Best of the pre V Brake Cantis... a thread that may of been done to to death

[PanoIgano]

Having seen Suntour XC PRO mentioned a few times, I would also like to vouch for their reliability.

They are not super easy to configure correctly, that's true (I think I counted 3 or 4 different type of sizes of keys needed), but are very sturdy cantis. In fact, I have noticed that in certain frames they reduce flexing of seat stays or front studs a lot so no stiffeners / boosters are needed to my experience.

The XC PRO levers are in my view second to Ritchey. They don't develop play like most XT / XTR rapid fires ones up to mid 90s do.

 

[NigelFinnighan]

I'm surprised nobody has mentioned Ritchey (unless I missed it)- I find the levers paired with their Cantis and pads to be the best feeling, best performing brake set up hands down. They're just so tight and plush, I highly recommend.

 

[bikeworkshop]

Anyone used/rate Shimano BR-CX50 new cantilever?

Great canti if you're buying new

 

[legrandefromage]

I mixed up the best bits of Tektro and Shimano to make...

Tekmano!

 

[Lhatch4]

It took me a long time to find replacement brake pads for this but they do look great.

 

[Mkane]

 

[HAL9000]

I can already see the evangelists coming "Have you considered letting the idea that Cantilevers are shite compared to V Brakes into your life"?

To be honest I looked for threads I could ask these questions in, but couldn't find quite the right one. If there is if someone could just post the right link(s)

Happy to see this thread go off on whatever tangents in terms of what was best (in terms of Cantis, not in terms of there's better options).

Personally I've currently a budget of up to £100 for levers and brakes. Would rather something more interesting than Diacompe ss7 with 987s or XT/ XTR.

Was looking at Curve, but seems the Kona era ones were a shadow of the orignal and the orginal are difficult to source. Wouldn't be against combining different brand of levers with the brakes either (Philistine!). But I guess that gives an idea shape wise?

Certain year Shimano v brakes were made inferior to other years (in which they would properly or more accurately hold the angle in which they wound come inward and apply maximum brake pad on each side upon rim … I forget which year Shimano v brakes are suppose to be rhe best But maybe it was all a bunch of garbage …. I actually live the Shimano XT MOUNTAIN BIKE CANTI BRAKES I have … was thinking of selling

 

[bikeworkshop]

Certain year Shimano v brakes were made inferior to other years (in which they would properly or more accurately hold the angle in which they wound come inward and apply maximum brake pad on each side upon rim … I forget which year Shimano v brakes are suppose to be rhe best But maybe it was all a bunch of garbage …. I actually live the Shimano XT MOUNTAIN BIKE CANTI BRAKES I have … was thinking of selling

I've sold shimano v brakes new since they first came out.
They are all good.

Position in the range dictates quality - as you probably know, the first number in the product code.

If you get high in the shimano range, you might be sacrificing longevity for light weight and out-of- the-box function.

It's certainly true that the initial xt parallel push brakes wore out fast - but a rebuild kit was available, maybe a racer would rebuild the brakes once before buying a newer model.

As usual, the redesigned models, which didn't wear anything like so quickly, look very different.

There aren't many shimano products i can think of that were no good given their design brief.
Even the snappy ultegra chainsets were very light and stiff, but became untrustworthy after a few years hard use.

 

[Mkane]

@Tootyred I take the XC pro levers you're mentioning were designed to work with thumbies?

I replaced the barrel adjusters with xt units.