[Farmpunker]

Almost spring. Still getting my new-ish ride sorted out, using this year's budget. New stem and seat so far. A second wheelset coming. Did some cleaning and maintainence today. Travel agents and vee brake setup gone wacky. Again. This will stop (pun intended).
I don't care if the new brakes squeak. I don't care if the new brakes are costly. All I want is no-brainer, no fiddling stoppers.
Where to get a pair? Brand suggestions? Ebay?
Note: local shops are useless. Will have to be online retail.

 

[dreww]

Almost spring. Still getting my new-ish ride sorted out, using this year's budget. New stem and seat so far. A second wheelset coming. Did some cleaning and maintainence today. Travel agents and vee brake setup gone wacky. Again. This will stop (pun intended).
I don't care if the new brakes squeak. I don't care if the new brakes are costly. All I want is no-brainer, no fiddling stoppers.
Where to get a pair? Brand suggestions? Ebay?
Note: local shops are useless. Will have to be online retail.

Pauls and froglegs rock but one hell of a pig to set up, I mean hellish. Avids (4,6 and 8) are all good, squeel yeah but not too bad. I find little difference between $150 Empellas and $60 Avid copies now. Now if you want eye candy get Spooky carbon $150 U.S I think.

Avids need little to no attention, but 6 and 8 have cartridge pads, 4's do not (easier for pad replacement).

Gotta get some work done, still friday aftenoon not like I'm the only one.

 

[www-mtnpedaler-com]

Pauls Neo Retros

I've used Spooky, Dia Compe, Shimano, and Pauls (Stop Lites & Touring Cants). The Neo Retros are the strongest and are easy to set up.

Should be pretty easy to find. Any shop can get them from Paul or other distributors. You can purchase them from Paul also. www.paulcomp.com

If you can't find them contact me and I'll get you hooked up.

Paul

 

[Jed Peters]

Old XTR cantis are what most of the best CX racers I see are running.

 

[www-mtnpedaler-com]

I forgot to mention that.

Old XTRs Rock! See the guy in my avatar. He had 2 of those C'Dales with XTR cantis. Sweet. I managed to endo a couple of times doing front wheel wheelies. Old XT cants are the same, very nice.

 

[The Walrus]

Many sets of Avid Tri-Align IIs on eBay now...

...from some guy in Ontario--strong, super-adjustable and available in lotsa great anodized colors (I'd go for the purple--and maybe the green--if he wasn't accepting only PayPal). Otherwise, if price is no object, my vote would be for the Paul's Neo Retro/Touring combo; if you can score XT cantis, that should be an inexpensive (relatively) but efficient alternative.

 

[www-mtnpedaler-com]

Ga ga green?

Did you say green? I love green. I have a PayPal account. Slap me. Thank you. I needed that.

 

[The Walrus]

Consider yourself slapped.... I've got a 2000 JtS that's crying for the green ones, but I guess it's not meant to be.

 

[atpjunkie]

TriAligns

were knock offs of Pauls Original CNC cantis. Both GREAT brakes. I had a set of the Pauls but sold them. would rather they'd have gone to someone on this board. They were amazing stoppers, easy to set up and highly adjustable. And cool retrogrouch colors.

 

[Farmpunker]

What are they worth....?

I've posted in the past about brakes. This time I am serious. No more messing around.
I checked out ebay as soon as I posted. Saw the multiple tri-aligns. Weird. The shop that's selling them on ebay is about an hour and a half away from me. How much are those brakes worth? The info on the auction says 350, likely Canuck money. How much do you think they'll go for in the ebay format? The more I spend on brakes, the less I can blow on new wheels.
What's the setup like for tri-aligns?

 

[The Walrus]

I think the most I ever paid for the Tri-Aligns...

...was about $75 (U.S.)/wheel, and even that was extreme. I don't know where this eBay seller came up with the $350 figure, even in Canadian dollars.

Setup is not difficult; the brakes are supplied with a very good instruction sheet. Since there are two bolts controlling the various adjustments you don't have to go through the flopping-around, Dang!-I-need-three-hands routine much beloved by anyone who's ever set up Shimano cantis. You'll really love it when you can dial in just that perfect bit of toe-in without having to re-position the post and rotate the pad... For me, the most finicky part of the set-up is getting the spring tension adjusted, and balanced side-to-side, but even that's not too bad.

Check out these auctions to see what the final bids were earlier this week--#3659652206 and #3659722295.

 

[MShaw]

OnZa HO, Sutour XC Pro, etc.

Almost spring. Still getting my new-ish ride sorted out, using this year's budget. New stem and seat so far. A second wheelset coming. Did some cleaning and maintainence today. Travel agents and vee brake setup gone wacky. Again. This will stop (pun intended).
I don't care if the new brakes squeak. I don't care if the new brakes are costly. All I want is no-brainer, no fiddling stoppers.
Where to get a pair? Brand suggestions? Ebay?
Note: local shops are useless. Will have to be online retail.

You probably have a C-dale dealer near you somewhere, right? Back a few years ago, the C-dales were coming with OnZa HO brakes on them. Very similar to Avid Tri-Aligns. If you know of an older shop, you may be able to rummage thru their "bin o' brakes and make a set up for dirt cheap. If you find two lengths of arms, buy the longer ones for both ends. Short = rear. Long = front.

I've run XC Expert brakes, LX, XT, etc. All very similar in their performance. IIRC, the XC Pro brakes were a little lighter than XT/XTR.

Worst case, you can probably find SOMETHING canti locally. You may try a BMX store too... Talk to the mechanics (preferably the older ones). They may have a stash of old stuff hanging out in their garages.

That help at all?

Mike

 

[Farmpunker]

Choices are good...

Yes, helpful. Gives me more options in case I fail to win any of the ebay TriAligns. I'm currently high bidder on the blue set (something like six days left, though), which should be obvious to anyone on this board, since my ebay name is Farmpunker, too.

You probably have a C-dale dealer near you somewhere, right? Back a few years ago, the C-dales were coming with OnZa HO brakes on them. Very similar to Avid Tri-Aligns. If you know of an older shop, you may be able to rummage thru their "bin o' brakes and make a set up for dirt cheap. If you find two lengths of arms, buy the longer ones for both ends. Short = rear. Long = front.

I've run XC Expert brakes, LX, XT, etc. All very similar in their performance. IIRC, the XC Pro brakes were a little lighter than XT/XTR.

Worst case, you can probably find SOMETHING canti locally. You may try a BMX store too... Talk to the mechanics (preferably the older ones). They may have a stash of old stuff hanging out in their garages.

That help at all?

Mike

 

[hummu]

Don't forget NOS.

IMHO the best brake for drop bar use before the advent of Neo Retros was the Shimano Deore (Deore, XT, XT II). Wide profile, solid construction, work great when set up properly.

But that's the rub. They are the reason why people think cantis are hard to set up. I only got good at setting them up for me when I started riding a cross bike and braking seemed important to me.

These are available from Harris Cyclery online from US $80 to $110 per bike. Shipping to Canada is a little more expensive, but I think these are worth a look. <http://www.sheldonbrown.com/harris/cantilevers/xt2.html>

You should be able to find a used set as well for a lot less.

Why are they second best? Pauls uses V brake pads which make set up so much easier.

 

[blackhat]

if you dont mind waiting a week or so, Ill have an extra set(frnt/rear) of xtr cantis off of a mt bike I picked up to single speed. not sure what Ill sell them for but Ill put them in the marketplace after I get the bike.

 

[atpjunkie]

I had the Paul CNC's and swapped out to Spooky's so both bikes had same brakes (simpler spare parts box) and I miss the pucker power of those stoppers. The Avid TriAlign IMHO or Mr Shaws Onzas or the Old Pauls if ya can find them are the way to go. The Shimanos are great brakes as well, I just think the other shared design gives great stopping power and sit out of the way.