Hello Bike Gurus..

I'm doing a custom project for a friend using a Schwinn Frontier mountain bike (I think from the badge it's a 2000). It has center-pull cantilever brakes with 26" wheels but I noticed that it has plenty of room to fit a 27" wheel. However, as you've probably surmised, the pads won't reach the rims so I was researching alternatives.

I'm pretty much settled on keeping the 26" wheels but I was wondering if anyone has had experience with using brake pad extenders. I feel that they would not be as strong as the "non extended" because the extenders protrude above the pad mount and while the extender is rigid, I'm guessing it will still flex to some degree and therefore be less responsive.

For my future builds, should I just cast the thought of use extenders out the window or are they okay to use?

Thanks,
Kirk