy as the TRP's, but I'd guess they stop just as good.

msu2001la

I upgraded the stock canti's on my CAADX to TRP 9.0CX and my god, what a world of difference it made. The mini-V's stop so much better, and the fork shudder is completely gone.

I spent a lot of time screwing around with my canti setup trying to get it dialed in correctly. I tried several different pads, etc and while I liked the brake feel and clearance, I never felt like they stopped very well. First ride with the mini-v's made me realize what I was missing. The brake feel is a bit more mushy with the mini-v's but they are way more powerful.

In short, go with the mini-v's.

Richard8655

Riding an ink blue Trek 750 since 1997 when bought new. I really like Kool Stop Eagle 2 dual compound cantis I just installed. Grabs perfectly and precisely with no squeals. But compared to V's, a PIA to position these (or any) cantis properly.

Jiggle

Cantis are a compromise for mud clearance. If you don't need that then get V brakes. I like the cheap Tektros (926AL for example) with a set of road pad adapters. I had to search a lot to find these, made by Jagwire.