upgrade cantilever brakes vs 2nd hand

iancalderbank

I have 2x GT tempest first gen MTBs from 1998 or so (21 and 18 frames). fully rigid, cantilever brakes. all silver frames in very good nick. gears obviously worn but still rideable.

I could use a london bike to leave overnight at euston station and the GT is the only candidate from what I own. I am not going to ride london traffic with cantilever brakes as they are truly rubbish (being used to hydraulic disks now!)

options
- upgrade at least the front brake on the GT. attempt centre-pull / V's on same fork and lever, or upgrade fork to disc then need levers and shifter too (they're integrated) and a wheel :-( But only want to spend absolute minimum of money, it needs to not have any value in it as it will be left at a mainline station. not sure if its actually worth spending on bits, comparison being that bargain basement new for an entire bike is only £150
- buy something scruffy 2nd hand that has decent brakes and forget about tinkering with the GT, perhaps sell it if it has any "classic" value
- stick with what I'm currently using which is santander hire boris bikes... crap but do the job

any thoughts if this is do-able really cheaply?
ta

cooldad

Cantis work fine if they're set up properly, or just get some decent V brakes - you'll need levers and calipers as the pull is different.

JBA

New cables, a decent set of pads and a bit of time spent setting them up and your cantilever brakes should be more than adequate for riding the mean streets of London.

The Rookie

Set up with decent parts, Canti's can work OK, but a swap to V's is dead easy, as mentioned you'll need levers as well, or if you are using small road tyres, mini v's work well and you can keep the canti levers.