Which v-brakes with Campy ergolevers?

[robertbb]

As the title says: which v-brakes will work with Campy ergolevers? (Potenza levers in this case, but I'm sure all Campy levers pull the same amount of cable).

v-brakes appear to come in different arm lengths - what do I need to be aware of here when matching it to the levers? Is there anything else I need to know?

[oldpotatoe]

Originally Posted by robertbb

As the title says: which v-brakes will work with Campy ergolevers? (Potenza levers in this case, but I'm sure all Campy levers pull the same amount of cable).

v-brakes appear to come in different arm lengths - what do I need to be aware of here when matching it to the levers? Is there anything else I need to know?

Mini Vs is what you want unless you want to use full length with a 'travel agent' adapter(not recommended)..8.4mm arm length the best for Campag..

TRP 8.4..pretty easy to find($ less) too cuz so much is going disc.

[nalax]

I am currently running Paul mini-motos with Potenza levers. Works great for me. Also had success with trp above.

[robertbb]

Thank you so much both!

The TRP's are a bit out of my budget (AU$200)!!

Would something like the Tektro 926al work?

It's got an 80mm arm length... does 4 mm less make a huge difference?

(Sorry if this is a dumb question. I know absolutely nothing about mini-v's. This is my first frankenbuild. It'll be a commuter/gravel bike and I wanna spend wisely in case it all goes nowhere. I'm trying to build a Campy 1x setup - Potenza shifters and mid-cage RD, Athena crank with NW chainring. It'll be on an old Specialized "fitness" bike with alloy frame and steel fork)

[jtbadge]

You should be able to get a bike's worth of CX8.4s new on eBay for $70-75 USD all day long. If none of those sellers will ship to Australia, surely a member of the forum could facilitate that purchase for you.

The Tektros come with really bad pads that are noisy and hard. By the time you upgrade pads, the price will approach TRP, and they also don't feel as smooth or solid.

[bigbill]

Mini-V, anything else is a noisemaker.

[Ed-B]

I have a couple Ergo lever bikes with mini V brakes, and a few others with mini v's and different brake levers. I've tried a fair number of combinations.

I have found that Campy levers are best matched with an 80mm length mini v brake. Longer arms require the brakes to be adjusted with the pads very close to the rim, otherwise the lever bottoms out before the brake hits full stopping power. The particulars of the canti boss placement on your frame and fork will also have an influence. If the pads are low in the slots the brake will have more mechanical advantage, but the arms will need to move further and more cable pull is required.

The inexpensive Tektro 926AL works well, especially if you get the adjustable noodles to fine tune the cable adjustment. The Ergo brake quick release is a nice feature in this application, as it yields enough cable slack to allow the mini v noodle to be easily disengaged from the arm.

A mini v brake with anything longer than an 80mm arm requires more cable pull than Campy levers generate. So unfortunately, those nice TRP8.4 brakes are not a good match.

Get some cheap 926AL mini v brakes and set of adjustable noodles.

[bfd]

Originally Posted by robertbb

Thank you so much both!

The TRP's are a bit out of my budget (AU$200)!!

Would something like the Tektro 926al work?

It's got an 80mm arm length... does 4 mm less make a huge difference?

(Sorry if this is a dumb question. I know absolutely nothing about mini-v's. This is my first frankenbuild. It'll be a commuter/gravel bike and I wanna spend wisely in case it all goes nowhere. I'm trying to build a Campy 1x setup - Potenza shifters and mid-cage RD, Athena crank with NW chainring. It'll be on an old Specialized "fitness" bike with alloy frame and steel fork)

I used the Tektro 926al with 2nd gen (round hood) Centaur 9 levers and it worked perfectly, way better than the crappy Suntour XC pro canti brake that I had. Of course, YMMV! Good Luck!

[acorn_user]

I'm running the Tektro 926al. But to get them to work with all my wonky wheels, we had to run travel agents anyway...

[john903]

I don't use mini V but use Paul mini moto with modern Campy levers. They are a little spendy but they are pretty much set up and forget and have great modulation and stopping power.

[buddybikes]

TRP, basically giving them away on ebay, should be able to get them over the big pond...

[bfd]

Originally Posted by john903

I don't use mini V but use Paul mini moto with modern Campy levers. They are a little spendy but they are pretty much set up and forget and have great modulation and stopping power.

You should know Paul considers the mini moto to be their mini-v brake:

“The MiniMoto is our mini-v brake for use with short pull road or cantilever brake levers.”

Link: https://www.paulcomp.com/shop/components/minimoto/

Good Luck!

[bshell]

Been using the TRP CX9 with Campagnolo levers for years. They work great.

[robertbb]

Thanks again all - some very knowledgeable people around here!

It sounds like there are four options to consider (least expensive to most expensive):

Tektro 926al
TRP CX8.4
TRP CX9
Paul Mini Moto's

Which of the above would work with Campagnolo brake shoes (pulled from Chorus 2014 dual/mono brakes)? The reason I'd like to use these is because I have a bunch of un-used Koolstop Salmon pads to fit the Campy style brake shoe, and those pads being quite thin will work well with the rims I have set aside for this build (Easton R90SL's, which themselves have very thin brake tracks).

Cheers all.

[Tommasini53]

Originally Posted by nalax

I am currently running Paul mini-motos with Potenza levers. Works great for me. Also had success with trp above.

+1
I'm using Paul MiniMotos with my Campy Record 11s Ergo levers on my gravel bike. Works great, smooth, easy setup, and very very light. Paul components are every bit the work of art that Campy is. And +1 on OldPotatoe's comment on travel agents. I installed one, it was not smooth. MiniMotos work fine without Travel Agents.