Originally Posted by
himespau
so wait, spongy is good? my problem with canti's is I can pretty much bottom out the levers. maybe a cm before the bottom, the pads hit the rims, but I can still squeeze and it feels like I'm not getting any more stopping power.
You might first try setting your pads a bit closer to the rim. If you have narrow or medium profile cantilevers, you might experiment with lengthening the saddle cable to raise the saddle hanger position, this will provide less mechanical advantage so the pads move-in faster and contact the rim sooner and leave you enough travel at the levers so you don't bottom out. All the mechanical advantage in the world is worthless if you don't have any lever travel left to apply more force.