[Downeaster]

I am building up an old 1996 frame that originaly used the Shimano Deore LX M-System brakes. I think was a center pull canti style but am not sure. Can anyone reccomend a good modern brake that would work well for this build? The bike will be used for light XC.

Thanks for you patience in helping out a newbie.

 

[sic_nick]

You can't really go wrong with the modern V brakes (pretty much anything from Avid or Shimano will do the job, check out the reviews section on here for more info) they are so much better than the old centre pull canti's that it sounds like you have now. Just one thing to check is the way the cable is routed to your back brake could mean you might need to run a full length outer cable and get new V brake levers as the cable pull amount is different too.

I used to love the old canti's, didn't slow me down much but at least they made sure people heard me coming and got out of the way.

 

[sic_nick]

If you have a bracket like this one bridging the seatstays at the back you will have an easier job of running the cable just as it is for the current brakes but going into the 'noodle' instead of this.

 

[Downeaster]

My frame has that center bracket but I think I am going to run some Avid SD7' s on the rear and some disc brakes up front.

Thanks for the picture.

 

[sic_nick]

If you have the centre bracket like that it is fine and you will not need a full length outer cable and can just go from the rear cable stop into the noodle as I have on the picture.