I'd steer away from parallel push (?) v-brakes (the ones with the extra linkage). I got a second hand set of old parallel-push XTs: they were a little worn out (loose pivots), and when I had them on the front wheel, they'd squeal like a banshee. Really really bad! When on the rear wheel, and hence operating in the other direction, they worked fine and without noise, but I don't really brake with the rear wheel anyway.

I've also used a few different v-brakes, all worked fine. Currently have XTs, and they're great (KoolStop pads).