NVV Cyclocross: Brakes for cyclocross

Brakes for cyclocross
Edited by Dave Carr, Oct 1998
Updated Feb 2002

Introduction For cyclocross racing strong brakes are important, especially in winter when conditions may be wet and muddy. For this reason cyclocross frames have featured cantilever brake bosses for a long time. The challenge in setting up your bike is to find a brake and lever combination that provides good stoppage using the normal road brake or brake/shift levers that are commonly found on 'cross bikes with drop bars.
The most popular brake for 'cross has traditionally been the old Mafac "Racer" brake which has been around for decades. It features brake arms that stick out almost horizontally from the brake boss. Designed at a time when there were no mountain bikes around, this brake works very well with road levers.
However, with the advent of mountain bikes, new brake and brake lever designs have sprung up. Many of the newer models have been designed with a "low profile" design; others reproduce the overall shape of older designs.
The next innovation was the "V-brake" concept introduced by Shimano, which features something like twice the cable travel of an ordinary road lever. The advantage of this design is that it reduces the effect of stretch and flex in the cable and housing. These brakes work great, provided you use compatible levers (only available for flat bars). When you try to set them up on your 'cross bike with normal short-travel road levers, the cable travel is insufficient and the brakes won't work well. The performance improves considerably with the addition of a travel adjuster (a few are mentioned below).
(12/00) Now, with the increase in the number of manufacturers mass-producing 'cross bikes, CX-specific brakes are becoming available more cheaply. There are a number of options for setting up your bike effectively.

Now the latest: Disc Brakes. It was only a matter of time before those mountain-bike builders got their hands on a 'cross bike. Actually, discs make some sense for CX bikes, especially in muddy locales where all cantilevers have trouble dealing with the wet and muck. Watch your local high-end shop for a disc-equipped bike...someday. (Picture at right is a Kelly prototype spied at Surf City).
The following is a selection of opinion, my own and that of others posted to the rec.bicycles.tech newsgroup. Note that this discussion doesn't touch on brake pad selection, which is a whole other topic. You might check the rec.bicycles.racing and rec.bicycles.tech newsgroups for more discussion. If you have any comments that you'd like to share, please drop a line. -- Dave Carr
One more question you may be having: Why should we care about brakes at all? After all, the goal is to go fast, not to stop fast, right? True, to a point. But you aren't going fast all the time in 'cross. You do have to slow down for those dismounts and corners. If your brakes are good, you can go fast up until the last possible second, then slam on the brakes and stop quickly. With bad brakes you must slow down much earlier, thus slower speed overall. It's the same as in downhill MTB racing. Those guys never need brakes, right? Wrong. There's a reason discs originated in downhilling, becuase they need them.

Old-style "retro-grouch" cantilevers
and road levers "Mafac" style cantilevers. You can still find the original Mafac Racer and other equivalents at swap meets for dirt cheap, and your bike will look totally retro. These can be run stock with regular road levers. Older cantilever brakes from Shimano, Dia-compe and others are similar in design.
Neo-Mafac. Specialty Racing Products (SRP) makes a cantilever brake called "Mr. Grumpy" which is a modern incarnation of the old Mafac. It should work about the same. Paul Racing Components also has a version named "Neo-Retro". For other selections try online stores like Cyclocrossworld.com, Excel Sports, and Durance Cycles.
Ric Lamoureux has the following observations:
"I have been using SRP Mr. Grumpy brakes, mated to STI levers, on my 'cross bike for several months now. I found them easy to set up for this application, and they have great pad/rim clearance, when set up with this parameter in mind. Like any canti, one can vary the amount of leverage in the brake simply by adjusting the straddle cable length. As for their power vs. a v-brake--I think not. My other 700c "dirty" bike is set up with STI and v-brakes (with adapters), and it has significantly more powerful braking, at the expense of significantly less pad/rim clearance. I could set up the Grumpy brakes to be more powerful, by running the straddle cable lower, but that's not my primary goal in this application. BTW, just like the old Mafac cantis I have used in the past, the Grumpy brakes have no "toe-in" adjustment, and their height adjustment is quite limited, so set up is an adventure."
Dia-Compe cantis, for example 987. These are a very common MTB brake design from a few years ago and were widely imitated. Who knows, maybe they imitated someone else. These don't work as well as Mafac's, I've heard.
Old XT-style cantis. These include Shimano "low-profile" brakes and similar designs. These may be less effective with road brake levers. You may have to fool with the length of the cantilever straddle cable to optimize performance. The advantage is that these are readily available at swap meets for dirt cheap. Another advantage of "low-profile" designs is that it's harder to hook them when dismounting.
Cable setup is critical with all standard cantilevers. You have to fiddle a lot to balance braking power and pad travel, while avoiding a spongy feel. A good rule of thumb approach is as follows. Pull the brake lever tight. Looking straight at the brake, draw an imaginary line from the brake pivot stud to the point on the arm where the cable attaches. Adjust the length of the straddle cable so that the cable forms a right angle to that imaginary line. This setup should give you the best power.
For vastly more detailed setup tips, see Sheldon Brown's Harris Cyclery site.
Road levers vary in design. The old brakes work best with old Campy-style "non-aero" brake levers, but who wants to run those on their bike? The newer aero levers (10 years old or newer--Diacompe, Shimano, etc, including STI and Ergo) may have a different cable pull design that affects the performance of cantilever brakes. Shimano levers, for example, have a sort of cam action in them. You may have to fool with the length of the cantilever straddle cable to optimize performance.
R.B.R. contributor "PPWrench" commented:
"A compuserve guy asked: Is one system better then the other when used with Shimano STI dual control levers? In our experience, it's hard to beat first gen XT cantilevers for performance. They are crisp, simple and reliable and inexpensive, feel/work great with ERGO/STI, are easy to get. They are also very 'MAFAC'-like, stick out quite a ways, but work great."
Mark Weaver offers the following opinion:
"Warning... blatant opinion follows. I personally use cheesy old canti's on my cross bikes for 3 reasons: 1) travel agents mean more places for friction to develop, especially as the conditions get muckier. 2) I generally don't need all that much braking power for cross. the idea is to go fast, eh? I use v's on my mtb because they're nice for long bumpy descents, but cross has few of those. 3) I still have old canti's kicking around because i switched all mtb's to v-brakes. i've had good results (masters district championship, 8th at nats, surf city wins) in all conditions using wtb semi-abrasive canti pads. they seem to stop even when wet, but if you're going to be doing all purpose off-roading on your cross bike, you may want to go with v's if it includes long downhills in bad conditions. --Mark."
Mark Chandler commmented:
"Cantis are simple. Light. Usually plenty for most 'crossers. You'll get a "better" (which is often subjective) feel with STI levers and cantis. Use a wide-profile brake or a wide cable carrier for best results. The Paul and SRP Mafac-esque cantis are pretty cool, IMO.Travel Agent-type dealies can clog up and make for gritty/hard braking. They can also wear cables quickly. Yet another thing to go wrong, etc."
Dia-Compe (now a subsidiary of Cane Creek Components) makes, or once made, a road-style lever with greater travel to work with cantilevers and/or V-brakes. This works for 'cross if you use bar-end shifters. If you use STI you won't want to replace your levers.
Alex Wetmore wrote the following:
"Dia-compe is supposed to have some levers called 287V which will work. I don't know if they are available through stores yet though, or just on new bikes. Otherwise you can get the Diacompe 287 (no V) and use them with Travel Agents or World Class V-dapters. I have this setup on two of my bikes and it works well. The setup will cost you about $90 though ($50-$60 for the levers, $30-$40 for the V-dapters or Travel Agents). --Alex."
Mark Atanowicz adds the following:
"Dia Compe makes a long travel lever and there are gizmos that you can attached to the brakes to decrease leverage. I've had no problems, though, running Ergos and canti's without these. I just need to run the pads a bit closer to the rim. My biggest issue was the lack of adjustment which I recently solved with some barrel adjusters that fit between the cables and cable stops."

'Cross-specific cantilevers (Updated 12/00) In the last couple of years, a number of companies have introduced new cantilevers designed for 'cross, which work well using any road lever and without any fancy cable arrangements. Better for you! Here are a few selections:
Avid 15C (sometimes called the "Shorty 15C"). The "C" stands for "cyclocross"-- tres cool. These look like old DiaCompe but work a lot better with road levers. The aftermarket version has replaceable cartridge pads while the OEM version has cheaper one-piece pads. Can't say that it matters much.
I put a pair of these on my Redline this season and they work better than any other brake I have used, including 987s, XT cantis, and V-brakes with V-dapter. I'd recommend them.
Redline is one of those mass producers who have come out with a 'cross brake, this one manufactured in Taiwan for not very much money.
Ritchey makes a 'cross brake which falls in the "neo-retro" category: looks like the old style brakes. My guess is they are made in the same factory as Dia-Compe 986s.
A recent (12/18/00) email reports on "Spooky Brakes": "Hello David-- Please check www.spooky-brakes.nl and see our website with all info on the brakes used by allmost all the topriders in Europe including world-champion Richard Groenendaal!! I hope to hear soon what you think of it. Thanks. --Harrie, Spooky-brakes."

V-brakes V-brakes are widely considered to have superior performance--when used with dedicated V-brake levers. With road levers, the the cable travel is insufficient and the brakes work poorly. You must run the brakes very close to the rim or else risk bottoming out the lever on the handlebar under hard braking. Meanwhile, you lose the rim clearance which you need for muddy conditions, and the brakes may have an unpleasant "spongy" feel.
The following are products designed to improve the feel of V-brakes with road levers.
The QBP Travel Agent is one product designed to directly correct the cable travel problem. Here are some descriptions.
Alex Wetmore writes:
"The Travel Agent is a two diameter roller for the brake cable. You can see (not great) pictures of both devices on my homepage at http://www.phred.org/~alex/bikes.html. It is a bit complicated to get the cable through, across a sharp turn (where it goes onto the outer section of the pulley) then through the rest of the Travel Agent (this is actually the hardest part for me... usually I bend the cable a little bit with needle nose plyers to make it follow the curve through the rest of the Travel Agent."
Dave Carr writes:
"The Travel Agent seems the best from an engineering standpoint but it looks complicated. I think you have to crimp the cable to get it in there, which means you must get it right the first time you install. Great name though. Don't confuse this with the Rollamajig, which is a simple pulley that replaces the V-brake "noodle tube" and doesn't change the mechanical advantage of the system, which is what is required to match road levers and V-brakes."
The World Class V-dapter is a simpler design than the travel Agent with a similar goal.
Alex Wetmore writes:
"The V-dapter uses an eccentric pulley with the short end of the pulley (closest the pivot point) up. As you pull on the cable this begins by moving a lot of cable (since the cable from the brakes is wrapping around the large end of the pulley) and the amount decreases as you keep going. I've never tried to measure this effect to see how big it is. To adjust for worn brake pads you move a stop on the the cable (where the noodle is on normal V-brakes). This doesn't involve changing the cable mounting on the pulley, so nothing really changes with regards to the brake geometry. If you use barrel connectors (I don't, but probably should) then by adjusting the barrel connector you'd screw up the orientation of the eccentric pulley in the normal state and you'd have to readjust it (in normal usage the set screw on the pulley should be in the 3 o'clock position, and you'd be changing this with the barrel adjustment). Moving the stopper is pretty simple (but does require a 2mm allen wrench) so I haven't missed the barrel adjusters yet."
Dave Carr writes:
"I use the V-dapter on my 'cross bike and they are very nice. Simple, elegant and they have a feature I really like which is if you set 'em up right they have decreasing rate, which means they move the brake fast in the initial part of the travel to take up slack quickly, then move it slowly in the latter part of the travel for greater force. The net is that you can run the pads farther off the rim than with regular road levers, critical for CX. Now if I could just find a mud boot for them."
Alex Wetmore adds:
"On some bikes the V-dapter is the only option (the Travel Agent gets in the way of the rack mounting brazeons on my touring bike). Second, I notice no difference in these adapters (and I should be able to tell easily, since I have one of each adapter on each of my bikes with V-brakes). In some ways I prefer the V-dapter. The Travel Agent has a space between the pulley and holder which can accumulate grit and dirt and reduce braking performance. The V-dapter has a wide open space with an open bottom in which nothing acculmulates. I also find the V-dapter to be simpler to setup. The main problem with the V-dapter is that it uses two oddly sized set screws, and if you lost just one of them then you'd be SOL."
The Love Unit is a product made by Ibis, similar in concept to the Travel Agent but much larger is size. It mounts to the handlebar instead of the brake arm. It is probably out of production, but check the Ibis web site.
Another alternative: Peter White Cycles sells a V-style brake that is compatible with regular road levers, made by Strange Cycles. More info (Feb 02):
"Hi David,
Just thought I'd say hi and pass on some info. I saw mention of my brakes on your website. They are "STRANGE BRAKES" by Strange Cycles but are listed as a brake made my Peter White. Peter is one of our best customers but not the manufacturer. It would be great if you could put our info up so people can get a hold of us if they have any questions. Thanks, Shawn Place."
www.strangecycles.com, tel 905-628-5034, fax 905-628-5079

Double levers Here's one more twist: Two sets of levers, including regular road levers on the hooks and MTB levers on the tops of the bars. This is a bizarre concept originated in Europe and occasionally seen here. It may have come from mountain bikers who just couldn't get used to drop bars. Apparently enough top riders have done it that it warranted a mention in the second edition of Simon Burney's legendary cyclocross guide.
Here's a discussion from rec.bike.racing:
"So you want Runkel levers eh? (Dieter Runkel, Swiss cross star, started the fad.)
I have run 2 sets of levers for the past two seasons, and am pretty happy with the set up. I copied the design from a pair Adam Myerson brought home from Switzerland.
"Start by reaming out the clamp so it fits a road bar. MTB levers use a smaller clamp diameter, so you'll need a little extra room for the larger bar. Now envision that the cable will run straight through the back of the lever blade, coming out into the cut out normally used for the lead end of the mtb cable. Drill a hole through the lever, and counter sink the hole enough to fit a step down ferrule. Run a regular cable from the road lever, through a short length of housing (outside the tape) to the step down ferrule, through the back of the mtb lever, and out the mtb lever into more housing, then to the stop on your frame. Hook up the brakes normally from there.
"When you pull the road lever, the cable should pass through the mtb lever and work normally. When you pull the mtb lever, the housing behind the mtb lever moves and tightens the cable. You'll have to watch out for the cable hanging up on the end of the mtb lever, so it's a bit of experimentation, but it should work.
"This all sounds confusing, but play with the levers a while, and you'll figure it out. If you can find one of the redline cross brochures, there is a photo of the levers there. Hopefully someone else can give some suggestions too. Good luck!!" --JD Bilodeau

Go back to the NVV Cyclocross Circuit

Introduction	For cyclocross racing strong brakes are important, especially in winter when conditions may be wet and muddy. For this reason cyclocross frames have featured cantilever brake bosses for a long time. The challenge in setting up your bike is to find a brake and lever combination that provides good stoppage using the normal road brake or brake/shift levers that are commonly found on 'cross bikes with drop bars. The most popular brake for 'cross has traditionally been the old Mafac "Racer" brake which has been around for decades. It features brake arms that stick out almost horizontally from the brake boss. Designed at a time when there were no mountain bikes around, this brake works very well with road levers. However, with the advent of mountain bikes, new brake and brake lever designs have sprung up. Many of the newer models have been designed with a "low profile" design; others reproduce the overall shape of older designs. The next innovation was the "V-brake" concept introduced by Shimano, which features something like twice the cable travel of an ordinary road lever. The advantage of this design is that it reduces the effect of stretch and flex in the cable and housing. These brakes work great, provided you use compatible levers (only available for flat bars). When you try to set them up on your 'cross bike with normal short-travel road levers, the cable travel is insufficient and the brakes won't work well. The performance improves considerably with the addition of a travel adjuster (a few are mentioned below). (12/00) Now, with the increase in the number of manufacturers mass-producing 'cross bikes, CX-specific brakes are becoming available more cheaply. There are a number of options for setting up your bike effectively.
	Now the latest: Disc Brakes. It was only a matter of time before those mountain-bike builders got their hands on a 'cross bike. Actually, discs make some sense for CX bikes, especially in muddy locales where all cantilevers have trouble dealing with the wet and muck. Watch your local high-end shop for a disc-equipped bike...someday. (Picture at right is a Kelly prototype spied at Surf City). The following is a selection of opinion, my own and that of others posted to the rec.bicycles.tech newsgroup. Note that this discussion doesn't touch on brake pad selection, which is a whole other topic. You might check the rec.bicycles.racing and rec.bicycles.tech newsgroups for more discussion. If you have any comments that you'd like to share, please drop a line. -- Dave Carr One more question you may be having: Why should we care about brakes at all? After all, the goal is to go fast, not to stop fast, right? True, to a point. But you aren't going fast all the time in 'cross. You do have to slow down for those dismounts and corners. If your brakes are good, you can go fast up until the last possible second, then slam on the brakes and stop quickly. With bad brakes you must slow down much earlier, thus slower speed overall. It's the same as in downhill MTB racing. Those guys never need brakes, right? Wrong. There's a reason discs originated in downhilling, becuase they need them.
Old-style "retro-grouch" cantilevers and road levers	"Mafac" style cantilevers. You can still find the original Mafac Racer and other equivalents at swap meets for dirt cheap, and your bike will look totally retro. These can be run stock with regular road levers. Older cantilever brakes from Shimano, Dia-compe and others are similar in design. Neo-Mafac. Specialty Racing Products (SRP) makes a cantilever brake called "Mr. Grumpy" which is a modern incarnation of the old Mafac. It should work about the same. Paul Racing Components also has a version named "Neo-Retro". For other selections try online stores like Cyclocrossworld.com, Excel Sports, and Durance Cycles. Ric Lamoureux has the following observations: "I have been using SRP Mr. Grumpy brakes, mated to STI levers, on my 'cross bike for several months now. I found them easy to set up for this application, and they have great pad/rim clearance, when set up with this parameter in mind. Like any canti, one can vary the amount of leverage in the brake simply by adjusting the straddle cable length. As for their power vs. a v-brake--I think not. My other 700c "dirty" bike is set up with STI and v-brakes (with adapters), and it has significantly more powerful braking, at the expense of significantly less pad/rim clearance. I could set up the Grumpy brakes to be more powerful, by running the straddle cable lower, but that's not my primary goal in this application. BTW, just like the old Mafac cantis I have used in the past, the Grumpy brakes have no "toe-in" adjustment, and their height adjustment is quite limited, so set up is an adventure." Dia-Compe cantis, for example 987. These are a very common MTB brake design from a few years ago and were widely imitated. Who knows, maybe they imitated someone else. These don't work as well as Mafac's, I've heard. Old XT-style cantis. These include Shimano "low-profile" brakes and similar designs. These may be less effective with road brake levers. You may have to fool with the length of the cantilever straddle cable to optimize performance. The advantage is that these are readily available at swap meets for dirt cheap. Another advantage of "low-profile" designs is that it's harder to hook them when dismounting. Cable setup is critical with all standard cantilevers. You have to fiddle a lot to balance braking power and pad travel, while avoiding a spongy feel. A good rule of thumb approach is as follows. Pull the brake lever tight. Looking straight at the brake, draw an imaginary line from the brake pivot stud to the point on the arm where the cable attaches. Adjust the length of the straddle cable so that the cable forms a right angle to that imaginary line. This setup should give you the best power. For vastly more detailed setup tips, see Sheldon Brown's Harris Cyclery site. Road levers vary in design. The old brakes work best with old Campy-style "non-aero" brake levers, but who wants to run those on their bike? The newer aero levers (10 years old or newer--Diacompe, Shimano, etc, including STI and Ergo) may have a different cable pull design that affects the performance of cantilever brakes. Shimano levers, for example, have a sort of cam action in them. You may have to fool with the length of the cantilever straddle cable to optimize performance. R.B.R. contributor "PPWrench" commented: "A compuserve guy asked: Is one system better then the other when used with Shimano STI dual control levers? In our experience, it's hard to beat first gen XT cantilevers for performance. They are crisp, simple and reliable and inexpensive, feel/work great with ERGO/STI, are easy to get. They are also very 'MAFAC'-like, stick out quite a ways, but work great." Mark Weaver offers the following opinion: "Warning... blatant opinion follows. I personally use cheesy old canti's on my cross bikes for 3 reasons: 1) travel agents mean more places for friction to develop, especially as the conditions get muckier. 2) I generally don't need all that much braking power for cross. the idea is to go fast, eh? I use v's on my mtb because they're nice for long bumpy descents, but cross has few of those. 3) I still have old canti's kicking around because i switched all mtb's to v-brakes. i've had good results (masters district championship, 8th at nats, surf city wins) in all conditions using wtb semi-abrasive canti pads. they seem to stop even when wet, but if you're going to be doing all purpose off-roading on your cross bike, you may want to go with v's if it includes long downhills in bad conditions. --Mark." Mark Chandler commmented: "Cantis are simple. Light. Usually plenty for most 'crossers. You'll get a "better" (which is often subjective) feel with STI levers and cantis. Use a wide-profile brake or a wide cable carrier for best results. The Paul and SRP Mafac-esque cantis are pretty cool, IMO.Travel Agent-type dealies can clog up and make for gritty/hard braking. They can also wear cables quickly. Yet another thing to go wrong, etc." Dia-Compe (now a subsidiary of Cane Creek Components) makes, or once made, a road-style lever with greater travel to work with cantilevers and/or V-brakes. This works for 'cross if you use bar-end shifters. If you use STI you won't want to replace your levers. Alex Wetmore wrote the following: "Dia-compe is supposed to have some levers called 287V which will work. I don't know if they are available through stores yet though, or just on new bikes. Otherwise you can get the Diacompe 287 (no V) and use them with Travel Agents or World Class V-dapters. I have this setup on two of my bikes and it works well. The setup will cost you about $90 though ($50-$60 for the levers, $30-$40 for the V-dapters or Travel Agents). --Alex." Mark Atanowicz adds the following: "Dia Compe makes a long travel lever and there are gizmos that you can attached to the brakes to decrease leverage. I've had no problems, though, running Ergos and canti's without these. I just need to run the pads a bit closer to the rim. My biggest issue was the lack of adjustment which I recently solved with some barrel adjusters that fit between the cables and cable stops."
'Cross-specific cantilevers	(Updated 12/00) In the last couple of years, a number of companies have introduced new cantilevers designed for 'cross, which work well using any road lever and without any fancy cable arrangements. Better for you! Here are a few selections: Avid 15C (sometimes called the "Shorty 15C"). The "C" stands for "cyclocross"-- tres cool. These look like old DiaCompe but work a lot better with road levers. The aftermarket version has replaceable cartridge pads while the OEM version has cheaper one-piece pads. Can't say that it matters much. I put a pair of these on my Redline this season and they work better than any other brake I have used, including 987s, XT cantis, and V-brakes with V-dapter. I'd recommend them. Redline is one of those mass producers who have come out with a 'cross brake, this one manufactured in Taiwan for not very much money. Ritchey makes a 'cross brake which falls in the "neo-retro" category: looks like the old style brakes. My guess is they are made in the same factory as Dia-Compe 986s. A recent (12/18/00) email reports on "Spooky Brakes": "Hello David-- Please check www.spooky-brakes.nl and see our website with all info on the brakes used by allmost all the topriders in Europe including world-champion Richard Groenendaal!! I hope to hear soon what you think of it. Thanks. --Harrie, Spooky-brakes."
V-brakes	V-brakes are widely considered to have superior performance--when used with dedicated V-brake levers. With road levers, the the cable travel is insufficient and the brakes work poorly. You must run the brakes very close to the rim or else risk bottoming out the lever on the handlebar under hard braking. Meanwhile, you lose the rim clearance which you need for muddy conditions, and the brakes may have an unpleasant "spongy" feel. The following are products designed to improve the feel of V-brakes with road levers. The QBP Travel Agent is one product designed to directly correct the cable travel problem. Here are some descriptions. Alex Wetmore writes: "The Travel Agent is a two diameter roller for the brake cable. You can see (not great) pictures of both devices on my homepage at http://www.phred.org/~alex/bikes.html. It is a bit complicated to get the cable through, across a sharp turn (where it goes onto the outer section of the pulley) then through the rest of the Travel Agent (this is actually the hardest part for me... usually I bend the cable a little bit with needle nose plyers to make it follow the curve through the rest of the Travel Agent." Dave Carr writes: "The Travel Agent seems the best from an engineering standpoint but it looks complicated. I think you have to crimp the cable to get it in there, which means you must get it right the first time you install. Great name though. Don't confuse this with the Rollamajig, which is a simple pulley that replaces the V-brake "noodle tube" and doesn't change the mechanical advantage of the system, which is what is required to match road levers and V-brakes." The World Class V-dapter is a simpler design than the travel Agent with a similar goal. Alex Wetmore writes: "The V-dapter uses an eccentric pulley with the short end of the pulley (closest the pivot point) up. As you pull on the cable this begins by moving a lot of cable (since the cable from the brakes is wrapping around the large end of the pulley) and the amount decreases as you keep going. I've never tried to measure this effect to see how big it is. To adjust for worn brake pads you move a stop on the the cable (where the noodle is on normal V-brakes). This doesn't involve changing the cable mounting on the pulley, so nothing really changes with regards to the brake geometry. If you use barrel connectors (I don't, but probably should) then by adjusting the barrel connector you'd screw up the orientation of the eccentric pulley in the normal state and you'd have to readjust it (in normal usage the set screw on the pulley should be in the 3 o'clock position, and you'd be changing this with the barrel adjustment). Moving the stopper is pretty simple (but does require a 2mm allen wrench) so I haven't missed the barrel adjusters yet." Dave Carr writes: "I use the V-dapter on my 'cross bike and they are very nice. Simple, elegant and they have a feature I really like which is if you set 'em up right they have decreasing rate, which means they move the brake fast in the initial part of the travel to take up slack quickly, then move it slowly in the latter part of the travel for greater force. The net is that you can run the pads farther off the rim than with regular road levers, critical for CX. Now if I could just find a mud boot for them." Alex Wetmore adds: "On some bikes the V-dapter is the only option (the Travel Agent gets in the way of the rack mounting brazeons on my touring bike). Second, I notice no difference in these adapters (and I should be able to tell easily, since I have one of each adapter on each of my bikes with V-brakes). In some ways I prefer the V-dapter. The Travel Agent has a space between the pulley and holder which can accumulate grit and dirt and reduce braking performance. The V-dapter has a wide open space with an open bottom in which nothing acculmulates. I also find the V-dapter to be simpler to setup. The main problem with the V-dapter is that it uses two oddly sized set screws, and if you lost just one of them then you'd be SOL." The Love Unit is a product made by Ibis, similar in concept to the Travel Agent but much larger is size. It mounts to the handlebar instead of the brake arm. It is probably out of production, but check the Ibis web site. Another alternative: Peter White Cycles sells a V-style brake that is compatible with regular road levers, made by Strange Cycles. More info (Feb 02): "Hi David, Just thought I'd say hi and pass on some info. I saw mention of my brakes on your website. They are "STRANGE BRAKES" by Strange Cycles but are listed as a brake made my Peter White. Peter is one of our best customers but not the manufacturer. It would be great if you could put our info up so people can get a hold of us if they have any questions. Thanks, Shawn Place." www.strangecycles.com, tel 905-628-5034, fax 905-628-5079
Double levers	Here's one more twist: Two sets of levers, including regular road levers on the hooks and MTB levers on the tops of the bars. This is a bizarre concept originated in Europe and occasionally seen here. It may have come from mountain bikers who just couldn't get used to drop bars. Apparently enough top riders have done it that it warranted a mention in the second edition of Simon Burney's legendary cyclocross guide. Here's a discussion from rec.bike.racing: "So you want Runkel levers eh? (Dieter Runkel, Swiss cross star, started the fad.) I have run 2 sets of levers for the past two seasons, and am pretty happy with the set up. I copied the design from a pair Adam Myerson brought home from Switzerland. "Start by reaming out the clamp so it fits a road bar. MTB levers use a smaller clamp diameter, so you'll need a little extra room for the larger bar. Now envision that the cable will run straight through the back of the lever blade, coming out into the cut out normally used for the lead end of the mtb cable. Drill a hole through the lever, and counter sink the hole enough to fit a step down ferrule. Run a regular cable from the road lever, through a short length of housing (outside the tape) to the step down ferrule, through the back of the mtb lever, and out the mtb lever into more housing, then to the stop on your frame. Hook up the brakes normally from there. "When you pull the road lever, the cable should pass through the mtb lever and work normally. When you pull the mtb lever, the housing behind the mtb lever moves and tightens the cable. You'll have to watch out for the cable hanging up on the end of the mtb lever, so it's a bit of experimentation, but it should work. "This all sounds confusing, but play with the levers a while, and you'll figure it out. If you can find one of the redline cross brochures, there is a photo of the levers there. Hopefully someone else can give some suggestions too. Good luck!!" --JD Bilodeau