Aloyzius

Forgive me. The search function doesn't seem to be working for me today, so I don't know if this has been discussed before or not.

Anyway. At the credit union today I saw an older lugged steel roadie that had newer style v-brakes on it. I was a little surprised as I usually see cantilevers on touring and cyclocross bikes, but never v-brakes. I didn't get to talk to the guy, but I was wondering why anyone would do this.

I kind of guessed that maybe he originally had 27 inch tires, and switched to 700c, and the v-brakes offered more adjustability to reach that slightly lower rim. Would that be a good guess? I can't think of any other reason. I'm no mechanic.

DeadSailor

27 inch and 700 are the same size wheel

idk either though, maybe its just ghetto rigged...or he likes how the difference in pull better..

Michel Gagnon

No. Except for Paul's NeoRetro (?) v-brakes, v-brakes and cantis have the same requirements regarding rim vs studs position. If anything, v-brakes have a higher mechanical advantage (i.e. pull more cable) and less adjustability because you can't change the length of the straddle cable. So why? A few reasons:

1. Tektro has some mini-v-brakes. Same principles, but with 75-mm arms instead of the usual 100-104 mm arms. In practice, it means these are fully interchangeable with canti brakes. Advantage: slightly simpler to install and adjust. Drawback: can't fit more than 32 mm tires without fenders or 26-28 mm tires with fenders.

2. Standard v-brakes work with Dia Compe 287-V levers and one model of Tektro levers specially designed for v-brakes. A very good option if you use bar-end or downtube shifters.

3. Standard v-brakes work with integrated brifters (STI) or regular "road" brake levers, providing one installs a Travel Agent. I don't consider it a preferred option as it requires a bit more careful monitoring, but it works well. Cables tend to break more quickly than with a more standard setup. Still a good idea for retrofit or on a tiny bike with little clearance for the straddle cable or fixed link of a canti.

4. V-brake with integrated brifters. I have seen it and it can work, but with really close tolerances and brakes that would stick like mad. Not exactly ideal.

waldowales

27" and 700 same size? Better check your specs. 27" is 630mm, 700 is 622.

well biked

Actually, that's not altogether true. Many older touring bikes have canti's that have the brake bosses positioned way too close together for conventional linear pull brakes (v-brakes) to work. An example is my '83 Centurion Pro Tour, originally equipped with Dia Compe canti's. Modern canti's, such as Tektro Oryx, also won't work on these bikes for the same reason. Is this a case where the NeoRetro linear pulls would work in place of these old canti's on touring bikes?

Joshua A.C. New

Tektro makes the rl520 lever that is a road bar lever that pulls for V brakes. I've never found them actually in stock anywhere, though.

Another advantage of V brakes over cantis is that they don't need the cable stop. Some frames just don't have that. I'm planning on putting Mini-Vs on my 7300 frame so I can ditch the stupid little dingus hanging off the seat clamp and replace it with a really nice Campy one I've got.

Retro Grouch 

I haven't found that to be true and I've ben working with Travel Agent equipped bikes (mostly tandems)for over a decade. I used toworry about the "kink" where the cable goes through the little hole in the pulley, but it seems to be a non-issue. The cable doesn't move where it goes through the hole, it doesn't fray and I've never seen one break.

teamcompi

I switched from canti to V brakes to get better stopping. They stop much better than canti ever did. I have used it with travel agents for over 10.000 miles of riding and have noticed no extra wear at the bend in the travel agent. (The only place that I have ever broken a cable is right where it comes out of the goofy end.)

Soil_Sampler

https://www.google.com/products?hl=en...vers&scoring=p

https://www.qbike.com/cgi-bin/find.cg...uct=on&lp=&hp=

https://aebike.com/page.cfm?PageID=30...ils&sku=BR7212

urbanknight

Incorrect.

Anyway, I would have expected it to be a cyclocross frame since it would be a hassle to put cantilever bosses on a road frame and fork. V brakes on a cyclocross frame would line up just fine.

Joshua A.C. New

Hmmmm... those *do* look to be in stock. I'll ask my LBS again, now that they're showing up with actual ship times.

ginsoakedboy

I have been using XT v-brakes on my road bike for several years. They work great and have great stopping power. I have used various drop-bar brake levers with the travel agents, and don't find them to be a problem. I never liked the DiaCompe 287V, but the new Tektro/Cane Creek drop bar v-brake levers look pretty good, and I think I will give them a try.

j0e_bik3

very slight difference,...usually works out to 3mm-5mm difference in DIAMETER (you listed circumference which is still only 8mm= less than 1/3"), so switching from 27" wheels to 700C can usually be done with nothing more than a pad adjustment.

unless you switched out the fork too (like I did) and now need a short reach brake

maybe no one remembers v brakes? THEY ROCK,... and you can bolt on swap them out for canti's. (at least I did)
my GT mountain bike (32mm machined rims and tektro mini V's) stops like a dang ferrari.

I'd love to see a road bike with super tiny custom V brakes, or a fixed gear with one up front.

well biked

630mm bead seat diameter for 27", 622mm bead seat diameter for 700c. 4mm difference in radius, which is the important number for brake reach. If you convert enough 27" wheeled bikes to 700c, you come to realize it's a case-by-case thing; sometimes it works without modification, sometimes it doesn't. I'd say it's about a 50/50 chance, depending on the brakes, fork, and frame.

Retro Grouch 

That's been my experience too. I guess that maybe the bikes that I've converted have been older models that were originally designed with clearance for fenders and fatter tires. They needed fairly long reach brakes when they had 27" wheels.

masiman

The only type of road bike I can think of that would need a V-brake would be a tourer. If you have something more towards racing you don't get much benefit. Your goal is to use the brakes as little as possible. V-brakes are slightly heavier, you have less on the road adjustability, more difficult to change tires. For what roadies do, standard side/center/dual-pivots are a better fit.

I can't see the benefit of them on what I would consider a road bike (read racer).

Retro Grouch 

That's pretty much what I think too. Brakes are over-rated. All they do is slow you down.

Banzai

Michael Gagnon,

I had heard that mini-v's worked with short pull levers. I have a bike with Dia Compe 287-V levers, and Tektro mini-v brakes. I have to say that the brake modulation feels a bit funny, and it doesn't really bite until late in the cable travel. I wonder if maybe standard short pull brake levers would have worked just as well or better?

Little Darwin

I have a touring bike/commuter (actually a couple) that I might consider using v-brakes on... How far does the canti stud need to be from the rim to make standard v-brakes feasible?

Retro Grouch 

I haven't found mini-v's to be satisfactory with standard reach brake levers. They have to be set up very close or you run out of lever travel. When you set them up so close, you have to either fiddle with a barrel adjuster to get a tire past the pads or clip the nose of the noodle so it will slip out of the arm more easily.

Retro Grouch 

'Bout 30mm from the centerline of the stud to the middle of the rim.

well biked

Hey RG, are you saying from the centerline of the stud to the center of the brake surface of the rim?

I measured a bunch brake bosses on mountain bikes, most of which originally had canti brakes, and they were all 80mm from the center of one boss to the center of the other (for both front and rear brakes). I also measured a couple of newer mountain bikes, equipped with v-brakes, and the bosses were the same as on the older bikes, 80mm center to center. So v-brakes and cantilevers would be interchangeable on all those bikes. But the '83 Centurion Pro Tour I mentioned above has the brake bosses at 65mm center to center (both front and rear). The geometry just isn't right for newer brakes on that bike.

Here's a link to an '84 Centurion Pro Tour, it has the same brakes as my '83. A lot of touring bikes from that era used these or similar canti brakes:
https://sheldonbrown.com/centurion198...0pro-tour.html

Retro Grouch 

I'm talking vertical distance.

climbhoser

FWIW I have v-brakes on my Surly Crosscheck. I have been using flat bars, but I hate 'em and just purchased some Tektro RL520s to convert over to drops. I'll let everyone know what I think of 'em.

smiller

fwiw i just tried miniV's on my tandem and by the time i got them adjusted, they could hardly pull enough to slow the bike down let alone stop hard. put the canti's back on and she stops great. miniV's just don't work with road levers... but if anyone wants to try, i'll sell them a brand new pair cheap just to get rid of them.