Converting cantilever to V brakes

[Mobiasstrip]

I have just purchased an oldish tandem by Santana. Its pretty basic and I have been upgrading a few components.

I bought a new set of V brakes and levers but found a problem I have not experienced before. The V brakes fit on the pivots but the hole where the end of the spring pushes in is 180 degrees out of line. On all bikes I have worked on this hole is always in the wheel side of the pivot. On this bike it is the opposite side and so the V brakes cannot be fitted.

I wondered if anyone here had experienced this. Maybe my tandem has early cantilevers designed before things were more standardized. My local bike shops all say that they have never seen this orientation before - and have not had problems swapping over from cantilever to V brakes.

Any suggestions or insights appreciated.

[cyclerUK]

A similar query popped up a couple of weeks ago but no answer came out of it.
Is it possible to swap the springs over from one lever to the other. (left to right?).
Whether this would be an answer I don't know.
The only other thing I could think of would be to drill a new hole, if there is enough room, in the fork boss.

[Mobiasstrip]

Thanks.
I tried swaping springs righ to left . Thought I had solved it until I realised that the brakes were now pushed into the wheel rather than away from it...
No room to drill another hole.
Guess I just need to renew the brake pads and carefully set up the cantilever brakes.
S

[Bill]

Mobias,
Sorry I did not reply to this earlier, but I did noticed you said you have a Santana Tandem? Reason I asked is maybe you have a picture, this is one of the types of bikes I would like to attain, take apart, and restore (tandem style). As far as the conversion of Cantilevers to V Brakes you may find that in comparison that cantilevers are just as durable as v brakes and the parts are still plentiful like good brake pads and components. Here is a link of Santana Tandem Bikes...

http://santanatandem.com/

Good luck with your project,
Bill
P.s. Pics please? lol

[Surly LHT]

I use Cantilever on my LHT and love them but I use Salmon Kool Stops on mine too.