Canti pad set up - what tricks do you use?

[Woz]

Pretty much what @FluffyChicken said for me.

I just start with the cabling, arm tension, make sure the arms pull together at the same rate, centred etc. I like the M system too, gives you a very quick idea where the magic point is for the pads to hit the rim. Then tyre off, insert pads, hold pads together with one hand over the rim, nip them up with spanner in the other hand. Check it all, tighten it all down, then back of the main cable a touch for rim / pad clearance. Tyre back on, and it's usually pretty darn spot on.

Sometimes do pretty much the same for v-brakes too if the rim is narrow / brake track narrow.

 

[mk one]

Pretty much what @FluffyChicken said for me.

I just start with the cabling, arm tension, make sure the arms pull together at the same rate, centred etc. I like the M system too, gives you a very quick idea where the magic point is for the pads to hit the rim. Then tyre off, insert pads, hold pads together with one hand over the rim, nip them up with spanner in the other hand. Check it all, tighten it all down, then back of the main cable a touch for rim / pad clearance. Tyre back on, and it's usually pretty darn spot on.

Sometimes do pretty much the same for v-brakes too if the rim is narrow / brake track narrow.

Why do you take the tyre off?

 

[legrandefromage]

Eye of newt!

Pissed as a fart!

The skill of a cantilever set up

Is a work of art!

Is it magic?

That may be!

Is it voodoo?

We shall see!

But whatever it is, years of practice means I still get it wrong...

 

[Woz]

Why do you take the tyre off?

.... because to reach both pads and hold them still, my thumb and fore finger don't fit around the tyre, and they don't like going in spokes.

cf with the 3rd hand tool @MattiThundrrr posted. Same principal, except I'm a cheapskate

 

[Frankenorange]

The tricks I use are normally making a handkerchief, or a rabbit, vanish. Sometimes i saw my assistant in half, but that hasn"t gone so well and makes the workshop messy.

 

[Woz]

..... I might be wrong, but I have an original Shimano canti set-up guide and I think they even recommend taking the tyre off in the drawings.

@FluffyChicken would probably know and save me a trip up in the attic to dig it out.

 

[dyna-ti]

I put them in the bin and got.....V BRAKES!! Like every other self respecting mtber of the era.

 

[mk one]

.... because to reach both pads and hold them still, my thumb and fore finger don't fit around the tyre, and they don't like going in spokes.

cf with the 3rd hand tool @MattiThundrrr posted. Same principal, except I'm a cheapskate

Can you not reach the top of the canti arms, it asserts a bit more force on the pads against the rim and is easier to hold than the pads imo

 

[Imlach]

 

[grey-beard]

Lots of good advice here, I also remove the tyre, clamp the pads to the rim, with a card spacer to give toe in, then your hands are free to do the rest, adjusters out, lever tied close to the bar etc. V brakes are better and easier, but not correct for old bikes.