wrote:
Tom C Medara writes:

I am considering upgrading my V brakes from entry level Tektro to
SRAM 9.0 Linear pull brakes (or some other quality mid level V
brake).

Are these brake levers linear pull? Is there a way that I can
tell from looking at them if they are linear pull?

As far as I know, V brakes ARE linear pull brakes.

I guess I missed that definition. What is a linear pull brake?

Hehehehehe, I guess if it's not on pavement the good Mr Jobst's
knowledge of bicyles is similar to his grasp of international
affairs.

Google is your friend...

http://bikegallery.com/site/page.cfm?PageID=179

That's fine but what is "linear" about this and how do you define it.
I see no difference between that and a sidepull brake where ends of
levers get pulled together.

Could you explain to what "linear pull" refers? That in contrast to
other brakes.

Jobst Brandt


I haven't a clue why they're called that. I presume it's due to the fact
that the cable runs (sorta) directly from one brake arm to the next, as
opposed to the straddle cable found on cantilevers that these brakes
essentially replaced on most off road bicycles. I assume "they" decided
there needed to be a name for a new style of brakes to help distunguish it
from other types of rim caliper brakes.

Best definition I could find was good ol' Sheldon Brown's web site
(admittedly I didn't spend long):

V-Brake ®
A Shimano trademark for a direct-pull cantilever brake. This is a cantilever
which does not use a separate transverse cable. It has two tall arms, one of
which has a housing stop and the other an anchor bolt. The exposed part of
the cable runs horizontally from one arm to the other.
V-Brakes and other direct-pull cantilevers have more mechanical advantage
than other brakes, so they require special hand levers with
less-than-average mechanical advantage to keep the overall mechanical
advantage in a useful range.

Some V-Brakes also incorporate a parallelogram linkage which mantains the
shoe at the correct angle as it approaches the rim. This feature also allows
the motion of the shoe to be more nearly horizontal than conventional
cantilevers.

"V-Brake" is a Shimano trademark.


Of course you didn't ask "Why are they called linear pull brakes?", you
asked "What are linear pull brakes?" I hopefully have provided a good
pictoral example of the latter, and a plausible explaination of the former.

Tom