I use Avid 8 canti's on my touring bike, they have been a good set of stoppers for me. I can't tell you they are any better then the Avid 6 or Avid 4 because they are the same accept for the ti hardware and the price. One thing I can say though, the long brake pads can generate some rim heat on a long steep decent on a loaded bike. If it helps, I would buy the same brake again if I needed a set of brakes. The only change I made was I replaced the four pads with kool stop thin line pads, the avid pads were eating my rims up and they didn't have the stopping power of the kool stops. Also, I have no fender and rack clearance problems with the brakes.