Cycling UK Forum

Hi forum,

I'm looking to fit new brakes to my tourer - which I mainly use for London commuting atm so brakes get a pretty good workout.

What do people think of Frogglegs? This short thread on the forum gives mixed reviews, and suggests Tektro CR720 cantis may be better - but the thread's quite short and I wondered if others had views.

My priorities (in order) are stopping-power; ease of maintenance; compatibility with Koolstop cartridge pads. I'm attracted to the Frogglegs' unthreaded studs over Tektro's threaded ones for simplicity - but I'm having a job sourcing the pads and maybe I should just go with Tektro?

Anyone has any thoughts, much appreciated.

Splash out about £15 on a single mini Vee and fit it on the front.
Really powerful with levers designed for dual pivot brakes (ie STI levers/aero levers)
Downsides.....need to run pads close to the rim....fit a noodle with a barrel adjuster so you can release the cable without tools
.....if you have big tyres and big mudguard clearances, the cable may foul the mudguard.

.

depending on your present brakes, and what you might buy next, you may or may not do as well to revise the setup on you present brakes as to replace them.

Things that can stop your (canti, I assume) brakes from working include;

1) Wrong lever MA (mechanical advantage)
2) cables of poor quality and/or in bad condition
3) poor quality brake blocks
4) caliper has the wrong MA for your levers regardless of adjustment on your frame.
5) caliper pivots are worn out
6) caliper pivots are not lubricated.
7) frame is too flexible to allow high caliper forces without increasing brake lever travel.
8 ) straddle cable is not adjusted optimally.

Very few well-used bikes with ineffective brakes do not suffer to some extent from 2), 3), 6) but especially 8 ).

As the pads wear, most people take up the adjustment using the barrel adjuster. With mid and (especially) low profile cantis, the result is that the caliper MA reduces as the cable slack is taken up using the barrel adjuster. Careful attention to this and other items can usually transform the performance of your brakes.

cheers

Deleted

I switched my front brakes to CR720s on my tourer after being dissatified with the performance of the low profile cantis it came with. The improvement was really noticeable - the modulation is really nice and you could probably lock the wheel if you were really going for it (in a good way - the brakes are plenty powerful enough without being 'grabby').

When I acquired a tandem last year, upgrading to CR720s on the front - again to replace low profile cantis was the first upgrade and a lucky one at that. The first ride we used them, we had to do an emergency stop thanks to someone cycling straight out of a side road across our path without looking. That wouldn't have ended well with the previous brakes.

Both of those are running with Koolsstop dual compound cartridge V brake pads and work very nicely indeed!

That said, I've never used Frogglegs, so can't comment on the difference between the two models.

I find Tektro 720's are good enough for the Alps in rain and fully loaded.

I didn't like the Frogglegs as much because you can't adjust the alignment of the blocks except by bending the brake arm and the nut on the straddle needs to be tightened unusually hard or else the cable pulls through.

I've given up with Canti's. Too much hassle to set up and to keep adjusted correctly. I've tried froglegs and low profile etc.
I don't want to keep adjusting them on tour and find they are vulnerable on trains and planes.
I've fitted long drop sidepulls on my touring bikes and they are so much easier to deal with and I find them more effective.
I know others find Cantis easy to set up and maintain but I've come to the conclusion they are not for me.

Anybody had a play with Tektro 710?.......http://www.tektro.com/_english/01_products/01_prodetail.php?pid=156&sortname=Cyclocross&sort=2&fid=3

it is almost like someone has been paying attention in mid/low profile canti-brake designing class, isn't it?



they have even put the brake adjuster in the right place....

£29.99 here;

http://www.on-one.co.uk/i/q/BCTKCR710-BLK/tektro_cr710_low_profile_cantilever_brakes___black

cheers