hello patgoral,
Yes cantis are a pain to get set up properly, But thay offer very good performance in many different areas over other brake systems.

Ive tried a bunch of cantis and there are a few that worked very well and some were so so , some cantis work better on certain frames than others.

first I would Go to the Harris cyclery site and Read the late Shledon Browns article On cantilever geometry.

I too had no luck with tectro Oryx on my cross check when I first put it together, I then switched to PAULs NEO retro up front and a older pair of STOP LIGHTS on the rear.

DONT let the Paul neo retro fool You!! they are not powerful as stated

this old stye MAFAC clone as well as others with long arms do not have the stopping power of the low profile Cantis (its physics, less mecanical advantage than low profile).

there is an online article about cantis on one of the cyclocross sites that have Pro riders weigh in on LONG ARM cantis (like pauls) vs low profile most of the pros would rather have the stopping power of the low profile cantis vs the rim clearance of the Pauls ...

I took the pauls off my bike after I couldnt stop fast enough in a traffic circle.

I then switched to shimano BR550 what a difference .NIGHT AND DAY great brake !!

the key with low profile cantis is a very short straddle setup which means very little rim clearance but youll stop much better.




again Go to Harris cyclery and Read the late Shledon Browns article On cantilever geometry.

and Dont forget Salmon koolstop pads!!!!

"john"