I'm considering changing from my current brakes which are 'frogs bollox' brakes like these. My reason for wanting to change is that no matter what I do, I can't seem to get the tension the same on both sides of the wheel (one side more springy than the other). This results in one side always being closer to the rim. For some reason (maybe because they are older), mine didn't come with the twisty adjuster barrel which goes on one side, which you can see in this image:
As far as I'm aware though, all this barrel adjuster does is shorten the link wire and as a result would not fix my problem of uneven springiness. Am I right about this?
I've searched the forum for an answer to my questions, but am still thoroughly confused. My plan is to buy a pair of cr720 or cr520 cantilever brakes for my touring bike. As far as I can tell from my research, the cr520 model is identical to the cr720's, but it comes with threaded all-in-one brake blocks like these:
As opposed to the cr720, which come with blocks with a metal 'shoe' and 'cartridge'/'insert'/'pad'/'loads of other names', like one of these two, depending on whether it's a newer cr720 (comes with 720.12 - 55mm), or slightly older cr720 (comes with 877.12 - 72mm):
or these
Ok, so my plan is to change the stock brake pads to some kool stops. What should I do?
1) get cheaper cr520s (£20) and buy metal shoes and kool stop cartridge inserts. If so, which type of shoes? There seem to be a bewildering number of types
2) get newer cr720s (£25 with the 55mm blocks) and change JUST the cartridge inserts. If so, which insert type?
3) get older cr720s (£30 with the 72mm blocks) and change JUST the cartridge inserts. If so, which insert type?
4) somehow fix the uneven springiness problem with my current brakes.
Thanks for any advice you can offer on this
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