brake advice please

[jags]

will tiagra sti 9 speed leavers,, work with cantileavers brakes,,i was going with barend shifters,,shimano r400 leavers
but now fancy the sti ,,any thoughts thanks
ps,im useing drop handlebars..

[tynevalleycommuter]

If the canti's work OK with R400 drop bar levers then STI's should also be OK - canti's and caliper brakes use a similar amount of cable pull / leverage. What you cannot do is use V brakes with drop bar levers (unless you use something like a 'travel agent' to change the pull ratio).

STI's will be heavier than aero levers and bar end levers.

The cable routing on STI's will prevent you from using a bar-bag - this may not be an issue for you.

David

[ians]

quote:Originally posted by tynevalleycommuter

 What you cannot do is use V brakes with drop bar levers (unless you use something like a 'travel agent' to change the pull ratio).

The new Condor Heritage tourer uses Campag V brakes with drops ("they work superbly well with drops" C+ 196) - as does Paul Hewitt (I believe) without a travel agent.

ian

[jags]

thanks lads good stuff,the thing i dont like about the r400 leavers is the
hoods are a bit on the small size..
i have dura ace leavers on my road bikes,there brilliant,,.
im thinking of xt cantileavers,but came across frog legs cantis ,,
anyone now anything of these brakes , thanks ian and david

[ians]

I have Cane Creek SRC 5 levers - large hoods so an aquired taste.  They also have a QR button which makes wheel release easy.  Cantis are Shimano R500 - expensive but fantastic in my view (better than Avid Shorty 6s which I had before).

I considered frog legs but everything I've read says they're great but a b**ger to set up.

Check out this site http://www.rivbike.com/products/list/brakes  some useful info here.

ian

[jags]

thanks ian great info...ill check out  shimano r500 cantis,

[tynevalleycommuter]

The campag canti's have relatively short arms (85 mm as opposed to typical 100mm or so for conventional 'v' brakes) - which must be how they can work OK with the drop bar levers. They look to be a fairly close fit over the 'guards on the Condor heritage with 28mm tyres. Care would be needed in checking the clearance before splashing out on these.