When did Shimano introduce V-Brakes?

[BarneyRubble]

I am going for simplicity, so would prefer V's to Magura, but would like something light and a bit special.

Maguras require a bit of care to set up but after that nothing further is necessary. The pads are a snap fit. I changed 4 pads last Saturday in 5 minutes....

The hydraulics on the first bike I fitted with them have been untouched for 12 years. Beat that with any cable system!!!

That is pretty good! I just prefer the look of a V-brake, a bit cleaner lines and look a bit simpler. I guess to a degree it's personal preference.

 

[murf]

The parallel push mechanism makes the pads contact the rim straight on, insteead of in an arc. Makes the pads wear evenly and is supposed to make them more powerful.

I have a pair of XT front v brakes in good nick that i'd part with, come with pads, the noodle and rubber dirt/crap seal.

 

[Grannygrinder]

Modern canti's?

Could you fit modern canti's? I got a suntour xc rear only from sjs for £5 on ebay which works well enough to stop me fine and i'm 14 stone. And an avid cyclocross jobbie on the front which works great,is really light and still maintains the retro look if not being retro as such. Depends if you want to be age correct or just look the part i suppose.

 

[BarneyRubble]

I've now acquired some M951 V's courtesy of ededwards and just need some levers to match.

 

[RockyMountainHigh]

I've got a set of Paul Motolite linear pull brakes for my 90 yo.

If your even slightly mechanically inclined you will see the benefits to the to adjustability of the brakes. Paul has been making these since the origins of the v-brake and I've seen some older anodized ones on eBay once and a while in different colors for the puriest of old school builds. You can still get the latest and greatest version in black or silver and they are still CNC machined in a machine shop in Chico California. The design has changed very little over the years. The love levers that match them are also sweet CNC pieces.

My 2nd choice was the Avid Ultimate (Black Ops). These too are sweet but the levers are $$$ vs the Paul Love Levers and the Paul set up has that small shop CNC look/design that reminds me of the early days of Mountain Biking.

Since I'm going to do some racing on my Yo this summer performace was a #1 criteria in addition to the intangibles. Paul just happens to be the lightest set up to for those looking at that.

 

[BarneyRubble]

Thanks for all the advice guys. i like the sound of those Paul's, but think they were probably a bit out of my budget Maybe next time.

For now I have acquired a set of XTR levers to match the brakes, so will soon be able to stop more efficiently.

 

[grahame]

Reviving this old thread with something that might be exciting to some:
The sorting out of John Valentine (nee Stevenson)'s garage over the weekend turned up a bike's worth of M739 XT V-brakes with Shimano "Prototype" stickers on the rear. These will almost certainly be the oldest XT V-brakes in the UK. They'll be appearing in a "For Sale" thread here soon - the delay is because John has promised that when he feels will enough he'll look for the bolts. All proceeds will go to Cancer Research UK.

 

[oldave]

vbrakes

I like avid arch-rivals, or if you're really flush the avid ultimates.

This. But pretty much all Vs better than any cantis IMO/E.

 

[oldave]

^ Apologies. I didn't note the dates of OPs, should not have intervened in resurrection in the sad circumstances.

 

[focomat 1c]

These will almost certainly be the oldest XT V-brakes in the UK.

Would be interested to know the date codes on these as March '95 is considered to be the date that

Shimano first produced their version/copy of an already existing ' Wie-brake ' design by Florian Wiesmann