Froglegg cantis on a road bike

TheHatter

Just joined a club and I'm using my commuter bike which comes equipped with frogleg canits.

Is this socially acceptable or does it represent a danger in a group given how much wider the brakes are compared to calipers? I'd appreciate the advice as I'd heard another being admonished for having his QR pointing the wrong way as it was considered dangerous.

sungod

don't bother about social acceptability, if people start judging you by equipment it says more about them than you

but the issue with cantis is that the stopping power is usually poor, i got a bike with them, it was simply terrifying

if the front fork has a mounting hole, consider fitting it with a caliper brake, might need a long drop version, shimano r650 is fine for this but the pads are mediocre, fit some koolstop or swissstop, rear brake doesn't matter

having qr levers pointing forwards the risk is small but avoidable, having them pointing back is lower risk, still not sure i'd moan at someone about it though

TheHatter

Cheers for the reply sungod. I'm actually really pleased with the brakes performance. The bike came with Veloce mini-v's which didn't have the same level of 'feel'. The frogleggs are great and also allow me to very easily switch in my fat tyred commuting wheels with just using the qr on the campy brake levers.
Hence the reason I'd like to keep them as long as I don't make my new club mates despise me!

Alumin-Liam

I've seen canti brakes used in 4th cat road races so I wouldn't worry about it too much. Quite a few people in my club use cross bikes for winter training, myself included, and I've never had a problem on chain gangs, etc.

Canti brakes require a bit more TLC to keep them braking well than calliper brakes but you shouldn't be getting that much worse performance from them. Just watch for the pads wearing out and gripping lower on the rim, your braking will suffer.

You don't want to brake too hard in a group ride anyway.

Monty Dog

...and just how close do you get on your club ride to let your brakes get in the way of other riders? As with all cantis, set-up is critical. I'd find yourself another club TBH

TheHatter

Thanks for your advice. To be fair nobodies mentioned them yet its just I noticed I'm the only person not using calipers - could just be my newbie paranoia which is now dispelled thanks to your comments!

I agree set up is a pain as I'm really struggling to get them exactly centred.