Best mini v brakes?

dartmoorscottydog

I need to upgrade the canti brakes on my cyclocross and do not want any more faffing with cantilevers. Any of you swapped over to mini v brakes? I know rim clearance can be an issue but need better stopping power than the scary cantis. I'm using Shimano 5800 shifters. Any advice? Cheers and Happy New Year to you all!

devhads

You may want to try changing the pads first if you haven't already tried that. Swissstop greens are about as good as you get with alu rims.

Having said that I have mini-v brakes on both my cross bikes. I use the cheapest ones out there, Tektro 926AL paired with the aforementioned pads provide more than enough stopping power for racing. I've got 6800 levers so see no reason why they wouldn't work with 5800. There are lighter, better looking and more expensive mini vs but the improvement in stopping power is unlikely to justify the massive price increase.

When you say rim clearance is an issue do you mean for taking the wheel out? I've got round this by buying adjustable noodles to wind the pads in and out and hacksawing about 3mm off the end of the noodle to make it easier to release the cable. The thing with mini vs is the longer the arm the closer you need to be to the rim but you get more power. Conversely the shorter the arm the further it can be but less power. The 926ALs are the shortest you can get at 8mm arms but provide enough power so I don't see the need to go longer and therefore need to go closer to the rim.

Properly set up cantis with good pads are fine but I like the simplicity of the mini vs which is why I choose them.

dartmoorscottydog

Thanks for this. Yep tried changing pads (Swisstop) but little improvement. The TRP 9.0 look good but for nearly £100 they bloody well should!

Moonbiker

4 Tektro 926AL

Hi what adjustable noodles did you get


Will theese do ?

http://www.singletrackbikes.co.uk/m7b0s ... r_Adjuster

devhads

Moonbiker wrote:

4 Tektro 926AL

Hi what adjustable noodles did you get


Will theese do ?

http://www.singletrackbikes.co.uk/m7b0s ... r_Adjuster

I got some Tektro ones from SJS originally but they are constantly showing as out of stock as I wanted some more recently. Ended up getting some Jagwire ones from China of eBay that took a couple of weeks to come but do the job. I guess they'd work, never tried flexible before though.

FransJacques

Before you shell out, if you haven't tried longer pads go to 72mm MTB pads like these: http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Clarks-Post-F ... 2ed15ccd22

Maybe you don't need more power, but generate more friction.

I have some TRP Eurox where I wasn't happy with the rear performance so shortened the cable housing as much as possible ensuring a smooth, clean run, put on a Teflon coated brake cable and changed to 72mm pads. I also fiddled with set up to ensure the pads hit the rim squarly and at the exact same time. I was blown away with the performance difference. I since took my cross bike to Mallorca for a week of road training and changed back to 55mm to avoid locking the rear, and never had to change back to the 72s.