1st off road ride on the new cx bike today, wet and muddy!

Had forgotten how crap in the wet are rim brakes.

Currently cantilevers, are v brakes better?

Frame is non disc mount but fork has a mount, thinking mechanical disc on front?

Anyone know a set of wheels which are disc and rim brake compatible?

I stuck a set of cheapo BMX Vs on mine, even with standard pads they work better than any cantis I’ve used. Mud clearance is fractionally less good mind, but never been problematic. Only slight hassle is needing to add a barrel adjuster so that you can get the wheel in and out!

Haven’t used discs on a crosser though.

yes, trp v brakes are very good (not far off disc power imo)!

I had standard MTB vees with travel adapters on my CX before getting discs. They worked very well, the only downside was that rim wear was still there.

I e tried quite a few brakes on my cx bike and the best by a long long way are avid ultimates.

The pads make a massive difference, the pads the bike came with are probably cheap crappy ones (an easy way for the manufacturer to save money/increase margins).

I bought Dia compe MX 2 v’s and levers.

Stock pads where ok, but once worn i switched over to a set of Aztec cartridge pads.
Being stiffer units the difference in braking performance was a drastic improvement.

If your brakes don’t have cartridge pads, then a good set will improve things and be cheaper than a new brakeset.

Faff to set up, but once dialled in, swapping out pads is a doddle, remove split pin, push out worn pad from cartridge, clean cartridge with old toothbrush, push in new pads and off you go

yellow swiss stop pads on it?

seconded TRP the mini V’s on my Kaff are unbelievable

I am NOT considering a Disc framset now

Ok £70 sounds a hit but how much is a new frameset and wheels

I use swisstop green pads with Tektro cantilevers. They’re fine. I am about to change to Campag cx cantilevers on the No1 bike though and put the Tektro brakes onto my islabike.

I’ve got single digit and travel agents on mine

Ok thinking its v brakes then
That doesn’t work possibly flog wheels and get something like this

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/mavic-open-sport-shimano-deore-700c-cyclocross-road-rim-disc-bike-wheels-silver/130928455053?_trksid=p5197.m1992&_trkparms=aid%3D111000%26algo%3DREC.CURRENT%26ao%3D1%26asc%3D14%26meid%3D8587452933996003929%26pid%3D100015%26prg%3D1006%26rk%3D1%26sd%3D130928455053%26

v’s on back and a mechanical disc on front

these?

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/frogglegs-empella-inplace-adjust-trp-cyclocross-brakes-black-/130625491575?pt=UK_sportsleisure_cycling_bikeparts_SR&hash=item1e69e2d277

Great variation in cantis, most are crap, some are actually good

Personally hate froglegs with a passion, they invariably squeel as there is not enough adjustment via the fiddly pad adjuster, and on some frames they just vibrate and cause fork flutter.

Best I have used by a long stretch are the avid ultimates, the standard avid pads aren’t bad, currently using the BBB blue ones for better braking when it’s wet. Don’t forget you don’t want all out power, you want control and feel.

+1 frogglegs, i’ve got trp euroX magnesiums that are ridiculously expensive and a set of frogglegs and they perform pretty much identical and look identical..
frogglegs £40 trp eurox mags £200.. salmon pads and set up right you get all the braking power you need for cx riding..there good enough for most of the pro’s..

Tektro 720’s are very good for the money.. Super easy to set up and really work well 🙂

if you do eventually go for discs, avoid tektro lyra like the **** plague, utterly useless.
you would be better off holding up a postage stamp and using it as an air brake.

Travel Agents are great until they get some grit/dirt in them, I’ve gone to Tektro Mini V’s less power but lots more reliable and less faff.

I was told that before getting them but never found it an issue. Maybe mud is just scared of me? I did some horrendously muddy rides with them and it never seemed to have any effect.

FWIW you don’t need travel agents, just need the right Vs. I can never remember which ones I used to pair with my 5600s, mind, but just a case of getting the length right.

I was told that before getting them but never found it an issue. Maybe mud is just scared of me? I did some horrendously muddy rides with them and it never seemed to have any effect.

same here.. used them in anger at 3 very muddy races last year and a summer cross race the other week. Worked absolutely fine

ok
v brakes, does it need to be mini v brakes?

A bit of a hijack – can anyone recomend me a good set of brake levers for using with canti’s (Frogs) – but for a single speed set up. Currently have some diacompe jobs – not good at all.

Sram levers(for ss) are super comfy.. Or on a budget tektro ones are comfy too and around £15 off the bay

BB7 front, tektro rear for me. Fine for Lakes/3 peaks type riding.

Cane Creek scr-5 on my ss but I like the look of the TRP levers