Cantilever brakes - best levers?

G Brunsdon said:

I have an old Evans touring bike with drop handlebars and a Shimano
Rx100 groupset - including cantilever brakes.. Unfortunately the brake
levers have been damaged following a minor accident - and I'd appreciate
a reccomendation for new levers - that would give me the most effective
braking performance - thanks

I've had a look on the net and it seems that you can pick up budget
Shimano levers for c 10 ukp - but you can also opt for dia compe 287's
or ones made by Cane Creek that seem to cost about three times as much
as that.
Also - I see that some people seem to claim that the 287's pull cable
better - but I think that might be when they re used with v brakes - but
maybe they re better too with old style cantilevers?
-- I'm confused!!
-- Is it worth investing more?

G Brunsdon said:

G Brunsdon said:

I have an old Evans touring bike with drop handlebars and a Shimano
Rx100 groupset - including cantilever brakes.. Unfortunately the
brake levers have been damaged following a minor accident - and I'd
appreciate a reccomendation for new levers - that would give me the
most effective braking performance - thanks

I've had a look on the net and it seems that you can pick up budget
Shimano levers for c 10 ukp - but you can also opt for dia compe 287's
or ones made by Cane Creek that seem to cost about three times as much
as that.
Also - I see that some people seem to claim that the 287's pull cable
better - but I think that might be when they re used with v brakes -
but maybe they re better too with old style cantilevers?
-- I'm confused!!
-- Is it worth investing more?

Can you post a link to a website with pictures of levers you're
considering?

Any modern "aero"* levers should pull cable well enough for good braking
with caliper or old-style canti brakes. It's more of a question of
finding ones with a shape to your liking: not just the blades but the
bodies. Ergonomoics are important when it comes to resting on the "hoods"
and also braking. If your hands are comfortable, you can brake better
from the hood position instead of having to rely on the drop position so
much. Personally, I find the ones with the more rounded bumps more
ergonomic than the more pointy spiky ones.

* www.sheldonbrown.com/gloss_aa-l.html - Æro brake levers

~PB

Actually I've just noticed this in Sheldon Brown's glossary:

"Æro brake levers usually have more mechanical advantage, which is good in
general, but may cause problems when they are used with cantilever or drum
brakes that require more cable than conventional calipers."

I'm not sure if he means just certain types of cantis or all of them.
Anyway, cantis can be set up with the same mechanical advantage as
conventional calipers.

By the way, you could probably fit a modern dual pivot caliper brake if
you wanted. These have a lighter action than cantis, IME.

~PB

G Brunsdon said:

I have an old Evans touring bike with drop handlebars and a Shimano
Rx100 groupset - including cantilever brakes.. Unfortunately the brake
levers have been damaged following a minor accident - and I'd appreciate
a reccomendation for new levers - that would give me the most effective
braking performance - thanks

I've been happy with old 105 aero levers connected to primeval Deore LX
cantilevers on my tourer. Bit of a faff to set up the cantilevers of course.
I got the levers off eBay some years ago.

These would probably do you:

http://www.parker-international.co.uk/ProductDetails/mcs/productID/4741/groupID/3/categoryID/82/v/d0247fa7-9008-474c-ba0c-4805dd6f4261

I've no experience of that specific product, but Tektro stuff is cheap and
usually perfectly adequate.

Regards,

-david