I prefer cantilever brakes for gravel (and CX) bikes

[choke]

Campy vs Shimano, tubular vs clincher, even Lance threads pale in comparison to canti vs disc threads. The manner in which some proponents of disc brakes proselytize is amusing to me....it has a near religious fervor.

[donevwil]

Originally Posted by choke

Campy vs Shimano, tubular vs clincher, even Lance threads pale in comparison to canti vs disc threads. The manner in which some proponents of disc brakes proselytize is amusing to me....it has a near religious fervor.

Amusing is a great way to look at it. I especially like comments from "it's newer so it's better" or "it's old tech so it must suck" crowd.

There's been very little disc bashing in this thread, but so many take it as a personal affront that someone might actually be satisfied with the function of their cantilever brakes.

Can't we all just get along????

[KidWok]

Nope...I am saying a fork and a tire do different things. They are different systems. Of course a fork won't perform the same when you add in other variables.

Tai

Originally Posted by ColonelJLloyd

And it's your take that this springing benefit will exist no matter how much tire volume and how low the psi? Doesn't seem logical to me that the fork can react the same regardless of tire volume and pressure.

[pdmtong]

Originally Posted by chiasticon

my inability to go faster in a cross race has never been caused by my fear that I won't be able to stop.



never been concerned about one finger braking or hand fatigue. maybe you need one of these:







much cheaper than buying a new bike

Ouch! Rough crowd here !

[nash]

Why is this an issue of contention? They are just two types of brakes. Nerds arguing about which brake is better on the internet. Love it. Let's keep some perspective. Use either, does it matter? Use both, even better.

[TunaAndBikes]

I've only had to clench for dear life when riding in slushy + icy conditions with my cantis, so a point for discs there.
Being able to switch wheel sizes and not having to fondle around for tire widths is another attractive trait of discs.

But two points for cantis because they're lighter weight and less of a general hassle.

Still wouldn't know which to go with if Enve still did a canti cross fork.

[cinema]

Originally Posted by donevwil

Amusing is a great way to look at it. I especially like comments from "it's newer so it's better" or "it's old tech so it must suck" crowd.

There's been very little disc bashing in this thread, but so many take it as a personal affront that someone might actually be satisfied with the function of their cantilever brakes.

Can't we all just get along????

I'd rather have V brakes than mechanical discs with rotors from ebay. But lets be honest here if you buy true-from-factory shimano ice rotors and shimano hydro brakes and you're still getting disc rub and think canti's brake better... i don't know what to tell you. somethin ain't right. This coming from a guy with cantis on every cross bike.

[Erik_A]

Both the Elite Men’s and Women’s races at the 2016 Cyclocross World Championships were won by riders on canti brakes...

Long live cantilevers!

One bike that I love the design of is the All City Mr. Pink, which comes with long reach Tektro R559 rim brakes, so that it can fit wide rims and 32c tires.

http://theradavist.com/2017/01/the-2...a-carbon-fork/

People ride this road bike way faster than a gravel bike, and in the rain ect., and we all know that long reach caliper rim brakes suck even worse than cantilevers.

I do like that you can share a wheelset on the Mr. Pink with your canti CX bike.

Now, I need to go find that thread where I can tout the benefits of BioPace chainrings...

[crankles]

Originally Posted by Erik_A

Both the Elite Men’s and Women’s races at the 2016 Cyclocross World Championships were won by riders on canti brakes...

Long live cantilevers!

Seriously? and what about the rest of the podium in 2016, and the winners in 2017, oh and the winner in 2015?

about the only winners with cantis this year were the Gbr Juniors.

These arguments are silly. Discs (hydro) are a superior brake. Period. Climate change is real. Trump has silly hair.

Whether you need that kind of performance increase is entirely up to you.

[shovelhd]

I had a feeling that the root of this thread had to do with why someone can't sell their frame. Not surprised. I don't like to be cynical but it seems to be unavoidable at times.

In the past week I've been to an official's symposium and a club shop event where we were discussing disc brakes on road and cross bikes. On the road, they are a nightmare for neutral support. There are so many variations that they have to weigh whether they carry complete bikes or wheels in the support cars. There will never be a true standard. At the shop, we were discussing how discs have changed cross racing. On courses that will support it, riders are bombing into corners and slamming on the brakes, a lot like the way rally car drivers race. But on courses where that kind of riding would result in a crash, some riders prefer cantis because its easier to feather the brakes in race conditions. I think this is why you see pros choose disc or canti depending on the course.

[kppolich]

I too prefer canti's

Reason: all my bikes are rim brakes and it gives me the option to swap wheels.

[benb]

Originally Posted by shovelhd

I had a feeling that the root of this thread had to do with why someone can't sell their frame. Not surprised. I don't like to be cynical but it seems to be unavoidable at times.

In the past week I've been to an official's symposium and a club shop event where we were discussing disc brakes on road and cross bikes. On the road, they are a nightmare for neutral support. There are so many variations that they have to weigh whether they carry complete bikes or wheels in the support cars. There will never be a true standard. At the shop, we were discussing how discs have changed cross racing. On courses that will support it, riders are bombing into corners and slamming on the brakes, a lot like the way rally car drivers race. But on courses where that kind of riding would result in a crash, some riders prefer cantis because its easier to feather the brakes in race conditions. I think this is why you see pros choose disc or canti depending on the course.

Sounds like folks just need to get used to them, and I still say the road/cross discs still have a lot of room for improvement.

You don't see anyone running V-brakes or Cantis in MTB on courses that favor "feathering" the brakes.

Not really sold on them for road still.. for a gravel/cross/all road type bike absolutely, I'm just not getting worked up about it.

It seems like some of the retro grouchiness here is what was mentioned before a) Someone is worried about selling a bike and/or resale value b) Folks are into having the latest and greatest and upset they'd have to get a whole new bike to say on the "latest and greatest" train c) Afraid of something new and haven't had their eyes opened riding MTBs.

A lot of this is always funny with posts about buying boutique Cantis (some of which are more expensive than plenty of good disc setups) that were never offered stock on anything, then having to swap and tune parts, and then some mystical expert mechanical adjustments and suddenly Cantis are the greatest thing ever.

If they were really great the world wouldn't have moved on, completely ignoring discs Cantis were left behind a long long time ago in favor of V-brakes.

I want brakes that are easy to manufacture, do not require swapping parts to get best performance, do not go out of adjustment as the pads wear, and are resistant to weather. I am still riding Mini-Vs on one bike, I have no intention to replace that bike until something happens to the frame. But IME Both Cantis and Vs are way more likely to die due to winter weather riding than Discs are, and both Cantis and Vs require me to continually tweak the brakes for best performance as the pads wear down. Standard road calipers and discs do not require this IMO. I usually tweak something on my bike equipped with Mini-Vs once a week, same thing or more when it had Cantis.

The Discs I have on my MTB were $200 including levers, lines, fluid, calipers, discs. Paul Cantis are mentioned here a lot, looks like the calipers alone are $240, no thanks.

End result of all this nonsense is road/cross/gravel disc setups are going to mature and pretty soon they will be better in all aspects (except maybe weight) than any rim brakes. They'll stop better, modulate better, and be lower maintenance. They are going to get there. It's already happened on just about every other wheeled vehicle.

[oldpotatoe]

Originally Posted by nash

Why is this an issue of contention? They are just two types of brakes. Nerds arguing about which brake is better on the internet. Love it. Let's keep some perspective. Use either, does it matter? Use both, even better.

This..some think it's the very salvation of a crappy bike market.

Campy vs Shimano, tubular vs clincher, even Lance threads pale in comparison to canti vs disc threads. The manner in which some proponents of disc brakes proselytize is amusing to me....it has a near religious fervor.

I don't 'hate' disc brakes but find it tiresome when some say they are 'necessary' to do anything and yer a dumass if you don't agree.

Take a trip to cyclingnews forum, bike section, a gent there is the high priestess of all things disc brake..and you are damned if you disagree.

[oldpotatoe]

Originally Posted by crankles

Seriously? and what about the rest of the podium in 2016, and the winners in 2017, oh and the winner in 2015?

about the only winners with cantis this year were the Gbr Juniors.

These arguments are silly. Discs (hydro) are a superior brake. Period. Climate change is real. Trump has silly hair.

Whether you need that kind of performance increase is entirely up to you.

[shovelhd]

Originally Posted by benb

Sounds like folks just need to get used to them

They're pros.