what are the best v brakes money can buy..

im thinking xtr right now.... but having trouble finding them at a reasonable price

Any reason you are only looking at V's?

Magura hydraulic V brakes.

There is hydro V brakes. I am just wondering but V-brakes are just the pads. Right?

I'd have to say the Avid Ultimate linear pull brakes are the best out there. The XTR/XT parallel push brakes just have too much complex linkage for long term reliability.

Bull - I got a set of XT V's when they first came out in '96 - still going strong, on my wife's bike now. They stop pretty darn well - any stronger words would get ****'s out.

As with anything, if you want something to last, take care of it, and keep it clean and lubed, and it will take care of you.

While I'm glad you've had a good experience, IMO the non-parallel push brakes are the better alternative.

Try avid, they have some really good ones SD7's are great aswell. Depends on how much you want to spend really!

I like the sealed bearing V's like the XTR, or the Avid ultimate.

yeh, i just got some speed dial ti's so im not interested in hydro'z ...

im actually thinking xtr or ultimates... btw these brakes would replace my current shimano xt canti's... i figure running cantis rite now is okay considering my area is muddy as all hell...

i'll go along with that if power is the only consideration. but on the trail, you also want something that is easy to adjust, and won't be tempermental. i've been having issues with my rear maguras pushing away from the rim lately, which effectively increases the distance i have to pull the lever (on thursday it was all the way to the grip), and the distance the pads travel to the rim. i have the shorter stabilizer studs, but they don't do much good. and the longer studs would put the caliper too close to my tire. i think i'm going to switch to avids soon.

the other issue that i've run into, is that if you're running a manitou fork, the stabilizers posts for the brakes don't have anything to rest against (due to the backwards arch). you don't want them against the stanchions because they'll rub and mar and scratch it. i think even a fork with a normal arch you'd have issues with the calipers being too close to the tire.

my front brakes are only supported by the V-studs and the brake arch, which makes me a little nervous. so...again, i think i'm going to go with avid V-brakes up front.

i don't want to get rid of my maguras, but V's will be much easier to work with, and will probably reduce the weight of my bike by about a pound.

I don't think Maguras rim brakes can be called "V-brakes" as V-brakes are a subset of linear pull cable-actuated cantilever brakes. Maguras are hydraulic rim brakes. And yes, they're quite powerful as others have attested. I've even heard stories of them crushing some rims. As far as good cable-actuated cantilever-type brakes go, my vote goes to Avid. I'm running Avid ArchRival 50s and they provide plenty of stopping power. The SD series are also quite good.

BTW, anyone remember the Pederson SE (self-energising) cantilever brakes?

Try Paul Components Motolite. Expensive? Sure. In my opinion, the ultimate linear pull brake