why cant i get my cantis to work?

[Edric01]

I have Avid shorty 6 cantis with sora 7 speed sti with the extra flat levers fitted as well and they are rubbbish why? I have tried everything to get them to stop my bulk and they are very spongy.Is it time for v brakes with travel agents?

[Ian K]

Hi Edric,
I had shimano cantis on my old bike, which were a bit like Avid shorty's, and they were carp. As you may recall, I'm about the same size as you. I changed them for Tektro CR720s (or something like), wihch were much much better. Lots more leverage in them. Also got some good cartridge blocks (koolstop orange & black). Nearly fell off teh first time I braked , over teh bars in our road. Farily similar setup on my new bike (Kore Race froglegs) and they're fine too, although they took a minute to clear teh sheep muck off my rims this aftrenoon.
hope that helps, see you in a couple of weeks (eek),
Ian.

[Nikki]

Canti's set up always seemed better than v brakes to me in past, tektro ones on my Scott with decent pads ( ones with Allen bolt fitting not post fitting) easier to set up.
See you at weekend, don't drink too much cider beforehand!!

[jackson]

I learnt lots about canti set-up from Sheldon Brown, it's all online here:http://sheldonbrown.com/canti-trad.html. However I've now made the move to Tektro 720s and they are much easier to set-up and more powerful as well, the later property can be a problem though, when I first installed them I was getting horrendous brake judder. The way to cure the judder was with a fork mounted cable hanger (see here http://www.sjscycles.co.uk/raleigh-front-rear-brake-cable-hanger-prod21510/) but that only works if your fork is drilled to accept one.

Jackson.