Canti brakes power hanger

Tim Hall said:

The front is a bit more difficult. The cable goes to a "power hanger"
- a right angled widget that sits where the cable yoke would. It's
attached to the fork crown by a bolt and terminates the brake cable
outer. The inner cable carries on down to one of the brake arms. A
short cable joins it to the other brake arm. When the brake lever is
squeezed, the directly attached lever moves, contacts the rim and
stops moving. The power hanger then swivels, pulling the other arm
into play.

A bit complicated to describe.

Is it like the one on page 47 of this PDF?

http://www.marzocchi.com/admin/download.asp?IDFolder=126&LN=UK&Sito=mtb&Campo=ManualeUnico&IDOggetto=2892

If so, the PDF has some brief instructions, but I don't remember it being
particularly difficult to adjust (I had one of those forks
back-in-the-day).

Anthony

Tim Hall said:

I've been tinkering with the brakes on my recumbent.

At present both front and rear are Dia Compe cantis as fitted to it
when new - about 8 years ago. I've managed to adjust the rear (using
sheldon's and park tools' websites so it actually does something.

The front is a bit more difficult. The cable goes to a "power hanger"
- a right angled widget that sits where the cable yoke would. It's
attached to the fork crown by a bolt and terminates the brake cable
outer. The inner cable carries on down to one of the brake arms. A
short cable joins it to the other brake arm. When the brake lever is
squeezed, the directly attached lever moves, contacts the rim and
stops moving. The power hanger then swivels, pulling the other arm
into play.

A bit complicated to describe.

I don't think it's that good and am minded to get rid of it, but
before I do, has anyone got any tips and wrinkles as to how to adjust
it?

Tim

Ignore the powerhanger when you adjust the brakes. Only thing worth
noting is that (just as with conventional setup cantilevers) the lenght
of the cable section is critical. If you have canti's on a post, it is
most likely that braking will improve by sliding the blocks out as much
as they will go.

--
---
Marten Gerritsen

INFOapestaartjeM-GINEERINGpuntNL
www.m-gineering.nl

I'm sure the recommendations of the other two posters will solve your
problems as cantis are basically sound, but if you want to try a better
system I would suggest you look at Magura HS11s at about 70 quid for front
and rear. I've now got these on my 'bent, my tandem, and my tourer and for
me they are the "best"
Got mine from the CTC shop.

SW

Steve Watkin said:

I'm sure the recommendations of the other two posters will solve your
problems as cantis are basically sound, but if you want to try a better
system I would suggest you look at Magura HS11s at about 70 quid for front
and rear. I've now got these on my 'bent, my tandem, and my tourer and for
me they are the "best"

I use HS-33s, similar but the next model up. And I must say they're
just miles ahead of any manual rim brakes I've ever used. More
powerful, easier to modulate, easier to adjust, so recommendation seconded.

Pete.
--
Peter Clinch Medical Physics IT Officer
Tel 44 1382 660111 ext. 33637 Univ. of Dundee, Ninewells Hospital
Fax 44 1382 640177 Dundee DD1 9SY Scotland UK
net [email hidden] http://www.dundee.ac.uk/~pjclinch/

"Peter Clinch" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Steve Watkin said:

I'm sure the recommendations of the other two posters will solve your
problems as cantis are basically sound, but if you want to try a better
system I would suggest you look at Magura HS11s at about 70 quid for
front and rear. I've now got these on my 'bent, my tandem, and my tourer
and for me they are the "best"

I use HS-33s, similar but the next model up. And I must say they're just
miles ahead of any manual rim brakes I've ever used. More powerful,
easier to modulate, easier to adjust, so recommendation seconded.

For those who don't know, the essential difference between the HS11 and the
HS33 is (or certainly used to be) the size of the master cylinder. The HS33
one has a smaller diameter, so for the same finger movement, less fluid gets
moved, and hence the brake pads move a bit less. (25% IIRC). The force on
the pads however goes up by the same amount, ie better brakes. Given that
the HS11/22/66 had plenty of spare lever movement, changing the
movement/force compromise like they did for the HS33 is very sensible, and
as such I'd always get them, given the choice.

cheers,
clive

in message <[email hidden]>, Tim Hall

(') said:

I've been tinkering with the brakes on my recumbent.

At present both front and rear are Dia Compe cantis as fitted to it
when new - about 8 years ago. I've managed to adjust the rear (using
sheldon's and park tools' websites so it actually does something.

The front is a bit more difficult. The cable goes to a "power hanger"
- a right angled widget that sits where the cable yoke would. It's
attached to the fork crown by a bolt and terminates the brake cable
outer. The inner cable carries on down to one of the brake arms. A
short cable joins it to the other brake arm. When the brake lever is
squeezed, the directly attached lever moves, contacts the rim and
stops moving. The power hanger then swivels, pulling the other arm
into play.

A bit complicated to describe.

I don't think it's that good and am minded to get rid of it, but
before I do, has anyone got any tips and wrinkles as to how to adjust
it?

Yes. Replace it with a proper straddle wire. The contraption you describe
(yes, I remember them) is an abortion.

--
[email hidden] (Simon Brooke) http://www.jasmine.org.uk/~simon/

IMHO, there aren't enough committed Christians, but that's care
in the community for you. -- Ben Evans

Simon Brooke said:

Quoted message said:

I don't think it's that good and am minded to get rid of it, but
before I do, has anyone got any tips and wrinkles as to how to adjust
it?

Yes. Replace it with a proper straddle wire. The contraption you describe
(yes, I remember them) is an abortion.

It being a recumbent, these things are probably fitted for a reason
(lack of space or a bendy steerer causing vibrations)
If you want to do away with the powerhanger it is probably necessary to
convert to V-s or HS
--
---
Marten Gerritsen

INFOapestaartjeM-GINEERINGpuntNL
www.m-gineering.nl

Tim Hall said:

A bit complicated to describe.

I have one of these on my recumbent - it's there because the normal
canti arrangement would foul the boom.

Quoted message said:

I don't think it's that good and am minded to get rid of it, but
before I do, has anyone got any tips and wrinkles as to how to adjust
it?

The only adjustment which makes any difference is the secondary cable
length, which is adjusted such that the brake pads have the same
clearance on each side. The position you put the brake pads in will
have more effect, as that will determine the angle of the canti
calipers. I would adjust the brake pads so that at the end of the
cable travel (brake fully applied, new pads) the straddle cable is
perpendicular to a line from the canti post to the cable attachment at
the end of the canti caliper. That's not easy to explain either, but
adjusted like that I get as good a performance as I've ever had out of
cantis.

Getting rid of a setup like that can be tricky if there is not enough
clearance to allow un-fouled cable routing to a canti hanger, and
enough cable to the straddle to allow full operation of the brakes. V
brakes might work, but might mess up the feel of the brakes.

JimP

In article <[email hidden]>, JimP
[email hidden] says...

Quoted message said:

Tim Hall said:

A bit complicated to describe.

I have one of these on my recumbent - it's there because the normal
canti arrangement would foul the boom.

Quoted message said:

I don't think it's that good and am minded to get rid of it, but
before I do, has anyone got any tips and wrinkles as to how to adjust
it?

The only adjustment which makes any difference is the secondary cable
length, which is adjusted such that the brake pads have the same
clearance on each side. The position you put the brake pads in will
have more effect, as that will determine the angle of the canti
calipers. I would adjust the brake pads so that at the end of the
cable travel (brake fully applied, new pads) the straddle cable is
perpendicular to a line from the canti post to the cable attachment at
the end of the canti caliper. That's not easy to explain either, but
adjusted like that I get as good a performance as I've ever had out of
cantis.

That's the way to do it. :-)

Quoted message said:

Getting rid of a setup like that can be tricky if there is not enough
clearance to allow un-fouled cable routing to a canti hanger, and
enough cable to the straddle to allow full operation of the brakes. V
brakes might work, but might mess up the feel of the brakes.

It shouldn't make a huge amount of difference to feel - the power hanger
probably already causes more cable pull than a regular canti straddle
arrangement. If mini-Vees will fit they would seem to be the ideal
solution.