# Cyclecross brakes



## bigbill (Feb 15, 2005)

Cyclecross frames make great commuters, typically they have fender and rack mounts and room for larger tires. The downside for me has been the use of cantilever brakes. I'm convinced there are no good cantilever brakes, just some that don't suck as bad. Cyclecross racers need cantilever brakes for racing since they offer good mud clearance. For the rest of us on cross bikes that don't need mud clearance, there are mini-V brakes. 

I replaced my Avid brakes with TRP CX9 Ti mini V brakes. I can't begin to say enough good things about these brakes. If I didn't look down, I would swear they were dual pivot caliper brakes. They use road pads and were easy to set up. They're a little pricey at $110 but there are cheaper mini V's. I spent the extra money because I wanted red brakes. 

I never saw the point of trying to stay cheap when building up a commuter. If you commit to commuting, then the majority of your weekly mileage will be on the commuter bike. It should be something you enjoy riding.


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## FatTireFred (Jan 31, 2005)

do they work w/ road levers? (yes)
if you're not using sti/ergo, cane creek direct curve brakes and drop v levers are a nice combo


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## bigbill (Feb 15, 2005)

FatTireFred said:


> do they work w/ road levers? (yes)
> if you're not using sti/ergo, cane creek direct curve brakes and drop v levers are a nice combo


I'm using them with some Record 9 levers. IMO, campy levers are weak with cantilevers but everything is good with mini-V. My commuter has a campy 9 drivetrain with a Jtek shiftmate to use shimano 9 cassettes.


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## rcnute (Dec 21, 2004)

I've never tried v-brakes. Easy to set up? Advantages over cantis?


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## bigbill (Feb 15, 2005)

rcnute said:


> I've never tried v-brakes. Easy to set up? Advantages over cantis?


More leverage. The pads are squeezed together instead of pulled together. They also use standard shimaNo style road brake pads so you can use salmon Koolstops in the winter months. The cables route differently, you don't use hangers. I had to run new cable housing to the front brakes. I'll get some pictures out later tonight. 

Got new pictures of my bike before it went to the painters. It looks like a lugless MX Leader with a straight max fork.


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## FatTireFred (Jan 31, 2005)

and incredibly easy to set up


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## tarwheel2 (Jul 7, 2005)

I've got Shimano BR-R550 canti brakes on my commuter and they work great. My mechanic must have done a great job setting them up because I have no complaints whatsoever. They stop better than the caliper brakes on my other brakes, particularly in rain. However, the stock Shimano pads suck and I replaced them Kool Stop salmons.


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## rcnute (Dec 21, 2004)

FatTireFred said:


> and incredibly easy to set up


Hmm, I may have to try the Cane Creek combo with my Rawland coming in March/April. Any brands for v-brakes/levers to avoid?


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## T0mi (Mar 2, 2011)

I use tektro CR720 canti brake, they are using road pad too and are quite easy to set up. I tried v-brake but they just didn't work with my road levers.

Just make sure you replace the standard tektro pads, they are useless, especially when wet.


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## Camilo (Jun 23, 2007)

Do mini V's work with fenders and medium sized (~32mm) tires?


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## mitmoned (Apr 7, 2008)

Camilo said:


> Do mini V's work with fenders and medium sized (~32mm) tires?


This and another reason stopped my use of mini-Vs. On the front, with normal plastic fenders (which I have replaced with AWESOME VO hammered fenders) the front of the fender tends to stick up from the wheel a bit. At least almost all of the plastic fenders that I've tried do this. So, when I had mini-Vs, actuating the brake caused the metal noodle holder to dig into the plastic fender. Not a big deal, but the other issue made me give up on the set.

I went cheap, since the brakes were going on my year round commuter. After a winter of grime and muck (of which the front fender sticking up doesn't help with blow back..grrr) the brakesets were nearly useless. This was because the bushings where the brake pivots was corroded. So actuating the brake would usually only work one side, or neither. The one stuck side was always nearly rubbing the brake track and the other side was gummy. I tried numerous times to clean and/or lube the bushing to no avail. That's why I gave up on them.

One caveat though, I have had this same problem with any cheap canti mount type brakes - regular Vs, mini-Vs, or cantis. Keeping the bike clean could help, but when it's 20°F out or lower for months and no place to clean my bike inside, it kinda makes it tough. The really bad winter we had in '09/'10 I used a bike that had a rear disc. That thing saved my bum. The front regular V-brake went to crap, of course, but the rear disc always worked.

I would like to see if higher quality mini-Vs could stand up to a rough winter.


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## JP (Feb 8, 2005)

Cyclocross.

When do you get the new bike?


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## Art853 (May 30, 2003)

Thanks bigbill for the heads up about the brakes. I agree about the +/- of cyclocross bikes.


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## bigbill (Feb 15, 2005)

JP said:


> Cyclocross.
> 
> When do you get the new bike?


The ArgoMax shows up next week. It will arrive in Portland today and the builder is still gathering my parts. It will get shipped next week with Record cups, black King sotto voce, white Regal, white Cinelli cork, Pro Vibe bars/stem/seatpost, and a chorus chain and cassette. I have Record11 cranks and shifters, and Chorus FD and RD ready for it. All I have left to get is some cool spacers and top cap from www.purelycustom.com. I will probably install some older differential chorus brakes until I figure out what I want. I don't know if black brakes will look right with the polished nickel fork crown and Ti rear dropouts. If silver looks good, I'm going to try and score some NOS silver Record off eBay. I have a set of Cosmic Carbones I bought from Dufus on Vsalon to complete the package.


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## rcnute (Dec 21, 2004)

FatTireFred said:


> and incredibly easy to set up


So I am now a v-brake convert--even I can set them up, they are super powerful, cheap ($19.99 Nashbar) and Tektro makes an aero lever that is the perfect shape for me. These are going on all my bikes with canti studs.


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