Cantilever brakes - excessive pad wear

[brooksby]

My latest acquisition has centre-pull cantilever brakes (threadless). My previous bike had V-brakes.

Is it common for the pads on canti brakes to wear out much quicker than V-brakes do?

I'm not aware of using the brakes any more than I do on my other bike and have only done maybe 500 miles on these pads, and yet the rubber has pretty much gone on one of the front pads (which seems really low).

Should I be checking the overall setup (did I mess up the set-up quite spectacularly badly) or is this something that I just have to live with with this kind of brake?

Thanks in advance for any comments/suggestions.

[mercalia]

are the blocks them selves small?. V brake blocks tend to be long? Other wise its the material they are made of, too soft?

[nez]

I have cantis on my 2008 Dawes super Galaxy and I don't like them. They are set up properly but I'm heavy and am often carrying the shopping or something on the bike. I've often wondered about changing the front fork for a disk type, but what a faff!

[mcshroom]

I've used v-brakes and canti brakes for years. I don't remember feeling I had to change the canti pads significantly more often. I usually found that brake pad life was related most to how much wet riding I've had to do. Is it that you've just had a run of poor weather that's eaten your pads?

Also, some compounds are softer than other. I always took the position that I'd prefer a softer pad so it wears faster, but I think it should mean the rim wears slower.

@nez - My 2012 Dawes Horizon had Tektro Oryx cantilever brakes. I always found the rear to be good enough, but I wasn't always comfortable with the power on the front, especially when it had to brake the considerable weight of myself, and also some touring and camping gear. My biggest problem was that I got brake judder.

I replaced the front with a Tektro RX-5 mini v brake, and it was a much better brake in my opinion. The feel of the brake was much better and I thought it was more powerful. The downsides of it are that I still had to set it close to the rim, meaning that the wheel had to stay truer than it did in the canti, and that the straddle wire wouldn't unclip, so you had to deflate the tyre to get it out, or release the cable tension and then set the brake up again after reinsertion.

The brake did also feel like it worked slightly better with the longer pull of some R2030 levers I installed, over the shorter pull of the 2303 shifters the bike came with.

[nez]

@nez - My 2012 Dawes Horizon had Tektro Oryx cantilever brakes. I always found the rear to be good enough, but I wasn't always comfortable with the power on the front, especially when it had to brake the considerable weight of myself, and also some touring and camping gear. My biggest problem was that I got brake judder.

I replaced the front with a Tektro RX-5 mini v brake, and it was a much better brake in my opinion. The feel of the brake was much better and I thought it was more powerful. The downsides of it are that I still had to set it close to the rim, meaning that the wheel had to stay truer than it did in the canti, and that the straddle wire wouldn't unclip, so you had to deflate the tyre to get it out, or release the cable tension and then set the brake up again after reinsertion.

The brake did also feel like it worked slightly better with the longer pull of some R2030 levers I installed, over the shorter pull of the 2303 shifters the bike came with.

Thanks. My Galaxy has drops and brifters so I think mini Vs are out. I have shaped out the Oryx for better cantis (tektro 720 - I've checked) and of course the setup is critical. I'm spoiled because I have a Specialized Roubaix with disks which I'm pretty sure would put you over the bars if you braked hard enough! Getting back on the Dawes is quite something after riding it.

[mattheus]

It's all about the pads.

- wear-rates with cantis, Vs and calipers will be the same - IF you use the same pads in the same conditions.

- Good blocks (e.g. Koolstops) grip MUCH better than cheapies (and better than Shimano!); the Koolstops wear out rims much slower too.


(For Pete's sake can we keep d**k-brake talk to the relevant threads!!! (-: )

[nez]

It's all about the pads.

- wear-rates with cantis, Vs and calipers will be the same - IF you use the same pads in the same conditions.

- Good blocks (e.g. Koolstops) grip MUCH better than cheapies (and better than Shimano!); the Koolstops wear out rims much slower too.


(For Pete's sake can we keep d**k-brake talk to the relevant threads!!! (-: )

Don't be bossy

[pwa]

It sounds like a pad issue. Try a different brand.

[mattheus]

Don't be bossy

There's an awful pun opportunity there - I'm sure someone is upto the job ...

[RickH]

... (For Pete's sake can we keep d**k-brake talk to the relevant threads!!! (-: )

Surely you mean d**c not d**k? D**ks are usually found in computers.

[peetee]

Don't be bossy

There's an awful pun opportunity there - I'm sure someone is upto the job ...

Ooh, ooh, me me!
Ok you lot, I'm the boss. Can't y leave it out? Brake it up!

[brooksby]

It sounds like a pad issue. Try a different brand.

Thanks for all your comments, people: very helpful. I think in the first instance I'll try a different brand, and see how I get on

[mcshroom]

Thanks. My Galaxy has drops and brifters so I think mini Vs are out. I have shaped out the Oryx for better cantis (tektro 720 - I've checked) and of course the setup is critical. I'm spoiled because I have a Specialized Roubaix with disks which I'm pretty sure would put you over the bars if you braked hard enough! Getting back on the Dawes is quite something after riding it.

My (now written off) Horizon also had brifters. (I also tried 720s on it, but couldn't lose the judder) The mini-v brakes are actually designed to work with such shifters, but some of them are better with the newer longer pull levers (Tiagra 4600 or anything Shimano with under-tape gear cable routing)

There's also a limitation on tyre size I forgot to mention. I found on my fork that the 85mm RX5 would allow a 32mm Marathon Greenguard and Chromoplastic to fit fine. A 35 Marathon would put the guard a little closer than I would like to the tyre to get under the brake cable.

[nigelnightmare]

I fitted the longer type pads/blocks to my canti-brakes and they work much better.
Sorry can't help with why they would wear out quicker than on V's though.

[Brucey]

Thanks. My Galaxy has drops and brifters so I think mini Vs are out. I have shaped out the Oryx for better cantis (tektro 720 - I've checked) and of course the setup is critical.....

Tektro 720 will only be more powerful than a badly set up Oryx. A well set-up Oryx (with matching lever) ought to be almost as powerful as a V brake.

Depending on the model of STI you have, they might be better suited to cantis or mini-Vs.

cheers