Canti brakes with V levers - Possible?

[FunkyMrMagic]

I've decided that I'm sick of p*ssing about with these V-brakes that I've put on in some kind of misguided attempt to get more braking power... I'm going to try and just get the cantis set back up properly as they should be a whole load less stress in the long run. I was just wondering though, is it possible to run canti brakes with v brake levers, or is there anything that can go wrong/not work?

Cheers in advance...

 

[barry2017]

You can, but it feels weird and the pads have to run very close to the rim.
It won't be the end of the world like someone is about to say, but not very good.
Can't you just get the cantis set up properly and sell the vs?

 

[Pickle]

I used to run canti levers with V's on my RTS, so I'd assume it'd work ok in reverse.

Not the best feel in the world, but its something you'd get used to I guess.

 

[FunkyMrMagic]

You can, but it feels weird and the pads have to run very close to the rim.
It won't be the end of the world like someone is about to say, but not very good.
Can't you just get the cantis set up properly and sell the vs?

Yeah I can...

It's just that I'm off down to Dalby tomorrow, and I know what I'm like for turning the simplest of jobs into an epic swear-a-thon, so I'm trying to keep it to the bare minimum until I have dedicated time to sort things...

 

[Dead Rats]

I've always found v-brakes much easier to set up for power. I've tried v-brake levers with cantis I concur that they feel strange - a bit on or off - and after converting several racers to run with flat 'bars, I find you can usually tell at a standstill by squeezing the lever whether the levers are right for the calipers.

And I'll never use those crappy Shimano cable routers on canti brakes again - straddle cables are so much better in looks and ease of adjustment.

 

[hamster]

If you are really, really lucky you will have the older style levers with those weird holes between the blade and the pivot. Run the cable into the inner of the holes (closest to pivot) and voila they are the correct pull for cantis.

As V-levers pull more cable, you will have the cantis feeling very firm but you will have to squeeze hard to get them to work effectively. You won't need to set the cantis close to the rims though - that's for V's with Canti levers.

 

[velomaniac]

Personally I found V-levers for canti brakes were fine plus you can set the pads further from the rim which increases mud clearance and reduces pad rubbing if the rims out of true.

V levers also make single pivot calipers more powerful with all that extra leverage. Simple way of improving cheapo brakes on a old 3-speed bike

 

[Dead Rats]

V levers also make single pivot calipers more powerful with all that extra leverage. Simple way of improving cheapo brakes on a old 3-speed bike

I tried both levers on my girlfriend's town bike (side pull brakes) and she much prefers the ones designed for cantis, the v-brakes ones felt really stiff and wooden, the canti seemed to give more modulation and felt similar to her old drop 'bar levers (which we'd removed).

What does every else recommend for side pulls with flat 'bars as I'm using STX RC on my road bike and they feel pretty poo

 

[hamster]

You need road-specific levers as they have even less cable pull. Shimano etc do some flat bar levers for this for the fitness bike things (you know, the road bikes with flat bars for gym rats who are afraid of drops).