Cantilever brakes
I'm pretty much strictly a road cyclist, and I do all my own maintenance on my bikes. A couple years ago I got a neighborhood friend of my now 21 y.o. son into cycling as one of his off-season conditioning activities (he's on the Yale rowing crew). At first he was using one of my bikes. Then, he obtained a good bike through a family friend. The bike is kind of a cyclocross-road bike hybrid with road wheels/tires. But he's only road riding. I guess it's a cyclocross frame, and it has canti brakes. This week, he asked me to tune it up for him so that it'd be in good condition to take back to school. Honestly, I had never ridden a 'cross bike...nor even one with the cantilever brakes. There weren't any big issues with it. Just need wheels trued, brakes adjusted, shifting checked. And, he said the front brakes were "shuddering." When I rode it...WHOA!!! That scared me when I applied the front brakes. At first I thought it was simple a "toe-in" issue of the pads. But then I got on-line and read that it's pretty much an inherent issue with them. But...that it can be dangerous...especially with carbon forks (which this bike has) because it can cause the fork to break. One suggestion I found to diminish it is to switch to smaller pads. Which I did. The problem isn't completely eliminated. But it's WAY less than it was, and at least the front brake is usable. But, thinking about the "inherent" issue with these canti brakes...doesn't that happen when you're on a 'cross trail? Does the moisture and mud keep them from shuddering like that? Just curious.
Dan