How risky are old skool canti brakes?

[ultrazenith]

I'm in the process of reverting one of my Dynatechs back to period correct high profile cantilever brakes, and I'm not feeling as immortal as I was back in the 90s, so the thought crossed my mind about what would happen if my front brake cable snapped and the straddle cable and triangle hanger thingy fell onto the front tyre. The fact that brake cables are a it thinner than they were back in the day is a bit of worry too. Are we talking instant over the bars faceplant + some expensive dentist bills? I've never heard of this happening to anybody I know, but it must've happened to someone out there.

Is it just a case of never using the front brake in anger at speed unless it's to avert flying over a raging 100-foot vertical cliff?

 

[Stressed]

You could put a reflector bracket on to stop it happening?! (Although it might ruin any look you're going for- what next? Wheel reflectors? Dork disc?!)

 

[mattbrown]

Its never happened to me. The alloy ones with the little allen bolts are more difficult to tighten compared to the single nut and bolt ones. But then you could use the shimao ones instead.