Here’s another angle. I have what I believe to be a 1988 Trek 520, and I want to convert to linear-pull brakes. Yes, I have new linear-pull compatible levers 🙂 Unfortunately, the brakes don’t seem to actually fit between the bike fork and the rim — even if I jam them in there, there’s clearly no room for them to move around. Did I mess something up? are these supposed to be rear brakes? 😅
bonfuto on
I suspect it was made for a particular style of cantilever brakes with unusual spacing. Maybe even Mafac cantis.
stasigoreng on
Just not the right brakes for this bike. It was designed for cantilever brakes and probably the narrow kind.
Metaphoricalsimile on
Did you change anything else? Is it the original wheels?
Feisty_Park1424 on
The brake bosses are too close together. V brakes need 80mm spaced bosses, ye olde cantilevers were often 60mm apart. Refit the original brakes or Shimano CX50 which can work well with narrow spacing if you follow the setup instructions. Many other cantilevers have the same problem as your V brakes, as they’re designed around 80mm spacing
I don’t know a way to fit V brakes on narrow spaced bosses like this
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https://preview.redd.it/i94xtf5owspf1.jpeg?width=1024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=27c30cba60148f40cde26479f3aec97e6918b523
Here’s another angle. I have what I believe to be a 1988 Trek 520, and I want to convert to linear-pull brakes. Yes, I have new linear-pull compatible levers 🙂 Unfortunately, the brakes don’t seem to actually fit between the bike fork and the rim — even if I jam them in there, there’s clearly no room for them to move around. Did I mess something up? are these supposed to be rear brakes? 😅
I suspect it was made for a particular style of cantilever brakes with unusual spacing. Maybe even Mafac cantis.
Just not the right brakes for this bike. It was designed for cantilever brakes and probably the narrow kind.
Did you change anything else? Is it the original wheels?
The brake bosses are too close together. V brakes need 80mm spaced bosses, ye olde cantilevers were often 60mm apart. Refit the original brakes or Shimano CX50 which can work well with narrow spacing if you follow the setup instructions. Many other cantilevers have the same problem as your V brakes, as they’re designed around 80mm spacing
I don’t know a way to fit V brakes on narrow spaced bosses like this
Here ya go.
https://koolstop.com/products/thinline-threaded
Or
https://www.rivbike.com/products/brake-pads-odyssey-shorties
Sometimes you can change the spacers around to get the pad closer to the b-brake. The spacers on the outside on the inside.