Canti vs. Mini-V Brakes - what's better and recommendations?

[Deleted member 30479]

Hi all,

I'm building up a Bob Jackson World Tour bike. It's my first build and first bike with Cantilever brakes. I'd like some recommendations please on which ones are best to buy? I'm looking to get ultegra-quality brakes. Shimano make the CX70 which is Ultegra, however, they don't come in black!

I'm also wondering what's better - Canti or Mini V's? I am using Shimano 105 Triple STI 5700 so they need to be compatible.

I'm hearing of fork shudders and not sure if I should trust canti brakes?

Thanks in advance

 

[Woz]

Right now I'm using some 20 year old LXM56x cantis in black with Tiagra ST-4600, but upgraded the pads
to modern cartridge types. I'm very impressed with them, can lock the wheels with very grippy tyres no
problems from the hoods (see picture ;-) .... I may get shot by posting it on the road section).

I've also tried Mini-Vs with flat-bar levers and they were good too. At some point I will be using them with STIs
for another build on the boil, but I have heard they work very well.

I think the secret with cantis is to set them up properly with the correct straddle cable length, proper angles, and
get rid of the older mushy fat brake blocks.

Campagnolo and Tektro do Mini-Vs in black. As for fork judder - apparantly - it is more to do with where the cable
stop is; the lower the better which basically means fork mounted. Having said that, on my CX the cable hanger
is above the headset, and I'm using Tektro cantilevers with no judder.

 

[hamster]

I don't think there is much in it. Mini-V's are probably a little easier to set up, although the latest cantis have pads like V brakes. The post-mount pads were always fiddly.

One thing to beware of is that mini-Vs have low-ish clearance over the top of the wheel. This may limit the size of tyre you can run with mudguards.

 

[monty dog]

I run cantis and mini-vees on my 2 CX bikes - modern cantis like Tektro/TRP are very good, but fork judder can be a problem and can be resolved with a crown-fitted cable stop. Mini-vees are easier to fit/adjust, give a bit more power and don't suffer judder problems.