This discussion and my frustrating experiences with cantilevers has made me question why Rivendell pushes them as the bee's knees of brakes. I have had relentless problems with adjusting my cantis, the boys at my LBS are no help in that regard either, and even when they seem to be adjusted fairly close, the stopping power is crappy. I have Paul Neo-Retros and CR-720s and the Pauls are only marginally less crappy. Maybe the use of an aero lever with these compounds the problem, but that's another setup that Rivendell pushes (came stock on my Quickbeam).
I really wish I had wised up to V-brakes as the sensible and cost- effective option before lacquering on the shellac on my Hillborne. Now those dysfunctional levers are stuck on that bike unless I want to undo my many hours of precious work...damnit. I am going to put a cheap Tektro V setup on my Quickbeam (as per Jim Thill's suggestion) and see if stopping the insanity is necessary on both bikes. On May 11, 10:13 am, Jim Thill - Hiawatha Cyclery <thill....@gmail.com> wrote: > This is wrong. I ride almost everyday with v-brakes, and find that I can > apply the brakes in a wide range of modulation from zero to "locked". After > years with cantilevers, the first time with the added power of v-brakes did > take some practice to modulate (two or three stops was enough practice), > but now when I ride others' bikes with cantilevers, I get scared when I > squeeze the lever and nothing happens beyond a hissing noise (until I > squeeze really hard, which I can because I have strong hands). Most women > and lots of men don't have cow-milking hand-strength and can't effectively > use cantilevers with aero levers, but v-brakes will work well even for > those who have less than a kung-fu grip. > > I just put some Avid Elixir 5 hydraulic discs on my Surly Disc Trucker. Now > THAT is a powerful brake. > > > > > > > > On Thursday, May 10, 2012 9:32:54 PM UTC-5, Steve Palincsar wrote: > > > On Thu, 2012-05-10 at 17:02 -0700, Jim Thill - Hiawatha Cyclery wrote: > > > I wonder why folks value modulation so highly? In my view, the primary > > > purpose of brakes is to stop effectively, and therefore, the more > > > powerful brake is my usual preference. > > > It's because when I put the brakes on I do not always want to lock them. > > Sometimes I just want to slow down a little bit, without locking the > > brakes. > > > > With v-brakes, scrubbing speed in tight downhill corners or whatever > > > isn't difficult at all to modulate, UNLESS you are accustomed to > > > squeezing the bejeezus out of cantilevers to get the same result, in > > > which case the v-brake will seem to lack modulation. In that case, the > > > brake is hard to modulate because the rider has no finesse on the > > > brake lever. No problem though, because it's easy to learn the > > > necessary finesse. > > > Right. If you want full lock, touch the levers, or just blow on them. > > If you want anything else, keep your hands in your pockets and your lips > > sealed. We call that "modulation." > > > 8=) > > On Thursday, May 10, 2012 9:32:54 PM UTC-5, Steve Palincsar wrote: > > > On Thu, 2012-05-10 at 17:02 -0700, Jim Thill - Hiawatha Cyclery wrote: > > > I wonder why folks value modulation so highly? In my view, the primary > > > purpose of brakes is to stop effectively, and therefore, the more > > > powerful brake is my usual preference. > > > It's because when I put the brakes on I do not always want to lock them. > > Sometimes I just want to slow down a little bit, without locking the > > brakes. > > > > With v-brakes, scrubbing speed in tight downhill corners or whatever > > > isn't difficult at all to modulate, UNLESS you are accustomed to > > > squeezing the bejeezus out of cantilevers to get the same result, in > > > which case the v-brake will seem to lack modulation. In that case, the > > > brake is hard to modulate because the rider has no finesse on the > > > brake lever. No problem though, because it's easy to learn the > > > necessary finesse. > > > Right. If you want full lock, touch the levers, or just blow on them. > > If you want anything else, keep your hands in your pockets and your lips > > sealed. We call that "modulation." > > > 8=) -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "RBW Owners Bunch" group. To post to this group, send email to rbw-owners-bunch@googlegroups.com. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to rbw-owners-bunch+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/rbw-owners-bunch?hl=en.
