Planning on switching my roadrat from flat bars to drops, which means my current hydraulic discs will have to go. I've got some STI levers off ebay, but can't decide what brakes to pair them with. The options are cantis, mini Vs, normal Vs with a travel agent or road BB5/BB7s. Intense googling, and use of the (recently made crap) forum search, has thrown up problems with all of these. Cantis are hard to set up, and I don't know if I can get a rear cable hanger to fit the rat, mini Vs run too close to the rim and are always rubbing, normal Vs with a travel agent are wooden, cable discs are heavy and expensive. Anyone got any experience or advice?
cheers

I'd go cantis, with a hanger integrated into the seat clamp. Set up is better these days, and they'll be strong enough.

Serves you right for buying a hybrid 😉

Add another bike to the garage and get a dedicated road machine! ;o) I'm sure my feeble 20yr old dual-pivot calipers aren't representative of modern road brakes!

I'm sure my feeble 20yr old dual-pivot calipers aren't representative of modern road brakes!

They're not, but they're not that bad either (I use them on my road fixed).

On a more serious note, I think that canti's are gonna be your best solution – I ran canti's on bikes for years and never had any set up problems. No messing around with travel-agents or v-daptors, plenty of clearance. If you wanted even more power then you could look at a set of Suntour SE (Self Energising) canti's which use a helical spring in the body to apply additional force to the rim harnessed from the frictional forces that try to pull the cantilever towards the stays. (usable on the rear only)

cable discs are heavy and expensive.

And hassle free, work in wet, don't wear rims. I'm not going back on my commuter!

Actually Paul, I think I've got a couple of sets of canti's kicking about in the garage – I'll go take a look.

I've just gone through this with mine… Wanted a charge slice bar on it to stretch out on which meant I needed to be running CX levers and then got Mini-Vs to suit…

Tektro Mini-Vs on the front work absolutely fine – but on the back it is a little spongy with a combination of a bit of flex in the seat stays and I think a bit of compression of the cable outer – still stops the bike fine mind you…

i'd go with cantis, i had some avid shortys and they were super powerful. same pad setup as V-brakes (i.e. easy) and the linking cable is of a fixed length. watch out for brake judder as the fork flexes, but this can be curetd with a fork mounted hanger.

Found 2 sets of canti's in the garage. Both, proper retro!

One pair of Shimano Deore DX low profile's (circa 1991) complete with straddle cable.
One pair of Suntour XC9000's (circa 1989) unfortunately one return spring is missing.

I've also got an complete Odyssey brake booster (with Titanium pivot bolts) if you want to reduce the flex and gain more power!

Welcome to have anything that's useful.

I agree with cynic-al. +1 for BB7s

I have BB7s on my road rat and they are the nuts. Nearly 1 1/2 years so far of commuting and touring and they are mint. They've been totally reliable, fantastically powerful, completely consistent in all conditions and maintenance free for 5000 km so far (still on original pads). mudguards and rack were a pain to fit but once on, all good.

no need for a travel agent, fit BB7Rs; road pull BB7s to match your levers … if you can find them

I've been thinking about sticking some bb7's on my pompino commuter, can you fit full size sks mudguards when they have been fitted ( on a kinesis crossmax fork )?

Thanks chaps. Increasingly tempted by cantis, though not sure about trusting my life to padowans antique collection.

The DX's even have a set of the original Aztec brake pads on – anyone remember those!

disco_stu I don't know about the specific fork (assume it has mudguard eyes…?) but on my fork (a Nashbar carbon, same pattern as the winwood CX fork) I can fit SKS guards. You have to bend the guard stays around the bottom of the calliper, which is faff when you fit but after that no trouble at all.

I have BB7s on my road rat and in your position I would fit Canti's without hesitiation.
Now new wheels, and easier/cheaper to run. Get through pads like nobodies business with the BB7s and I am sure I set them up correctly. I just think they are heavy and overkill for road/fire road use.

To use cable levers with hydraulic disc caliper there are:

Sanatana/ Formula CABLE OPERATED REMOTE MASTER CYLINDERS

HOPE remote reservoirs