thanks Ricky. I'm a fattie & so need all the stopping power I can get. thus I also run my tires full inflated, so I get lots of bumps from the road and probably do more damage to the 451 b/c I can't find wide tires with high psi. the Marathons are 1.5" with max 100, which are fabulous but only 406.
can I ask what you mean by "don't actually use the gearing" on the travel adjusters? What do you use in the front, centerpulls? why not travel agent in both places? this is now the decision I'm wrestling with. also, I read somewhere about the new Shimano STIs having more travel - which sounds like the case with your DA. I have brand new Tiagra shifters, obviously not in the same league but I wonder whether they might have enough travel to drive V-brakes by themselves...
<btw, I have to say this is an awesome forum>