Brakes - how to make this work

[Andy_R]

I'm fitting drop bars on a touring build and want to use linear pull V brakes, instead of canti's (I'm a hefty chap and need a decent amount of stopping power). I'm fitting tektro drop v brake levers RL520, but would also like to fit cross top levers. I understand these are for canti's, so I'm thinking laterally here. Could I fit standard MTB levers (shimmed to fit) to the flats and use something like the cable joiner you see on bmx gyros to get the two levers to operate on one brake? Any thoughts on this one would be welcome.

 

[MacB]

Andy, there are crosstop levers designed for v-brakes, unfortunately not cheap unless you have a friend in the US, the options are:-

The Tektro RL740 which I've only ever found at Rivendell Bikes http://www.rivbike.com/products/show/tektro-rl740-v-brake-levers/15-159 the price is fine but they have a flat rate of $50 for international shipping

Alternatively there's Pauls Engineering crosstop http://www.paulcomp.com/crosslever.html which has a moveable pivot point and can work with canti or v-brakes, pricier but his shipping is cheaper, just got some other bits from him

Other options include just using a regular crosstop, some people claim it works fine, I haven't tried it but there have been instances of new bikes coming setup this way.

From personal experience I found two crosstops was overkill and reduced to just the one and for the front brake only. But it was only ever really for modulation when cruising on the top. Any serious braking was on to the hoods or the drops, by the way the RL520 are very good with v's.

If you ever do decide one crosstop is enough you could solve any issues by going to an Avid BB7 road version cable disc brake and a normal road lever with a normal crosstop, obviously forks need disc tab or you need new forks

 

[Andy_R]

Thanks for that. Ebay is my friend RL740!

 

[mattsccm]

Specilized Tricross bikes come with these levers and V's. Well some do. Many people , like me, sling them in the shed. Some people , unlike me , actually dispose of unwanted stuff. Try a few wanted adds on the forums. Pay bugger all.

 

[Dave Davenport]

Specilized Tricross bikes come with these levers and V's. Well some do. Many people , like me, sling them in the shed. Some people , unlike me , actually dispose of unwanted stuff. Try a few wanted adds on the forums. Pay bugger all.

I've got a pair of cross top leavers knocking about I took off mrs d's tricross, free to a good home.

 

[Andy_R]

Thanks for the offers guys, but the tricross top levers are for cantis, and I'm setting up v brakes, so I've ordered v brake specific top levers.

 

[mattsccm]

"Thanks for the offers guys, but the tricross top levers are for cantis, and I'm setting up v brakes, so I've ordered v brake specific top levers"



Bit late but they are NOT. Thats why I suggested them. Mine came off v brakes. Quite possibly the other poster is the same.

 

[Dave Davenport]

Will they not get in the way of fitting a bar bag?

 

[John the Monkey]

Will they not get in the way of fitting a bar bag?

Most ppl that use them with a bar bag have them angled down, rather than straight out from the bar parallell to the ground. It's a fairly common set up on the Surly LHT/CC google group, as I recall.

 

[Andy_R]

"Thanks for the offers guys, but the tricross top levers are for cantis, and I'm setting up v brakes, so I've ordered v brake specific top levers"



Bit late but they are NOT. Thats why I suggested them. Mine came off v brakes. Quite possibly the other poster is the same.

ohh.....poo! I checked the Spesh website and all their tricross bikes used tektro wide canti's or mini v's, must have missed that....oh well........

 

[mattsccm]

Mine has the same drop levers you are fitting.its about 08 though

 

[Andy_R]

Mine has the same drop levers you are fitting.its about 08 though

I checked the specs on all the tricross models, current and archived. Yours shows up as this tricross 08 which the spec said had linear pull road lever specific length v brakes, (or mini v's to my mind!) - which sheldon of the beard described here beardy link as being problematic either to much mechanical effort to start with, or too much travel once brakes wear in. I'm going purely off the specialized specs here, and in no way mean to disagree with you. After all, you know what's on your bike!

 

[mattsccm]

God knows if they were meant to be there. Bought itsecond hand. Sounds like you are sorted though.