Cantilever brake options

Below are photos showing the different styles of cantilever brakes used on our touring bikes - my  Surly 'Long Haul Trucker' (blue) and Toni's Thorn 'Sherpa' (red). 

The Surly has Tektro CR720 Mafac style cantilever brakes, which are used in combination with non-STI Shimano Ultegra brake levers. Rivendell ( http://www.rivbike.com/product-p/brc1.htm) refers to them as "high profile" whereas I described them as "wide profile".  I find that they have very good stopping power, superior to the Shimano R550 cantilever brakes I have on my old touring bike.

Rivendell also says  “...They set up easily as cantilevers go” but that’s not my experience, which is more in line with the following comment about this style of cantilever brake by CycloCross Magazine in May 2012:

• “...the tried and true ‘Mafac’ style cyclocross brake is still the most predominant and effective option for all racing conditions. They provide plenty of mud clearance, the ability to remove wheels without opening them, and look damned retro-cool. The one thing they are not, however, is easy to set up.”

This is from an article about setting up this kind of brake:  http://www.cxmagazine.com/gut-wrenching-mechanical-mondays-brake-setup

 

To centre the cable I use an uphanger attached by way of a bolt through the centre of the fork crown (see the side profile in the 3rd photo below), rather than a cable hanger fitted into the spacers above the headset.  I think these are designed to prevent brake judder/chatter, which can be a problem with cantilever brakes. 

Because my LHT is the 60cm size & I have 5cm of spacers, the bare cable running down to the straddle cable mechanism would be quite long with a traditional type of cable hanger, so I thought it would be best to have something that stabilises the cable just above the straddle mechanism, thus the uphanger. 

I got the idea of using an uphanger when I saw a Cannondale cyclocross bike at a local shop back in 2010 (the CAADX 5 is the latest version of that bike).  I asked the shop to order in the same uphanger from the importer, which cost about $30 !  I later found that UK sites Spa Cycles and SJS Cycles sell much cheaper uphangers.

Toni's Sherpa uses Shimano R550 cantilever brakes in combination with Campagnolo 'Athena' ergopower brake/shift levers.  The brake cable is centred by a cable hanger embedded with the spacers above the headset (see side profile in the 3rd photo below).  Toni preferred these brakes to the Tektro model above because she didn't like the look of the brakes sticking out so much.