I upgraded my bike with Microshift Droped bare brakeshifters and in the bikeshop they told me i need new brakes because V brakes (the curent brakes) have different pull than my new lever. I was looking at brakes and i noticed that new dual pivot brakes have different mounting than V , or Canti brakes.
by Accl_
8 Comments
Vbrakes are superior to cantis. I’d get new levers if they don’t work.
Mini V-brakes are probably your best option. They work with road short pull levers like Microshift Drop Bar levers (I don’t think Microshift makes any long pull drop bar levers, but let us know the exact lever model you went with so we can confirm what you’re working with).
I wouldn’t personally go with cantilever brakes as they can be annoying AF to set up and maintain. Mini V-brakes are just V-brakes with shorter vertical arms. I don’t think tire clearance will be an issue, looks like you’re running a tire no larger than 35mm (but please also confirm your tire size).
There’s a pull adapter device called a Travel Agent that can be used to make road short pull levers work with V-brakes (which are MTB long pull brakes). Travel Agents work fine, and I’ve used them on a number of bikes, but they aren’t as easy to set up, and need to be looked after. The genuine parts, made by Problem Solvers, are out of production and [would cost about $50-$75 on Ebay](https://www.ebay.com/itm/365262319749?_skw=travel+agent+bike&itmmeta=01JH3DTSFJQEJJPF569VWP2MG0&hash=item550b54b085:g:C4UAAOSwdXJnTJR0&itmprp=enc%3AAQAJAAAA8HoV3kP08IDx%2BKZ9MfhVJKmb%2BSMJo6GfC38m2s9ExsLkk5CekdRopvJsr7mNJWmebIOqJ1h3pbFpkFvITIoGCLqreVRRnYfope8C4sGhj4A%2Fo6NlAr5HPfiCSLTa5IuSHpxq%2Bn6SFaJgPWr9hOV5kOp8cCls9oQ8CrCjIMDctr4uu3yYBa04oBlGBmL0TtKvBASx2kNUbbsum8l9T2asfmilk1dbOz4MwjU2nksCD38zy9EXM06SAudbxzGRVbry8IIyz3vS31hOIwOVf1l9mcQh6N6tPA4ad%2F3Ur3C%2FC5AHH%2FqMh5PAOZXPuFEoOQS1OQ%3D%3D%7Ctkp%3ABk9SR_KX6-2IZQ). There are also knockoffs that are, by all accounts, just as good, [for much less](https://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_from=R40&_trksid=p2332490.m570.l1313&_nkw=v+brake+adapter&_sacat=0). Personally I would still go with Mini V’s as they are straightforward and not as fiddly.
TRP CX8.4 are quite good, but also at the high end of the price spectrum (though relatively cheap compared to Paul Components, but what isn’t!). You can find some other models here: https://www.reddit.com/r/bikewrench/comments/se3dsi/which_mini_v_brake_to_chose/
Did the shop talk to you about possibly keeping your current brakes and using Problem Solvers’ [Travel Agent](https://problemsolversbike.com/products/travel-agent) adapters?
Correct. Drop bar brake levers should be connected to short pull brakes.
Short pull brakes compatible with your bike would be cantilevers or mini-v brakes. Dual pivot brakes would not be immediately compatible for mounting to your bike.
Ask the bike shop what they recommend. My vote is for mini-v brakes.
If you try to ride with short-pull levers and long-pull v-brakes, the v-brakes won’t clamp enough. Worst case? your brakes won’t brake.
So many curves.. I can’t tell if it’s the camera angle or if something is seriously crooked here.
Mini-v. But…clearances in mud…
My current single speed bice setup use a road brifter directly with V brake with no other doodads – It certainly not working in a “proper” way, but surprisingly I found some of the “bug” in this setup, namely the mismatch cable pulling ratio of the 2, turn out to be a very useful “feature” that immensely beneficial to me (it lowers the squeezing force by your hand for a given brake force at the wheel) and I quite happy with it as is TBH – it is much more confident inspiring to brake from the hood with this road brifter with V brake MTB bike then on the “proper” setup on my road bike with dual-pivot caliper rimbrake; the lower leverage on the lever is a non-isssue if the force required is also lower as well, this is better than having a higher braking force that only accessible to gorilla.
Try give it a shot … You can buy the doodad to “fix” it later if the setup doesnt work for you.
You’d need to check this but I suspect Tektro BMX mini-vs are your solution. They do a couple of different arm lengths meaning you can work with assorted levers and pivots. A lot of the google hits on this will be about using them as a direct replacement for cantis on a cross bike with road levers but I think you’ll want a slightly different model
(if Tektro are too dowdy for you, TRP is Tektro Racing Parts, they literally take the same forgings used for the cheap BMX mini-vs and machine them to make them lighter and nicer looking, other than the better pads they work the same)