brake info please

it would help if you posted some pics, or at least told us what kind of brakes you're trying to use.

I like the brakes in the big pic best,do the brake pads press flat against the rim when you engage them,or at an angle(partial contact)?,,,,was the breaks working w/the old set-up,if so are you using those brake pads?

Did you change the brake levers on the handle bars,it is possible they were designed to deliver more pulling power for the different brake arms at the wheel,,,might look at them at least and see if they look like they pull different from the piviot bolt,,,,or bring the old bike next to it and hook up the cable to an old lever and see if it grips better

I used to get cable sets from walmart for around 5 dollars,they may be a little more now,,,I am guessing you are saying the center pull mounts are not on the pedal bike but on the motor bike,I would have to figure out after looking at that set-up mount holes on the bike they came off of and the other bike

peppers: The large picture is a direct pull cantilever brake and the small is a center pull cantilever brake. There is some difference in brake handles designed for each type. Make sure the inner wires are not binding due to rust or dirt. Also make sure they have no hard bends going between the brake handles and brakes. This article by Sheldon Brown on how to may be of help also.

About Cantilever Bicycle Brakes

good site they have a chart saying the brake levers are "different in pulling strength" between the two types of brakes you are using

If adjusted properly these brakes should work. I believe the law requires you to be able to cause one of your wheels to slide when you apply the brakes hard enough. I can lock up either wheel on my tandem. Not being there to see the bicycle and check things out makes it hard to help. I can recommend some brakes but I have no idea if this would solve your problem.

I don't know what they would want except bike brakes thet will stop the bike in a certian distance,,,,,the chart on the site offered in the post at the bottom of page one,tells us that you need the handle-bar levers off the bike the brake arms came from ,the others would not develope the torque to easly operate the brks.(You would need both hands to squeeze them),,,other wise for a big choise of different brake options you can type brake questions in at the top of the page (google bar) and a whole new world different answers about diff.types should appear,there are many threads about them,,,,I would use the levers off the bike the brk arms came from

sounds like you have the required parts for the bike then,you will want them to work well beacause I for one want to stop when its needed fast or slow,especially for roads with signs "cross traffic does not stop"

If the wheels are straight and you have cables that are not bent or binding and you do what the link I posted says than you should be able to tell by using the brakes if they will safely stop you. If you have not worked on the brakes before and are not used to doing this than it can be a real pain. Your personal safety is very important and you are coming off as very unsure of the situation. If this is the case do something about it. Go to a bicycle shop or friend and get some help. If you do get everything adjusted correctly and the brakes are not good enough then by all means look for better brakes.
When I worked in a bicycle shop we had some procedures we followed with brakes.
1: Rim brakes need the rim to be true before any adjustment is ever made.
2: The leading and trailing edge of the pad needs to be in line with the rim and the top and bottom of the pad need to make contact at the same time.
3: The leading edge of the pad needs to make contact first. We call this towing and this is done because the rotational force of the rim will cause the leading edge to be pulled forward and out. By towing in the leading edge the trailing edge is pulled in while keeping the leading edge in contact. This will stop most of the squealing.
4: The leading edge of the pads should be as close as possible without making contact with the rim. Non of the pad should ever miss the rim or hang over at the top or bottom edge of the rim
5:When you pull the handles there should be a good deal of resistance before you are able to bottom out the brake handles on the bar. One of my favorite books states that it should take at least 40lbs of force at the handle before you can bottom out the brake handle on the handlebar. Not all brakes will be this solid. The good ones are and they cost a pretty penny.
Brake sets per wheel not counting the price of the levers can range from around $20.00 to over 100.00. This is a generalization of what I have seen. I replaced the cantilevers that came on my tandem around 9 years ago. Being a tandem it has a unique problem. The distance to the rear wheel is excessive. Cables and parts have some flex and that flex over that distance to the rear brake was excessive. I spent over $300. on the hydraulic rim brakes. They were worth every penny. My hands need to work less and the bicycle that holds two people stops in a reasonable distance. I was given a MTB by someone and did not like the straight bars. I put road bars off of my old racer and used old stile road levers. The U brake on the rear works quit well with these road handles. The Paul direct pull that I had purchased for another bike was not making me happy on the front because the road handles were not designed to pull that much cable. I put a travel agent on the Paul direct pull or V brake as some people call them and it worked perfect.

Do not use that center pull brake!!!!! They don't make those anymore because if the main cable breaks, it will pull the smaller cable down on to the tire & LOCK UP THE WHEEL!!! (& throw you over the bars!!!) seriously, get rid of it now!!

Do not use that center pull brake!!!!! They don't make those anymore because if the main cable breaks, it will pull the smaller cable down on to the tire & LOCK UP THE WHEEL!!! (& throw you over the bars!!!) seriously, get rid of it now!!

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I have used these type of brakes for many years. There is two places where the cable is most likely to break. Where it meets the brake handle and at the yoke. I replace the cables before failure. Here is part of a Sheldon Brown article from off the web.

oke or Link Wire?

Traditional cantilevers used two separate cables, a main cable running down from the control lever, and a "transverse" or "straddle" cable running between the two cantilevers. The main cable would be clamped to a triangular "yoke", a sort of hook that pulled up on the transverse cable.

These worked OK until mountain bikes came along, then there was a rash of bad crashes caused by failure of the main cable. The cable would part at the lever or where it passed over a pulley. When the main cable let go, the transverse cable would fall down and get caught on the knobs of the tire. The knobs would yank on the transverse cable causing sudden wheel lockup...ouch!

In response to this, Shimano developed the "link wire." The link wire replaces the yoke and half of the transverse cable. The main cable goes through the "button" that serves as the yoke, and extends down to one side of the cantilevers, supplying the other side of the "virtual" transverse cable.

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Many manufactures still produce the old style brakes because they have great stopping power. You just need to take due care with maintenance.

sounds like some kind of a back up brake on a semi truck w/air brakes