The most helpful article on cantilever adjustment is here: http://sheldonbrown.com/canti-trad.html
It sounds like, from your description (not tons of power, requires lots of hand strength) and looking at your pictures, that you might have the straddle cable set too high/long, which seems to be a common mistake with high-profile cantilevers like the Neo-Retro. If you shorten the straddle cable, it'll effectively increase the mechanical advantage of the whole system, providing a brake that requires less hand force to produce more stopping power at the rim. On Thursday, August 16, 2012 8:23:34 AM UTC-7, The Cripler wrote: > > I will definitely post some pics after I shellac the bars. I like > the Pauls alot. The rear touring canti is really resposnsive and powerful. > I am still having some issues with the front neo-retro. It just doesn't > seem nearly as powerful and requires quite a bit of hand strength. I had my > buddy who is a bike mechanic take a look and he seemed to think it was > setup correctly. He seemed to think there might actually be something going > on with my rim that is preventing it from working properly...maybe some > grease or something on there. I'm not to sure about this, as the mini-moto > I had on there locked up the front wheel without issue. Anyway, I'm gonna > keep playing with it till I get it where I want. I forgot to mention one > other addition to the bike. I took my old surly rear rack, rough sanded it, > repainted it with altantis touch up paint, and added a couple of coats of > spray on clear coat. I think it looks great and matches the frame pretty > well. I guess we will see how long the paint hols up with the bags coming > on and off..... > > On Thursday, August 16, 2012 7:29:52 AM UTC-7, The Cripler wrote: > >> Several weeks back, with the hearty encouragement of this forums >> members, I purchased my first Rivendell - a used 58cm Atlantis. It was a >> deal that was too good to pass up, and I have been nothing but incredibly >> happy that I made the leap. Since the purchase, I have been tweaking the >> bike fit and swapping out some parts. I was able to recoup some much needed >> $$$$ with the sale of my Surly LHT and host of parts from my bin. This >> allowed me to make some nice upgrades to the Atlantis. Since the purchase I >> have swapped out stems to a 100 Nitto Technimic, added a Paul >> Neo-retro/Touring brake combo, splurged on the Tektro TRP brake levers, >> rerouted my brake and derailleur cables, and finally last night added >> yellow Newbaums cloth tape and twine to the Noodles. All that is left to do >> is get some amber shellac on the bars, and I am ready to ride! Through the >> process I have learned alot...mostly about the "joys" of tweaking with >> canti brakes and the importance of taping your brake cables where you want >> them prior to wrapping and twining (still might have to fix this one). Here >> are some pics: >> >> >> <https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-Bp1cCFGAnwU/UC0DamiyQDI/AAAAAAAAACs/sOQqlu3FpAM/s1600/IMG_1022%5B1%5D.JPG> >> >> > -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "RBW Owners Bunch" group. To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msg/rbw-owners-bunch/-/fqiQBx13lSUJ. 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.
