converting v brakes to road caliper style brakes

whitee_v

Hi,

I have seen the light and I am planning on converting my hybrid (flat bars) to drop style bars. I was wondering if my old frame using v-brakes would be able to convert to the road caliper style brakes.

Thanks

E

amaferanga

Unlikely I'm afraid unless your frame has tight clearances between the fork crown and front wheel and the brake bridge and rear wheel. What bike do you have? Also if you were thinking about getting STIs then it'd end up being pretty expensive as well. You'd probably be best to sell your hybrid and buy a road bike.

whitee_v

Hi,

I have a Marin Lucas Valley 2008 model I think

keef66

Having considered the same thing myself I can confirm you'd be much better off buying a road bike.

At a pinch you can fit drop bars and use the existing brakes, levers, shifters, but it will be far from ideal. Once you start trying to swap these components it all becomes very messy and hideously expensive. You'll still end up with a heavy, under geared compromise, and very soon you'll wish you'd just bought a road bike in the first place

ride_whenever

I know someone who has done it... but it cost a fortune and he's just bought a gorgeous carbon road bike second hand because it's so much nicer to ride!

andrewgturnbull

Hi there.

The answer to the original question is to fit cyclocross style canti lever brakes - something like this:

http://www.wiggle.co.uk/p/cycle/7/Avid_ ... 1874/#more

You'll then be able to use your the brake mountings on your existing forks, and the brakes will work with a short-pull road bike style brake lever.

Cheers, Andy

ps The brakes don't work that well on the road though,,, not enough modulation.

Mister W

Or try a pair of mini-v brakes. They'll work with drop bar levers.

geoff_ss

andrewgturnbull wrote:

Hi there.

The answer to the original question is to fit cyclocross style canti lever brakes - something like this:

http://www.wiggle.co.uk/p/cycle/7/Avid_ ... 1874/#more

You'll then be able to use your the brake mountings on your existing forks, and the brakes will work with a short-pull road bike style brake lever.

Cheers, Andy

ps The brakes don't work that well on the road though,,, not enough modulation.

I've had cantilever brakes on my cycle camping/touring solos and tandems and they work perfectly well with normal brake levers. That's with downtube non-indexed shifters; may be different with modern systems.

Geoff

2alexcoo

Two problems I can see, apart from the brakes:

-Drop bars will give you a much longer reach than flat bars. To compensate, you will need a very short stem which could mess up the handling.

-You will almost certainly want STI type shifters, which are the most expensive part of a road bike groupset.

Gragi

I've done it to two bikes, using cantilever brakes as mentioned above.

You will need cable hangers for cantis. The front is straight forward - it fits under the stem spacers. The rear can be trickier depending on the seat clamp post design and also the frame shape (to a certain extent). If you are lucky you'll have a hanger brazed onto the frame. If not you'll need to attach one probably to the seat clamp, or otherwise its a DIY job which is what I've had to do.

Cantis work fine, but obviously nowhere near as good as disc brakes (particularly noticeable in the wet). But choice of brake pads (I use Kool Stop salmon colour brakes) and set up of the cantis is very important - if set up well they do brake very well.

I much prefer the drop bar set up so would say go for it - I enjoyed doing the conversion, and trying to find solutions when problems came up.

Geoffroid

I would recommend a Tektro CR520 brakeset (providing you have heel clearance for the rear brake:
http://www.zepnat.com/component/page,sh ... Itemid,48/

Low profile cantis are nowhere near as good in terms of stopping power or adjustability.

andrewgturnbull

Geoffroid wrote:

I would recommend a Tektro CR520 brakeset (providing you have heel clearance for the rear brake:
http://www.zepnat.com/component/page,sh ... Itemid,48/

Low profile cantis are nowhere near as good in terms of stopping power or adjustability.

Hi there.

I've got something similar on my cross bike (frogglegs), and I agree in terms of pure stopping power they are better than road calipers. They are also a skoosh to set up.

But for road riding the modulation is just not there... I'm talking about when you're approaching a fast corner, or riding in traffic and want those small braking adjustments... Very often I find I get nothing, nothing, nothing then whooa far too much brake!

Cheers, Andy

ps I've just fitted a mini-v (bmx brake) on my winter fixed bike and it is sooo much better for road riding!