Avid Shorty Ultimate Rim Brakes

Having tried other, quality cantilever brakes as well as discs (better) and mini -V (better still), I was struggling to find anything to use on a drop-bar, STI equipped touring bike that wouldn't scare me silly on steep descents when fully loaded. I was building a Thorn Sherpa for a tour of New Zealand and couldn't fit mini-V's because o0f the tyre size. Thorn recommended these and whilst I was loathe to fork out so much money for a pair of cantilever brakes as the previous ones I'd used were pretty rubbish, I took the plunge and tried them. When I built the bike up and tried them on the flat, I thought I'd been conned and that they were nothing special but on a 16% descent with 30KG on the bike I soon found out why these cost so much dosh. They are very powerful and progressive and give me as much confidence as the best caliper brakes on a lightweight bike would. If you are planning to descend steep slopes on a heavy bike, buy these - you won't regret it!

These are first rate cantilever brakes - the best performing in my experience. Don't just take my word for it. Look at pro cyclo-cross racers. Those not using disc brakes are almost inevitably using these cantilevers. Take the time to set them up properly at first, especially the rim-pad alignment, and you'll get excellent braking power and modulation. The cartridge-based pads enable a range of pad types to be used if you have a particular preference. The Swisstop pads included with the brakes were an unexpected bonus I only discovered when my brakes arrived. Although not related specifically to these cantilevers, if you can use for the front brake a fork mounted cable hanger rather than a steerer mounted one, I've found the braking improves again. Customer Amendment “Warning: The installation instructions (downloaded from the SRAM website) are incorrect in one place and slightly odd in others. The document I am referring to is 95-5115-005-000_rev_b_shorty_ultimate.pdf. The instructions make reference to the left and right brakes. This refers to the markings on each brake arm, not the usual ‘left’ and ‘right’ side of the bike – as viewed from the rider’s position. The instructions are wrong where it comes to tensioning the brake. It should read that to tension the brakes the hole in the cap for the left brake should be at a 9 o’clock position, and for the right brake at 3 o’clock. SRAM’s document has this the wrong way around. For a document that is dated 2010 and distributed online, this is poor attention to detail from SRAM that should have been corrected long ago, but doesn’t detract from a great product. That said, I expect better from a manufacturer of top spec components.”