Originally Posted by
KDC1956
I'm thinking about putting on new brakes and brake levers on my LHT. I am looking at the Shimano BL-R400 brake levers
and Shimano Cantilever brakes BR-R550.I don't like what came on my bicycle.Anyone use these brakes parts before if so how good are they.I am some what of OLD School ways.
The 550 are some of the nicest cantis still available. I like them because they have a nice combination of quality materials, great function, nice looks-nothing goofy or radical, and very reasonably priced. I run them on my commuter, both front and rear. Very solid construction, very smooth operation. I personally prefer to set them up with a Tektro yoke and separate transverse cable
http://sheldonbrown.com/harris/cable...are-brake.html
rather than the supplied Shimano link cable. The supplied link wire takes much less time and effort to set up. But I've got all the time in the world and like to fiddle and experiment with different angles/lengths, leaving the transverse cable free to slide along the yoke versus clamping it down with the grub screws, etc.