page_title: Bicycle brake
section_title: Cantilever brakes
hierarchical_section_title: Bicycle brake / Brake types / Rim brakes / Types of rim brakes / Cantilever brakes
caption_attribution_description: English: Taken by Andrew Dressel
context_page_description: A bicycle brake reduces the speed of a bicycle or prevents it from moving. The three main types are: rim brakes, disc brakes, and drum brakes.
  Most bicycle brake systems consist of three main components: a mechanism for the rider to apply the brakes, such as brake levers or pedals; a mechanism for transmitting that signal, such as Bowden cables, hydraulic hoses, rods, or the bicycle chain; and the brake mechanism itself, a caliper or drum, to press two or more surfaces together in order to convert, via friction, kinetic energy of the bike and rider into thermal energy to be dissipated.
context_section_description: The cantilever brake is a class of brake in which each arm is attached to a separate pivot point on one side of the seat stay or fork.  Thus all cantilever brakes are dual-pivot.  Both first- and second-class lever designs exist; second-class is by far the most common.  In the second-class lever design, the arm pivots below the rim.  The brake shoe is mounted above the pivot and is pressed against the rim as the two arms are drawn together.  In the first-class lever design, the arm pivots above the rim.  The brake shoe is mounted below the pivot and is pressed against the rim as the two arms are forced apart.
  Due to a wider possible distance between the mounts and pads, cantilever brakes are often preferred for bicycles that use wide tyres, such as on mountain bikes. Because the arms move only in their designed arcs, the brake shoe must be adjustable in several planes.  Thus cantilever brake shoes are notoriously difficult to adjust. As the brake shoes of a second-class cantilever brake wears, they ride lower on the rim. Eventually, one may go underneath the rim, so that the brake does not function.
  There are several brake types based on the cantilever brake design: cantilever brakes and direct-pull brakes - both second class lever designs - and roller cam brakes and U-brakes - both first class lever designs.
caption: Low profile 'traditional' cantilever brake.
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