I have traditional cantilever brakes on my (almost) all-original-parts mid 80's Lotus. The brakes on this thing have been terrible ever since I inherited it. I never realized how bad they were until I rode my friend's Bianchi and nearly flipped over the handlebars upon braking--who knew you are suppose to stop with a gentle pull on the lever!?

So my question is: can the old rims somehow to blame for this poor braking? Is it possible that the rims have simply become slick from 30 years of braking? I have replaced the pads twice in the matter of a year, adjusting the pads each time, but neither replacement nor adjustment fixed the problem.

Perhaps the wheels aren't the problem: can it just be that cantilever brakes suck? I'm sort of hoping this is the case, as replacing the brakes is obviously cheaper than replacing wheels. Can any style/size fit on my bike? Here are some pics for reference:


thanks for the help