Paul Cantilever Brake Setup

General Help
1

I’m fitting these Paul Touring Canti brakes to my frame. Have never touched cantis before.

When I slide one half on, there’s a gap between the brake’s inner sleeve and the base of the canti stud. Am I missing something? Is this normal?

I’ve googled, Sheldoned, read the Paul pdf, and still can’t figure it out.

Also the brake’s return spring seems to have too much room - it slops around when I open and close the brake, but there doesn’t seem to be any way to close the gap up. Again, normal?

I was warned of the trouble these things can cause. Will cantis destroy my will to live?

2

yes they will destroy your will to live and you should give them to me for free.

but in all seriousness, judging by this pic:

a gap is not unexpected. (the gap is filled by other styles of cantis, where the spring fits into that little hole (one of three) in the frame, paul uses a contained system where the spring is completely within the brake)

also if those brakes work how i think they do, you take a 15mm wrench and wist the flat sided thing the bolt goes through to increase/decrease spring tension.

edit yeah definitely spin those things with a 15mm, spinning them so the top is pointing slightly out (away from the wheel) will increase tension, atleast on the right hand side anyway, cant tell spring direction on lhs

3

They should slide all the way to the step on the stud.

Then set spring tension with a 15mm, tighten the allen key to lock it in.

Set the straddle cable as low as possible (~brake bridge / fork crown lower edge).

Finally, dial the tension balance L-R and overall tension on the arms.

4

Thanks, I see what you mean about other brakes having springs take up the space.

I’ve figured out the spring tension adjustment, and that makes sense, but what seems weird is the amount of room the spring has on it’s ‘flat’ face, i.e. in the direction of the canti post. It has more room than it needs between the brake arm and the tensioning knob, so when the brake arm turns, there’s slop in the system where the spring shifts diagonally before “springing”.

The two ends of the spring are properly seated and it all seems in order, just sloppy.

5

Yeah, it’s like that.

6

EDIT: Thanks Blakey, sounds like I’m ok then. Guess I’ll put it down to their “old school charm”.

7

MURRICA!

There are definitely better, cheaper, lighter cantis out there. But they’re not CNC machined and purple ano.

8

Am I doing it right?

9

No. Looks shit. Give it to me.

10

I would have gone even lower on the front straddle, but otherwise looks ok. Can you endo / skid easy?

11

is that a whoopi goldberg candle in the last photo?

12

I was thinking the same thing.

13

how do you find the kite? i have been considering one myself.

14

I guess I’ll experiment with the hanger heights once I start riding it. Still getting my head around the mechanical advantage vs. braking power stuff.

The Kite frame seems excellent in every way except for the weight (2.2kg) which given the price ($600ish) seems unavoidable. Will post more once I test it out tomorrow. Just need to do the bar tape tonight and it will finally be ready to ride.

And yes, that’s a Whoopi Goldberg candle. From here: Other Projects | Haidee Ireland

15

lower is better, without exception (unless the brake arm angle is >90 degrees, which is extremely rare)

16

Edit: double post

17

Unless you have a full carbon fork and you gotta de-shudder it, then you gotta go higher. (- but if the fork can handle it - go low)

Those brake levers are ace by the way.

18

I’m counting on the fork-mounted cable stop to prevent any shudder. We’ll see.

19

Oh yeah I wasn’t referring to your setup, I reckon it’ll be fine those fork crown mounted hangars rule.

20

I like how you matched your frame to your couch.