Hi, I'm restoring an old Miyata 615 touring bike that came with some Dia Compe 983 canti brakes. The position of the cantilevers is unusual to me because they are facing downwards when tensioned, whereas I'm more used to the cantilevers facing "upwards" on other old mountain bikes I have. Because of this positioning, I'm not sure how to achieve the optimal "L" angle between the straddle wire and the cantilever. Any thoughts on whether I should move the yoke up or down?

Excuse the wires, those will all be fixed eventually. Wish I could say the same about the fork...

imgur.com/83aAMBi

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the proper Included angle should be between 70 and 90 degrees at the straddle cable stirrup with the brakes in the closed position.... i lean towards the 70 deg. for bat-wing cantis like yours... 90 deg.for high pull point cantis... ease of access, and things like racks, fenders, etc. can play into straddle wire length too.

proper toe-in on the leading edge of the pads will reduce or eliminate pad squeal... you want the nose to touch before the heel of the pad touches.... canti setup is the most frustrating task on bicycles, IMO... and the perfect way to "test" a perspective shop employee for knowledge level. .

https://bike.bikegremlin.com/1739/ca...ke-adjustment/