yourrealdad

If i use a 700c xtracycle will normal v-brakes be compatible? i.e. Avid SD 7

What is the point of the mini v-brake they offer?

Is there any way to use my STI shifters with v-brakes without a travel agent?

Thank you

TheBrick

You need either a pauls components moto BMX brakes resulting in a brake with need a standard short pull brake lever (like your sti levers.)

or

a mavic brake 700c adapter which allows you to run any type of cantilever brake, linear pull (v type) or standard cantilever.

yourrealdad

The mavic thing looks like you use it on a 26" bike so you can run both wheels. The xtracycle that I will buy will be 700c specific. I just want to know if I buy it will I have any issues running a normal v-brake with the 700c wheels?

They have the mini-vbrake but I have read that it has crappy clearance and you can't use fenders or larger than 32mm tires. Both of which I want.

kayakdiver

you can run both wheel sizes on an extracycle 700C kit if you use disc brakes... Have you considered going with a disc rear brake and wheel combo? With an xtracycle you will be amazed at how much more your rear brake helps slow you down. Since the wheel is further back the weight is also further back making the rear brakes much more effective in my experience. As to your real question.. no idea.

Tubular Swells

I understand that the only advantage of mini-v's is that you can use any drop bar lever, as they only require short pull.

yourrealdad

I have already bought a set of wheels which are not disc, so I think my options are to go v- brake

Doconabike

If you use the 700c Xtracycle Free Radical Kit, the brake posts will be placed correctly for a 700c wheel. As it says on the Xtracycle site:

"The Free Radical frame has two sizes: the 26" and 700c; The only difference is in the location of the brake post mounts. The 26" style is for most mountain bikes, and the 700c will fit most road and cyclocross bikes."

Looking at my Xtracycle, (which is a 26" version), there seems to be plenty of room for a larger wheel, with the understanding that the brake posts would be in the wrong place if you put in a larger wheel. Thus, to answer your question, normal v-brakes will work with your 700c wheels as long as you buy the Free Radical Frame that puts the brake posts in the proper position.

To see what I mean, look at item 4 in the schematic below.







I am also intrigued by Mavic's adaptor that adds another set of brake posts so you can run 700c wheels on a frame with brake posts for 26". It does seem like the best idea, though, just to order the XtraCycle Free Radical frame to fit the wheels you want to use.


In my opinion, it's not a good idea to mix STI levers with v-brakes unless changing the amount of travel of the brake cable.

see these threads
here
here

and also read Sheldon Brown's ideas on this topic.

Stopping is important, I would make sure that your cable pull really does match your brakes, either by having the proper levers or the proper adaptors.

TheBrick

Sorry my mistake I thought xtracycle where only building their frame in 26" size and it was disks or or the solutions I listed.

TheBrick

Being as you can get a 700c xtracyle and brakes are important to your big load I'd get the Pauls neao retro canti and maybe a brake booster. This is meant to be a very powerful cantilever. If there is not one already I am sure it would be easy to st up a cable hanger to run normal cantilevers rather than linear pull cantilevers.

yourrealdad

Brick, do you know of anyone running canti with a hanger attachment on their xtracycle? I would save me a lot of trouble and many people I think would be happy. It blows my mind that they don't offer canti options.

Thanks

rhm

I have cantilever brakes on my Xtracycle, mostly because that's what I had on the bike before I put on the freeradical. I won't show you how I rigged the cable; it works fine, but it's rather inelegant! A somewhat more elegant solution, which I've been meaning to implement one of these days, would involve getting the correct size Sturmey Archer Pulley Assembly , and a fulcrum clip from the same source.

Basically, the trick to putting canti's on your Xtracycle is getting the cable to approach the brakes from the correct angle; you'd put the pulley somewhere on the seat tube, and the fulcrum clip somewhere above it; now your brake housing runs along the top tube to near the seat tube, turns down the seat tube to the fulcrum and stops there; the cable continues down to the pulley, turns approx. 90 deg to the brake. You would need a longer brake cable than what you have now, but if done right your existing cable housing should work fine. Obviously you may lose some efficiency through the right angles in the cable; hard to tell how bad that would be.

There is another way to do it; you have to get a knicknack somewhat like the travel agent that replaces the stirrup cable on a cantilever brake so the cable attaches from the side rather than the center; the housing goes all the way to the brake, just like on a V-brake. I have one of these on the front wheel of my Counterpoint Opus II. I will try to remember to take a photo of it, or at least to note the name on it; is might be just what you need, if only you can locate one.

TheBrick

I have not seem any one with canti setup but I think something simple like this with a jublie clip round the bit of the free radical that goes between the chainstays would work. It may not be beautiful but it should work.