Hey, I'm a relatively proficient mechanic but this one has thrown me through a loop.

2000ish era Shimano V-brakes contacting an alloy rim in good condition

I've gone as far as adjusting the brakes all the way down to just nearly touching the rim, almost zero space between pad and rim, and when I pull the lever I can pull it all the way to the bar with relative ease. Feels too squishy. Pads contact the rim but I can just keep pulling the lever with no stop

It feels like running a short pull lever with linear brakes but I'm fairly certain the Deore XT levers I have are set to linear pull. I checked and both the front and rear lever are setup identically and the front lever works just fine as I would expect a linear pull brake to work.


Kind of like grabbing at straws here but any idea what to try next? Possible causes?