A little piece of advice needed regarding brake setup

[unafraid]

Here's the situation: my '92 Ritchey P-22 comes with Deore XT 3x7 brake-shift levers and XT cantis. I don't like the performance of the cantis, so I'd like to switch to XT v-brakes. Now I know that the brake levers won't be compatible anymore. What should I do? In a perfect world, I'd like to change for parts of the same weight or lighter.

 

[Agency_Scum]

1. as they have the same spacing you could use an 8 speed/V brake XT STI and simply not use the first or eighth gear position. About the same weight.

2. fit devices called " travel agents " in place of V brake noodles to extend the 22mm cable pull of your current STIs out to the 32mm needed by Vs. A little bit heavier.

3. Gripshifters and boutique levers. The lightest solution.

 

[cchris2lou]

4- be a man and brake less and stay with cantis . V brake have no place on a P22 .

 

[Splatter Paint]

Before you invest in some V-brakes, I'd try some new pads and a bit of tinkering - it usually works wonders. However, XT Vs are great and an 8-speed set up, without using the 8th gear is probably your best bet for the conversion as previously mentioned.

 

[unafraid]

Call me crazy, but I thought about replacing the shift-brake levers with XT thumbshifters + v-brake setup. I wonder how well that would work.

As for v-brakes not belonging to a P-22, well, I want the bike to look and feel vintage while still being decently raceable. The current XT cantis have a hard time staying aligned, one side is always super sticky and doesn't want to fully return in position and it's annoying as hell.

 

[legrandefromage]

You should visit Sheldon Browns pages and investigate setting up your cantis properly.

Its all about mechanical advantage, angles and leverage - get this right and you'll have no worries about stopping.

 

[ferrus]

Persevere with the canti's, when well set up they can work fine.
-As mentioned, V's have no place on a P-22.

 

[Skeelsie]

The non low profile XT's can provide really good stopping power, perhaps your pads are too hard?


Set em up low and wide for good leverage.

 

[suburbanreuben]

Invest in some Swissstop pads. You will not believe the difference they make, even in the wet! :shock:

 

[D_XZ]

If you go for vbrakes consider brake booster braces/stiffening plates. I understand those Ritchey frames have very thin tubes to achieve thier weight.