Strange brake question

[lumpy]

I have a road bike with Shimano 600 dual pivot brakes. I'm using mtn. handlebars - if you're curious why - here is that thread

http://www.cyclingforums.com/t66935.html

The question is about brakes. Will linear pull ATB V brake levers work with road calipers? Specifically I have a set of LX's on my mtn. bike that will be free when I eventually upgrade it
Or should I look for canti brake levers?

thanks,
Tim

 

[daveornee]

Originally posted by lumpy
I have a road bike with Shimano 600 dual pivot brakes. I'm using mtn. handlebars - if you're curious why - here is that thread

http://www.cyclingforums.com/t66935.html

The question is about brakes. Will linear pull ATB V brake levers work with road calipers? Specifically I have a set of LX's on my mtn. bike that will be free when I eventually upgrade it
Or should I look for canti brake levers?

thanks,
Tim

The leverage on V-brake levers pulls more than double the amount of cabti levers. V-brake levers will work, but they don't mate well with dual pivot brakes, due to the leverage differences.

 

[lumpy]

Originally posted by daveornee
The leverage on V-brake levers pulls more than double the amount of cabti levers. V-brake levers will work, but they don't mate well with dual pivot brakes, due to the leverage differences.

Thanks Dave,

When V-brake levers get pulled, the cable travels twice as far as the same amount of pull on a canti lever ...... right? So this would mean I'd need a lot of finesse to keep from locking up my brakes

Think I'd be better off with some old mtb. canti levers? I have a set of those too.

Thanks,
Tim

 

[Duckwah]

on the shimano brake levers you can change the pivot location so that you don't pull too much cable

you can always try them out

 

[lumpy]

I tried my old canti levers and the brakes are super! They are a rapid fire 7 speed shifter/brake set and I modified them to go to 8 speed. All in all a productive day!

thanks guys,
Tim

 

[dabac]

Originally posted by lumpy
They are a rapid fire 7 speed shifter/brake set and I modified them to go to 8 speed.

Sounds interesting, how'd you do that?

 

[lumpy]

Originally posted by dabac
Sounds interesting, how'd you do that?

I'd heard once that it could be done so I sat down and took it apart. It's a shifter/brake combined unit vintage 96 or so Deore.
Inside there are grooves where each gear change stops with a large flat waiting for another groove - look for a place where the next downshift would be - so that low gear becomes second. I just ground another groove with my Dremel tool and voila!
The problem is that 7 speed cassettes have their cogs a bit farther apart than 8 speeds so it isn't a perfect shift on an 8 spd. cassette. I have it so that it works great except for high gear where a twist of the barrel adjuster dials it in.

Tim