Rene Herse Canti and Campy brifters

[maxcr]

Hi Everyone,

The other thread by Patrick with Jan weighing in had me wondering if anyone here has tried using the Rene Herse Canti brakes with Campy Ergo Brifters?

I'm contemplating switching my Crust LB from downtube shifters (too far for my tall frame) to a shimergo setup with some old Campy Ergo brifters that I have, but I remember reading that the pull won't work well?

I don't know what to think since RH has the campy recycling program and I know they like those brifters.

Has anyone done it / has experience with this combo?

Thanks

Max

[Armand Kizirian]

Any standard pull brakes for road, e.g. caliper, cantilever, mini-v, will work just fine. Rene Herse canti's will require the same pull as any other cantilever brakes. 

[Jan Heine]

Rene Herse cantis work great with Campy brifters—and with all 'modern' road levers, too. I run either Campy Ergo levers on bikes with Nivex or dt shifters (shifting internals removed) or SRAM eTap (with shifting parts) on my Unbound XL bike. Rene Herse cantis don't need as much cable pull as other cantis, because there's no slack in the straddle cable.

How does this work? The straddle cable has swivelling ends, which reduces the stress on the cable. That's how we can use a smaller-diameter cable, which doesn't bow. Since the straddle cableis always taut, when you pull the lever, as soon as the pad touches the rim, you have full brake power. With 'standard' cantis that have a thicker straddle cable, the cable always bows a bit, and you need some lever travel to pull it tight before the brake pads start squeezing the rim.

As the previous poster mentioned, you can also use a canti-specific lever or classic road lever. Those pull more cable, so you can use the 'no slack' to set the pads a bit further from the rim, without the risk of running out of lever travel. I'm surprised that most other cantis clamp the straddle cable to one arm. Canti arms move a lot—the infamous 'cosine error' lamented by Jobst Brandt—and that puts a lot of stress on the cable where it exits the brake arm. That's why you need such a beefy cable, even though the straddle cable is under a lot less load than the main brake cable (since there's a cable for each side).

Long story, but the short answer is: Campy Ergo levers work great with Rene Herse cantis (but can be marginal with other cantis).

Jan Heine

Rene Herse Cycles

Seattle, WA, USA

[Bill Lindsay]

Concur with Jan that Campy Ergo levers work well with Rene Herse Cantilever brakes and I will add on that for those who need to shop for Campy levers, give the Mechanical EPS models a look.  All the cost of EPS is in the derailleurs and the controller.  The brakelevers are comparatively inexpensive, and are pretty light weight to begin with, because the only thing in them besides the shifter paddles is a single printed circuit board with the switches that signal the controller.  For those inclined to gut them, it's a simpler maneuver than gutting a non-EPS lever, just because there is less stuff to gut.  I still want to rewire my EPS levers to signal my dynamo lamp, but that's a maker-project for another winter.  

Bill Lindsay

El Cerrito, CA

[Ted Durant]

On Friday, November 14, 2025 at 4:06:10 PM UTC-6 maxcr wrote:

I'm contemplating switching my Crust LB from downtube shifters (too far for my tall frame) to a shimergo setup with some old Campy Ergo brifters that I have, but I remember reading that the pull won't work well?

When I picked up my Chapman, Brian commented that the levers have a high mechanical advantage. I think he was preparing me for longer lever travel / softish feel, in combination with the Gran Bois Chouette brakes he put on my bike. Personally I think the combination is brilliant. Lots of modulation but no lack of ability to stop the bike in a big hurry. That plus the very comfortable shape of them (these are older 10sp carbon levers) makes them my favorite, and I can understand why Jan is enthusiastic about them. 

Ted Durant

Milwaukee, WI USA

[Max Faingezicht]

Awesome, thank you Armand, Jan and Bill. This gives me full confidence to move forward with the switch!

Max

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Max Faingezicht