My 2¢: Our Santana came with high-end Shimano cantilever brakes, properly set up. They could slow us down rather effectively. However, once the price point on V-brakes became reasonable, I changed out the front & rear brakes. With the Vs, I could easily skid the front wheel. This I discovered was not healthy for my back and kidneys, as my dear girlfriend / wife would give me prompt percussive feedback for demonstrating this feat with her on board.

On my aluminum Nashbar cruiser, I'm running Vs front and cantilevers rear (the rear set formerly on the tandem, in fact), as the rack strut configuration on that bike doesn't play well with V cable/noodle routing. I use adjustable levers with settings for V and standard pull. When I taught cycling skills classes, I could skid the rear tire and stand the bike on its front wheel with the rear about a foot off the pavement - both to demonstate what not to do when performing emergency braking maneuvers emphasizing strong front brake use and fast modulation.