Brake dilemma - any help appreciated :

[tommyrod74]

So, I'm building up a Specialized Crux Pro frame I bought here on the forums. I have a set of inexpensive mini-v brakes that work OK with my 23mm rims - but when I swapped in a Pacenti SL23 rim for some road riding, I quickly realized the wheels were going to have to be perfectly trued and dished to not cause problems with pad rub.

Further, the front brake won't fully open as the pad holder part of the canti arms hits the fork leg. I have to deflate a CX tire (32mmm) to install or remove the wheel.

So, what are my best options? This bike will be a gravel racer/winter road bike, I doubt I'll ever actually race CX on it as I don't care to race CX.

Would a MTB V-Brake (long arm) with a Travel Agent allow me to get powerful braking AND good rim clearance?

Is there a better mini-v option than what I have, or would any option be the same issue?

Am I stuck with cantis? I never had a set I actually felt worked worth anything...

Thanks for any and all help.

-TR

[Peter P.]

Without photos it's hard to guess what's going on.

Some V-brakes have a convex/concave pair of washers on the inside and outside of the pad mounting arm. Each pair is of a different width, allowing you to fine tune pad spacing from the rim. If you're lucky enough to have this arrangement, and the wider pair is on the inside of the arms, try swapping the washer pairs.

I've also heard of people removing the pad holder assembly and installing one-piece brake pads, cutting off part of the pad to the rear of the mounting bolt. This is usually done to reduce brake squeal, but in your case it may improve clearance issues when opening the brake.

[tommyrod74]

Without photos it's hard to guess what's going on.

Some V-brakes have a convex/concave pair of washers on the inside and outside of the pad mounting arm. Each pair is of a different width, allowing you to fine tune pad spacing from the rim. If you're lucky enough to have this arrangement, and the wider pair is on the inside of the arms, try swapping the washer pairs.

I've also heard of people removing the pad holder assembly and installing one-piece brake pads, cutting off part of the pad to the rear of the mounting bolt. This is usually done to reduce brake squeal, but in your case it may improve clearance issues when opening the brake.

I tried putting the washers in a different order - it helped a small amount, but at the end of the day there just isn't enough pad retraction/cable pull to have a large enough gap between pad and rim (and still have a functional brake).

Would a long-arm v-brake with a travel agent essentially allow me to set up the brake pad further from the rim while still having a powerful brake?

Or am I back to square one with short-arm cantis?