Over the winter we found a cool part that gives Bentech owners
a way to add v-brakes without welding on cantilever posts. The
part that makes this retro-fit possible is the Big Cheese linear
brake adapter from the Quality Bike Parts catalog. Most local
bike shops will have access to this catalog and can order the
part for you. My LBS charged me $25 for mine.
As you can see from the photos, any type of v-brake can be used.
The rear v-brakes are mounted on the bottom side of the chainstays to avoid interference with the chain. The brakes shown are the new Odyssey A-Brakes. A nice feature of this brake is that the cable can be placed on either side of the bike, making it easy to avoid chain rubbing.
The front brakes are Shimano LX which have to be mounted to the back of the fork so the cable avoids chain interference.
The Big Cheese adapter is a well made, alloy casting that is attached with a 1/4" bolt to the original brake mounting point. The original brake mounting hole serves as a guide to drill a second hole through the main frame tube.
The addition of v-brakes gives the Bentech an extra level of safety to manuever those mean streets.
Special thanks to kamikaze Bentech rider, Mike Smith
of Mogadore, Ohio for the original idea behind this modification.