Educate me on brakes. linear-pull etc...

curium

Due to a recent accident I've had to replace a few components on my Specialized Tricross Sport 2009.

It currently has a triple at the front 50-39-30 and it had a 11-32 on the rear which I've replaced with a 12-23.

The shifters are Tiagra and the rear derailleur is deore lx.

Could I pick up a 105 rear derailleur and shifters? I know I'll be limited to a 12-28 at the back with the 105 but that's not a massive issue with a triple.

I'm more concerned about how the 105 shifters will play with the cantilever brakes fitted to the tricross.

I know there are such things as linear-pull and i presume the opposite is non-linear pull brakes???

What type do I have and will the 105 shifters work with them?

Cheers!

mrushton

Standard shifters work with canti brakes but not linear (V) brakes. You need a widget to do that.

desweller

If your shifters are not damaged then you don't need to change them for them to work with the 105 derailleur.

curium

cheers guys!

explosifpete

you will have mini v brakes on your tri cross and they will work with the 105 levers (or any road levers)
trouble with mtb full size v brakes is that they need a lever that pulls more cable to make them work and sti shift/levers are designed to work with the shorter pull caliper brakes,

Monty Dog

You can get mini-vees optimised to work with road levers if you're struggling to get cantilevers to work properly. They go from basic Tektros to TRP CX9s - depends on how deep your pockets are. The problem with mini-vees is that they lack rim/mud clearance and modulation in comparison to cantis. For cantis it's often the opposite - plenty of mud clearance and modulation but sometimes lacking in absolute power - in CX they're optimistically called slower-downers rather than brakes!