I picked up a 1972 Raleigh Supercourse lugged steel frame off of ebay about two years ago, and I absolutely love it. Sometime in it's life someone brazed on a full set of canti posts, so when I was building it up (in a cheap-as-possible fashion) I put a set of cheapo Shimano cantis on the front. I had to rig up the cantis with the pads as far out as possible (the back of the pad itself is resting against the canti, no spacers in between). It worked fine, but looked like poop. So now I'm trying to class the thing up a little bit. I got some nice cyclocross brakes, but when I tried to install them, they're rotated so far out that when I attach the straddle cable, instead of cleanly going from the end of the brake up to the hanger, and then down to the other brake, it contacts the body of the brake. I wish I had a picture, but just think of a Mafac-type brake, and the cable is hitting the area where the pad attaches. I think the issue is that the canti posts were positioned too far inboard.

So my question is, is there a canti or v-brake on the market that will work with posts that are too close together?

Straddle cables come in different lengths. If I'm understanding correctly it sounds like yours is too short. A pic would really help.

Straddle cables come in different lengths. If I'm understanding correctly it sounds like yours is too short. A pic would really help.

I'll try to get a pic tonight, but the straddle cable is not the issue. Picture Mafac-type brakes, with the horizontal arm that extends away from the wheel, which the cable attaches to. On my bike, that arm is way beyond horizontal, pointing downwards at some angle I'm not prepared to estimate at this point. :embarrassed:

Or, imagine a bike with cantis (or V's or Mafacs, etc.), and you took the brake posts and moved them inwards, toward each other. The pads would remain the same distance from each other, because there's a wheel there to separate them. But as the pivot points (the posts) move closer together, the rest of the brake is forced to rotate downward and/or outward. So when the post is on the inside edge of the fork, as mine is, the ends of the brakes, where the straddle cable attaches, are too far out/down to work the way they should, even with a super-long straddle cable.

I'll try to get that pic tonight.

Take a look at this illustration from Sheldon Brown's website:
http://www.sheldonbrown.com/images/canti.gif
On my bike, Point A would be almost directly to the left of Point P, maybe even a little bit below it. That's when I'm using canti's.

Of course Mafac-type cyclocross brakes are designed that way, with Point A being much lower to begin with, so based on my canti example imagine how low they are. Also, since my cyclocross brakes are shaped differently than those pictured above, the straddle cable contacts the brake at a point between Point A and Point S. Now, correct me if I'm wrong, but that's not really good for effective braking (or aesthetics).

The point I've been trying to make is that on my bike, Point P is much closer to the wheel than in the illustration above. So I'm looking for a brake that, by it's design, can compensate for that strange geometry. Any thoughts anyone?

that they were put on there for rollercam's instead of canti breaks? i know the position of the post would be different but it may be a more up and down thing.

you could try a different type of pad. if the rubber block of pad is fat like in the diagram, you could switch to a thinner style pad, but you probably already did that.

try a set of v's. see if that helps. stopping power would be awsome at least.

Mafac style brakes take a VERY long straddle cable. See this pict from Paul Components for proper set-up. Note how long the cable is.... The Paul brakes are similar to Mafacs... Hopefully this helps.

Brakes aren't needed on a fixie, that's what your legs are for.

Brakes aren't needed on a fixie, that's what your legs are for.

I knew someone would say that.

My stomping grounds are just a little too hilly for me to feel comfortable not having that safety net. I don't use it often, I just like to know it's there if I need it.

That, and I'm a fat, out-of-shape slob who doesn't trust his own legs to stop him all the time. :D

Anyway, thanks everyone for your help. I guess I'm just going to have to look around a little. I've found a few designs that might work, like the Avid Tri-Align II, so I'll just have to try some and see what happens.

I knew someone would say that.

My stomping grounds are just a little too hilly for me to feel comfortable not having that safety net. I don't use it often, I just like to know it's there if I need it.

That, and I'm a fat, out-of-shape slob who doesn't trust his own legs to stop him all the time. :D

Anyway, thanks everyone for your help. I guess I'm just going to have to look around a little. I've found a few designs that might work, like the Avid Tri-Align II, so I'll just have to try some and see what happens.

The pad itself might be of sufficiently small size to allow you to shove the pad into the mount far enough to get the brake arms rotated inward enough to get the straddle cable to clear.