Olefeller77 

I have a Univega Alpina that I think is 1995 or so. All seems to be in nice condition. It has 26" Mavic Aluminium rims. I think the brakes are Shimano Alevio "V" brakes. I added Kool Stop Salmon pads. The problem is that these brakes are dangerous in that they barely stop the bike. I have 3 other so called mtn bikes and they brake fine. Is the "V" type brakes a problem.
I do have the pads set out a bit to make wheels removal more convenient but plenty of lever to put LOTS of hand pressure at the levers.

Bill Kapaun

You use the QR on V brakes to release the wheel.
Possibly with them set out too far, you've screwed up the geometry?

Olefeller77 

That makes sense. Got some running to do and will put it on the stand this afternoon. Thanks for the reply.

AeroGut

A 1995 would have come with cantilever brakes not v-brakes. Can you take a pic of your brakes and brake levers? One somewhat remote possibility is that your brake levers were changed out at some point to levers that are intended for v-brakes. These do not have enough leverage to stop easily when used with cantilever brakes.

Miele Man

I put V-brakes and levers onto my MIELE MTB dropbar bicycle and I find them a LOT nore positive and powerful that what the properly set up cantilever brakes were.

Good braking with V-brakes (aka Direct-Pull Cantilever) requires the brake pads to be fairly close to the rim.

https://www.sheldonbrown.com/canti-direct.html

Cheers

Olefeller77 

I sure appreciate the help. I cleaned the rim surfaces with Alcohol and adjusted the pads as near the edge as possible and close.
The levers are marked Shimano V brake . Both brakes pull up from the center to activate. Cantilever?
The bike does brake pretty well now even with my 240lbs.
I should have been able to sort this out on my own but must have slipped into a 78 yr. old moment lol
I really need to get granddaughter over here to set me up for posting pictures. A few years ago I done that using image re-sizer. I'll try again.
Thanks a lot--Ride safe and don't lick any door knobs.lol

HillRider

If the brakes pull from the center they are cantilevers. If the levers say V-brake, then that's your problem. V-brake levers pull more cable but have less leverage than those designed for cantilever/caliper brakes so the hand effort needed to stop is higher.

Basically your brakes and brake levers don't match.

Olefeller77 

I guess I shouldn't be surprised of the miss match. I found it at an estate sale with shrader valve tubes in the presta drilled rims. Yea, they came through a little ways. The bike was in the company of a Giant Cypress hybrid, Shwinn fixie, and a Roadmaster bmx type.
This Univega Alpina 503 is in very good condition. I got it on the second day 25% off the $35 tag price. I'm going to enjoy it as a back up bike just as it is for a while.

Bill Kapaun

You can see the difference in pull ratios.
The plastic "plug" is moved so that the "link" is on the other end for canti's.

alcjphil

A Schrader valve inner tube cannot possibly fit through the hole of a Presta drilled rim, not even a little bit

Olefeller77 

At some point someone must have tried to open them up for schrader. I'll look them over closer tmw.

tFUnK

Check your levers to see if they offer different pull positions before you spring for new levers. Many levers from that era were compatible with both cantilever and v-brakes, depending on where the cable stop was held.

cpach

If you already have V levers I'd just buy some cheap V brakes. https://www.amazon.com/SHIMANO-BR-T4...5906182&sr=8-1 would be great--even the cheapest on Walmart bikes honestly work reasonably well. Cantilevers can work fine but linear pull/v brakes are a genuine improvement.

Olefeller77 

Originally Posted by alcjphil View Post
A Schrader valve inner tube cannot possibly fit through the hole of a Presta drilled rim, not even a little bit
At some point someone must have tried to open them up for schrader. I'll look them over closer tmw.

I put the bike back on the stand and loosened the Presta valve retaining ring and it appears the holes were drilled. The person that drilled them just didn't get the holes quite big enough though. I just gave the retaining ring a little extra tightening and don't think there will be a problem.
cpach --- Thank you for the link. I've got it saved but bike stopping ok for now. I would like to switch it over later.
I'm going out for a ride now. Too much butt time in the house lately. lol

Crankycrank

Most presta locknuts have a ridge around the the outside which is made to fit perfectly in a schrader hole. You could try enlarging the hole a bit to fit the locknut which may help prevent extra wiggle wear on the stem base rather than over tightening the nut.

Olefeller77 

That is great information. When I can get to it , I'll make that happen. When I checked it looks like they didn't deburr at least on the upper side.
Since this was an estate sale, I would imagine there were issues being dealt with that would deserve more attention than how a rim hole was drilled. R.I.P.