What brakes are you guys running and what would you recommend? I am looking for something light and powerful. thanks for your help

if you have the coin and want the adjustability get the Pauls (Touring rear, retro Front)
if you want adjustability but need a deal, search ebay for Paul Stoplites or Avid TriAligns

What brakes are you guys running and what would you recommend? I am looking for something light and powerful. thanks for your help

Avid Tri-aligns are great, they stop on a dime. That's what I'm running.

...and admit that I've come to terms with the Avid Shortys; they stop as well or better than anything else I've used, except the Paul's, the setup is easy and most of the time they don't even squeal (at last). I also use Avid Tri-Align IIs, which must have about the most flexible setup in the universe, and the old-school LX/XT cantis, which are almost always an unholy pain to set up, but work really well once you finally get 'em right. I have what I think are some ancient Grafton cantis that I inherited with a bike from eBay, and they are pretty good, although I'm not sure they were worth the trouble I had getting them dialed-in. I would recommend either of the Avids, and also the Pauls Neo Retro/Touring combination, if the price doesn't scare you off. (...or acquire yours the way I did, already installed on a used bike.) My other recommendation is to avoid any type of V-brake; besides the clearance issues, the setup is often finicky (because of the Travel Agent that's necessary) and in my experience the cables stretch a lot and require regular adjustment.

Avid Tri-aligns are great, they stop on a dime. That's what I'm running.

... only as long as you're with that boyfriend of yours (as I recall).

Neo retro Easy set up super power as long as the spacers on the pads are in the correct place, mine felt spongy till I swapped the pad spacers around, I have one retro on the front of my Surly cross check, running it fixed right now. I also have two of the old triangular shaped shimano slr canti's on my custom curtlo, work real well, and I got two pair for $5 at a bike swap last year, two new sets of cool stop pads, and It's gravy. I just bought some more at the bike swap this year and one pair from a local shop, should have enough parts for two more pairs, just in case. I will probably put one pair on the back of the surly sometime soon so I can run the freewheel on the flip side.