New mini V’s for cross
have heard other good things about these brakes… but i still like cantis more 
they don’t compare them with other v-brakes. why do you need special shorter ones for cyclocross?
The shorter V’s work better with Brifters. Closer to the right amount of cable pull to give good modulation.
If you have ever tried normal V’s with these levers, they are either on or off. There is no modulation. It can be scary in a panic brake situation.
I’m guessing there is not enough of a market to make brifters with the correct cable pull for V’s, now that discs will be the go.
I do own the Cane Creek drop bar V-brake levers, but you would still need shifters or go SS.
I admit I kind of zoned out before I got to the end of the article but I don’t see how these are so much better than any other mini-Vs on the market, especially since UDS130 is way more than the alternatives.
I’ve got those Cane Creek/Tektro aero levers, and the other Cane Creek/Tektro road aero levers. The V-specific ones do work better but I find the hoods are uncomfortable, and it’s a strong spring that requires a lot more hand strength.
I’ve got the road aero levers on a singlespeed and they work fine, but they use most of the lever travel and need the pads close to the rim, to be effective.
I’ve tried 10sp STIs with mini-Vs and it really didn’t work for me. They don’t pull enough cable and I prefer minimal brake lever travel. I’m using Sram Rival levers now and I’m pretty happy with those.
The only ‘flaw’ in CX bikes is the tradeoff between fat tyres and brakes IMO.
But in the end, tyres are more important than brakes.
So…in the CX non disc world, canti’s still rock?
Particually pretty ones. 
I use cane creek drop v’s as well, but because I run mechanical disc brakes, I’ve tried a few solutions but the cane creeks are by far the best I’ve run so far. Agreed that the spring is very tight, but I like that. And the hood top is pretty short so if the angle of the bar is fairly flat you’d feel as if your hands would slip overt the top.
I just don’t get why people would run rim brakes in a CX situation, the grit mud and grime, will wreck the rims in no time, where as I just have to replace the disc, no big deal. Or am I just missing something?
When I get my CX frame, these are the brakes I´ll use. Fuck cantis
I use to hate canti’s till I got my avid ultimate shorty’s if your in melb you are welcome to come check them out.
Modern cantilevers are much easier to set up nowadays. My Tektros took about as long to set up as a set of single pivot road brakes. The ones I had years ago were a bit of a pain, but these are easy! Nice traditional look too.
So, if I used these with a regular flatbar brake lever, would I use a V brake lever or one that is made for road calipers?
Sounds like something a racer would say
(very true)
Whatever you like I’d say.
My SSCX has mini-Vs with either Avid MTB levers or Cane Creek aero levers. With the MTB levers they feel a little bit wooden but the brake just fine.
I also have mini-Vs with Sram Rival double tap levers. They use almost all their lever travel but brake well enough too.
I find with my SRAM Rival levers that the larger Double Tap paddle can pull in too far (when braking whilst on the hoods) and squash my ring fingers’ knuckle between the paddle and dropbar, should my brakes be loose for some reason…
I have arthritis in my middle finger and ring finger on my left hand, so this is terribly painful. I can imagine that Rival levers and mini-V’s could pose an issue for me.
Do you find this an issue for yourself at all? I like to ride on the hoods majority of the time offroad.
Not really but I know what you mean. I can see with arthritic hands it would be much more of a problem but I think you’d have the same problem with STIs and Ergos, maybe to different extents. Make sure your Sram levers are adjusted out as far as possible of course. You could even file a few mm off the lever.
Maybe you’d be better off with either barend shifters or thumbies with mini-Vs?
Yeah, I prefer a little extra pull on my levers before the brakes engage with the rim, just feels right… but the paddle on SRAM levers are much larger than those of Shimano STI’s or Ergos, I never had the same issue on my previous STI shifters.
In saying that I still prefer SRAMs double tap system over that of STI’s or Ergo.
A contributing factor may be that of bar choice, I’m using the ControlTech Carbon jobs that came stock on my CAAD9 4, perhaps a different drop profile may give my hand more clearance.
anyway, sorry to hijack the thread
I’m 25 years old and have arthritic hands… Kewl maaaan
I’d rather wooden than ridiculous lever travel.
Sounds like MTB levers are the winner.