One of my bikes is an old cannondale m2000 which wont take discs, so i’m limited to sticking with v’s. I’m really looking to get this bike up to spec, so i’m after some v brakes, but i want the best there is in terms of stopping power ( which i know wont be alot compered to discs). Ive had a magura hydraulic rim brake before so not looking to go down that route.

Wanted ad for some XTR. XT are good too

XTR.

Any of the parallel linkage Shimano ones or Avid Arch Rivals. Adding a brake booster can make quite a big difference on older frames, too.

Avid SD7s are excellent

Thanks for the replies. At the moment, the brakes are avid single digit. Would the difference be very noticable between XTR’s and single digits or are all v brakes within a narrow performance range?

Ive had a magura hydraulic rim brake before so not looking to go down that route.

Out of interest, why? By far the most powerfull rim brakes as long as you don’t try an use lightweight XC rims with them..

Adding a brake booster can make quite a big difference on older frames, too.

+1, although older Cannondale frames are brilliantly/brutaly stiff depending on your preferance.

XTR with the parralelogram were more consistent than the normal XT ones (and single digits etc), but both were equaly powerfull when first set up, and seeing as pads rarely lasted into double figures of rides, especialy in winter when 2+ sets in a ride wasnt uncommon, the drop off in power at least gave you some warning before the metal bits hit the rim!

Cartrige pads are a must though, and ceramic rims if you can still find some.

Deore!

All the parallelogram cobblers on XT/XTR just over complicated what was basically a very simple pair of lever arms.

Actually I take it back, the old DX brakes, because Red is always the bestest…

Out of interest, why? By far the most powerfull rim brakes as long as you don’t try an use lightweight XC rims with them..

IME because they’re too good as a mud catcher. Couple of rides with them stopped the back wheel turning…

Anyway, to the OP, Old Shimano XT or XTR so long as the pivots aren’t rattly.

Avid Single Digit Ultimates were amazing, and more expensive than most discs!

XTR on a practical level.

or are all v brakes within a narrow performance range?

I’d say they probably are all pretty similar when working well. The difference is that the Parallel ones and the Arch Rivals tend to stay working well without adjustment for longer. I’ve got basic Shimano on my commuter and after a month or so the brakes pretty much stop working, a quick fettle with the allen key and they are sharp again.

Agree that parellel push were the best ones. It’s not true that it over complicated things. They were more powerful and wore evenly with far less adjustment. Best i used were old LX parellel push in blue, brilliant. Found XT of the same era were not as good.

Original parallel push XT were good, the later ones squealed horrendously.

XTRs were very good. You used to be able to see the seat stays flexing outward on my OCLV hardtail when you squeezed the brakes, suggested the frame stiffness may have contributed to power (or lack of on both counts).

I totally agree with Njee’s last post. Totally true of my itespeed obed frame when used with XTRs.
I also used KCNC VB1’s on that frame which actually worked very well too.

Have got XTR Vs with severe condition pads on the Proflex and I think they’re phenomenal. As above the seat stays flex before the brake arms but on the front it’s just 30cm of brake cable attached to a set of Girvin Vectors they redefine one-finger braking

Good luck finding a set

pads matter more than the brakes themselves.

Ceramic rims and pads made a massive difference too.
Good luck finding some!

Best I ever used were the Cane Creek curved ones. Can’t remember the name.
However, my ex’s bike still has Deore’s and they are very powerful. Great for skids. 🙂

[edit]Direct Curve

The best ones I ever used out of XT M735, M760 and XTR M950 were the XT M760s. Revised pivot & parallel push design worked really well and didnt go rattly.
They never rolled out the revised design to any other brake oddly, as it deffo was better.

Ceramic rims and pads made a massive difference too.
Good luck finding some!

I found ceramic rims lasted far longer (obviously) but actually offered less power. Mavic ceramic rims weren’t harsh enough to justify the ceramic pads either. The Bontrager ceramic rims (among others) were a far more abrasive coating.

Kool Stop Salmon pads were excellent.

*wipes away a nostalgic tear*

+1 for the parallel push XT / XTR. Having said that, my Magura rim brakes (were they called frogs?) were amazing. Laced to a snowflaked lemon XC713 / XT hub, on my first proper bike.

My parallel XT squealed in use, replaced them with Avid TI Vs which I was happy with and light if that matters.

Laced to a snowflaked lemon XC713 / XT hub,

Tell me you had some purple x-lite bar ends on there too? 😀

Ceramic rims work best when you can get some heat into them.
This is fine when you live in Australia…

Koolstop pads an some bitchumen