There is always lots of talk about the BEST cross brake on the market. Most of the brakes mentioned in these threads cost good money. I am looking to spend as little as possible on a set of good brakes. My bike will most likely never see racing. Just some lite single track duty and fire roads. Any suggestions?

The Cane Creek cantis that came on my San Jose worked perfectly fine, as did the Avids on my Kona aside from squealing like mad. Maybe a set of v brakes rather than cantis?

usually pretty cheap on line

Buy good brakes once....or crappy ones twice :) I love my Pauls

Shimano BR-550. I'm a Campy guy otherwise, but I like these brakes. About $33 (for one set, but you'll need two...). Or, there's been an interesting discussion on the WeightWeenies site about Mini-V brakes, which are available on Ebay (the Tektro RX5) for about $30 for a complete set (front and back).

Tried Avid and Spooky and ended up with Shimano. I'm also a Campy guy and I like the Shimanos. I like them very much.

You can get just as much power out of the Avid/Cane Creek/Tektro designs as you can out of Pauls, Spookys, Empellas, etc. Setup is critical. While it's tempting to set the straddle cable high for "mud clearance" (like you would on the Paul, Empella, and Spooky designs) they seem to work best when it's about one inch above the tire. I built a bike for a friend with the Cane Creeks, and they honestly feel better than my Pauls - when set up well. Nice thing about the Cane Creeks is that they come with Cool Stop holders and inserts. Even with the Shimanos and Cane Creeks, I personally prefer to use a traditional straddle carrier and straddle cable, which gives the extra adjustability rather than using the noodles that they include.

So while I'll suggest that you can get great breaking out of the more economical setups, one thing is critical - having good pads. Ritchey Red, Cool Stop Red or Salmon, or Swiss Stop if you have the cash. Seriously - good pads, all the difference.

Agree with the above. I've tried many and have the Empella Froglegs right now. Nice, but none really work all that well. Mine are fine and better than some, but if you want to be more sure, use Vs with the extra bit that makes them work with road levers. Just know they'll sit rather close to the rim compared to cantis.

The Cane Creek canti's are a nice brake and not real spendy if you can find them on Ebay. Paul's IMO are the best but $$$. Look on Ebay or Craigslist a set of the Shimano's or Cane Creeks would be my choice.

there's been an interesting discussion on the WeightWeenies site about Mini-V brakes, which are available on Ebay (the Tektro RX5) for about $30 for a complete set (front and back).

Well, I ordered up a pair of these on account of John's nagging. I used the Shminaos before and found the pads were a bit close to the rims, but maybe I was making more out of it than it warranted, I think when you hear something dragging on the bike it gets in your head, I always found that to be the case with the disks.

In any event, once the mini v's are mounted up I'll snap a couple pictures and write up a long and largely incoherent discussion of how they work. I still have the froglegs up my sleeve if I need them.

Buy good brakes once....or crappy ones twice :) I love my Pauls

There's some truth to that. My bike came with Tektros (rebadged as Cannondale). I hated those things. I tried tweaking the set up and new pads and it didn't help (in dry conditions...nevermind wet). I didn't try a straddle hanger and that would have helped but I decided to give up. The IRD mafacs were tempting as were the new wide profile Tektro but I decided to splurge on the Pauls (Touring f and r) which I got for $150 for the set. There is a very noticable difference so far. I look forward to testing them in the mud.

That said, for your use, basic v-brakes with some travel agents will work great and will not cost too much.

Well, I ordered up a pair of these on account of John's nagging. I used the Shminaos before and found the pads were a bit close to the rims, but maybe I was making more out of it than it warranted, I think when you hear something dragging on the bike it gets in your head, I always found that to be the case with the disks.

In any event, once the mini v's are mounted up I'll snap a couple pictures and write up a long and largely incoherent discussion of how they work. I still have the froglegs up my sleeve if I need them.

I bought them Tekro Mini v's too although I won't get to putting them on until next week.

Hey thanks for all the advice. I only have one more question...

best place online to buy?

Are the spooky carbons just for show? Does the carbon flex too much to be of any benefit, other than lightweight?

I really want to run Vs, but as a complete noob, I don't want to try something you all have already figured out is the wrong direction.

TIA.