Brake pad length

[paulmad]

should you always buy the same length pads ? . i think i have 55mm fitted. im thinking slightly longer means more contact area = better braking. makes sense to me but something tells me theres more to it than that. i have tektro cantilevers

 

[jazzkat]

I tried fitting longer brake pads onto my galaxy (also with tektro canti's) and the extra length fouled the fork legs!
I wanted to fit the catridge pad type, but they wouldn't fit

 

[paulmad]

thanks, seems plenty of room on mine, thinking of going from 55mm to 70mm. might give it a try if no one suggests another reason for not doing.

 

[HLaB]

I find smaller pads easier to set up and therefore quieter but that maybe more to do with me I suppose the smaller your rims the more that becomes a problem too.

 

[PpPete]

Old school cantilevers need a post mount pad (like these ...

and I can thoroughly recommend Koolstop Dual Compound (Salmon pink one end /black the other.

I believe some more modern cantis use V-brake pads - in which case use whatever V-brake pad takes your fancy.

 

[MrJamie]

I went for bigger koolstop canti pads on my old bike, fitted fine, performance was much better but i suspect that was down to getting decent quality pads more than their size.

If this is with improved stopping power in mind, cantis are all about angles and forces. I was told (by an engineer type) to make the angle of the straddle wire makes from the tips of the brake arms to where it joins the cable to be as close to 90 degrees as possible, so that the straddle wire is being pulled perpendicular to the brake arm (ie. all the force pulling in the right direction to apply pads). Sorry if i cant explain that very well, but it really made a huge difference to their performance.