V Brakes possible mismatch

I now its old technology but at the moment funds won’t allow me to change to a disk setup.

At the moment I have Shimano Deore LX V Brakes, Avid AD 1.0L levers and Ashima pads on Mavic rims.

They really are rubbish when correctly adjusted even in the dry.

The Avid levers have 2 settings on the handle to do with the pull ratio which one should I be using.

Any advice for pads or mismatched equipment, I ride mainly on the moor tracks around Rochdale/Todmorden always wet at this time of year unless we are lucky and they are frozen solid.

Cheers Ben.

Try having the the adjusters set to nearest the lever pivot, it wont pull as much cable (so you need to move the lever more to get the same amount of brake movement), but you should have a bit more braking power as a result of the increased leverage.

“They really are rubbish when correctly adjusted even in the dry”

I think it may be that your expectations are exceeding the brake’s abilities.

V-brakes always relied on a good deal of fear assistance and forward planning.

Not tried those pads but I’ve got some Avid rim wranglers on my town bike and they are a noticeable improvement over what was ont here before so a change may be worth a try. Mavic also used to do some gritty rubbers to clean your rims with – might be worth doign case you’ve got some contaminants on there.

Some riders clearly have no idea what using cantis was like.
FWIW Vs in the dry are pretty close to a disc setup, but in the wet expect a few heartstopping moments waiting for them to bite.

“They really are rubbish when correctly adjusted even in the dry”

I think it may be that your expectations are exceeding the brake’s abilities.

Dunno about that: i can lock either wheel at will with my vees (if dry as stated) – avid 20s and speed dial levers.

Maybe new cables would help?

but being able to lock a wheel and being able to stop in a controlled manner aren’t necessarily the same thing – modulation can be tricky with v’s, even in the dry.

Thanks for the responces so far.

Sorry for being thick, but “bigyinn” what are FWIW Vs.

“for what it’s worth, v’s in the dry…”