Help setting up cantilever brakes (Kinesis Crosslight 5T)

[Woz]

.... and just to make sure you've fell asleep, I know one member here who used these on his tandem and was very impressed with them:



Think Cannondale was the first with this principal, and I have used an old roller cam from a Marzocchi suspension fork before now that worked very well too:



All the guess work of mechanical advantage and what not is practically solved for you as long as you get the start position of the cam right.

 

[DrDaveTampa]

^yeah that's the "power hanger" I was talking about. I think it's pretty cool

 

[bikeworkshop]

they are cool, look retro but were usually taken off quite soon by the original owners because it turned out they can't magically increase the leverage, require loads of cable outer, and needed frequent adjustment as the pads wear.
I still love them though.

If I want great brakes, I reach for my hope r4/Juan O'Fyffe's

 

[MattiThundrrr]

Fork- mounted kona-style hanger helps too - the distance "hanger to straddle" has a large effect.

Just to clarify, you're saying that the shorter this distance, the better, correct? My Nishiki runs through the stem, really dislike the length between the stem and straddle, but it really looks the part on an 80s frame

 

[bikeworkshop]

It's usually not a problem on a mountain frame and fork, although the expectations might have been lower.
The problem comes to the fore with lightweight steel and carbon Forks.

The stem mount has nice short outer and so low weight compared to a fork crown hanger - consider too that brake cable inners got thinner and stems got lighter, but the outer became stiffer in compression, and brakes became more powerful, so the stem mount advantages became less apparent... and I never like braking forces going through the headset.
The stem wheel was famous for snapping your brake cable as it caused a lot of stress where you couldn't see it!
I've seen home- drilled stems snapped across the hole too, but surprisingly never a factory one.

Always seems best for one component to do one job though.

 

[MartinB123]

Just weighing into this as i have had a similar kind of experience recently on my Ridley CX(ish) bike.

caveat that I still have a rubbish feeling rear brake but hopefully I can sort. I had a steerer/headset mounted cable guide but I needed a lower stem so had to switch to a different top cap so I fitted a Tektro cable stop/hanger that others have mentioned in this thread - the type that fits through the front brake/mudguard hole on the fork.

Difference was like night and day - I am using Frogglegs cantis and I can endo with ease on the front now! I would say this coupled with fresh grease on the canti studs made the braking performance much better.

For the rear, I feel like I really have to squeeze the lever hard as it feels stiff, but it has enough stopping power to lock up the rear, it just hurts a bit! Maybe I need a better cable routing as it is maybe 1-2 inches longer than I think it should be?

 

[bikeworkshop]

For the rear, I feel like I really have to squeeze the lever hard as it feels stiff, but it has enough stopping power to lock up the rear, it just hurts a bit! Maybe I need a better cable routing as it is maybe 1-2 inches longer than I think it should be?

Sounds like friction in the cable - check it's good quality and suitable lubricated - some cables feel fine if you slide the inner, but under strain they become really draggy - and there's a lot of it at the back.