Strange brake question

Quoted post said:

Originally posted by lumpy
I have a road bike with Shimano 600 dual pivot brakes. I'm using mtn. handlebars - if you're curious why - here is that thread

http://www.cyclingforums.com/t66935.html

The question is about brakes. Will linear pull ATB V brake levers work with road calipers? Specifically I have a set of LX's on my mtn. bike that will be free when I eventually upgrade it 😉
Or should I look for canti brake levers?

thanks,
Tim

The leverage on V-brake levers pulls more than double the amount of cabti levers. V-brake levers will work, but they don't mate well with dual pivot brakes, due to the leverage differences.

Quoted post said:

Originally posted by daveornee
The leverage on V-brake levers pulls more than double the amount of cabti levers. V-brake levers will work, but they don't mate well with dual pivot brakes, due to the leverage differences.

Thanks Dave,

When V-brake levers get pulled, the cable travels twice as far as the same amount of pull on a canti lever ...... right? So this would mean I'd need a lot of finesse to keep from locking up my brakes :eek:

Think I'd be better off with some old mtb. canti levers? I have a set of those too.

Thanks,
Tim

on the shimano brake levers you can change the pivot location so that you don't pull too much cable

you can always try them out

I tried my old canti levers and the brakes are super! They are a rapid fire 7 speed shifter/brake set and I modified them to go to 8 speed. All in all a productive day!

thanks guys,
Tim

Quoted post said:

Originally posted by lumpy
They are a rapid fire 7 speed shifter/brake set and I modified them to go to 8 speed.

Sounds interesting, how'd you do that?

Quoted post said:

Originally posted by dabac
Sounds interesting, how'd you do that?

I'd heard once that it could be done so I sat down and took it apart. It's a shifter/brake combined unit vintage 96 or so Deore.
Inside there are grooves where each gear change stops with a large flat waiting for another groove 😄 - look for a place where the next downshift would be - so that low gear becomes second. I just ground another groove with my Dremel tool and voila!
The problem is that 7 speed cassettes have their cogs a bit farther apart than 8 speeds so it isn't a perfect shift on an 8 spd. cassette. I have it so that it works great except for high gear where a twist of the barrel adjuster dials it in.

Tim