I have a couple of bikes with reasonably well adjusted cantilever brakes. They really sorta suck. Can these be replaced with MTB V-brakes? Keep the same brifter levers as are on the bike now, just replace the brakes?

Thanks!

Nope. You'll need new levers. Before you give up entirely, try the KoolStop salmon solution.

Are you sure you mean 'cantilever' and not 'caliper?' Because most bikes that come with brifters are road bikes with caliper brakes and they really do suck compared to Vees or cantis. However, vees are not only incompatible with your brifters, but also require pivots brazed or welded to the frame.

If you did mean 'cantilever' brakes on you current bikes, then yes you can switch to vees using a cable pull adapter like the one available from Problem Solvers. However, cantis actually have the potential to be more powerful than vees if they are set up properly. On modern low profile cantis you need to set the straddle cable very low (close to the tire) and you will get monster stopping power. Also make sure you have nice new brake pads like koolstops (as reccomended above). Cantis kick arse.

They're canti's. They're also 15 years old. Might be I just need a better set of brakes. Suggestions for replacement canti's?

Cantis from 15 years ago were generally of the low-profile variety commonly used until the mid/late '90s. The biggest problem with setting them up was that most of them (Shimano, anyways) came with fixed-length straddle cables and yokes... the separate straddle-cable/yokes can be adjusted to be riding low and close to the tire, which will give you waa-aay more leverage than direct pull vees. Check out www.Sheldonbrown.com for his article on cantilever setup. And don't forget to change the pads and cables for top performance.

Or check out Pauls Components - they make a whole slew of fancy cantis ($$$$$). There are other companies - tektro comes to mind - that make them too.

I also got a set of alivio quality shimano cantis for ~$12 per wheel at a bike shop last fall.

Otherwise, look for the cable-pull increasers from problem solvers and the like and you can run vee brakes with regular road levers.

The brakes are out there.

Thanks for the help and information.

I think I'll take a look at replacing the canti's with a better set. That ought to do the trick.

Don't bother replacing cantis with new cantis. Just upgrade to v-brakes. You can get a good entry level shimano v-brake set for $15.

Cantilevers are extremely annoying to setup with absolutely no benefit. And you probably will need new levers unless your bike is equipped with ones that can do both.

I believe they still sell the "travel agent" device which will let your standard brake levers pull a bit more cable, and thus work V-brakes without having to buy new levers.

However, buying a couple of travel agents will cost more than buying new (house-brand) brake levers.

New brake levers aren't going to happen. The bike is currently equipped with Campy brifters. I don't fancy going to downtube shifters.