Tech Tip: V-Brake Arm Lengths

Gear & Tech

Despite their age, our articles on v-brakes and v-brake conversions remain very popular with GRAVELBIKE’s readers. To help folks determine whether a certain brake will clear their bikes’ fenders or fat tires, we’ve compiled a list of popular v-brakes’ arm lengths (the list will be updated as new information becomes available).

Model Length (mm)
Tektro 917A 75
Tektro 926AL 80
Paul MiniMoto 83
TRP CX8.4 84
BOX Eclipse (short) 85
Campagnolo Mirage 85
Promax P-1 (short) 85
Tektro BX3v 85
Tektro RX5 85
Shimano BR-R353 87
Shimano BR-R463 90
Shimano BR-R573 90
Tektro RX6 90
TRP CX9 90
Tektro 930AL 95
Tektro BX25 95
Bullseye Raceworks 96
Tektro M530 102
Tektro M730 102
TRP M920 102
Paul Motolite 103
Avid SL 104
KCNC 105
AEST 106
Koski Lite 106
Shimano Deore XT BR-T780 107
BOX Eclipse (long) 108
Promax P-1 (long) 108
Tektro 857AL 110
Tektro C310 110
Tektro 849AL 120
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13 thoughts on “Tech Tip: V-Brake Arm Lengths”

  1. I believe that Shimano’s new short pull v-brakes are 90 mm. If you like, I can confirm when I return home.

  2. It would be nice to know what brake levers work with them. I tried the Paul MiniMoto with Shimano Ultegra 9 speed brifters and the levers bottomed out. No way would they work.

    1. I’ve used Paul’s MiniMotos with various levers (Campy, Shimano) without any issues. This illustrates that performance is often influenced by factors such as brake boss spacing, rim width, brake reach, etc.

      In my experience, most modern integrated brake/shift levers will work with 80-85mm brake arms. Longer arms (90-95mm) generally perform better with levers that pull slightly more cable, such as Shimano’s 5700 and 6700. For anything longer, you’ll generally need v-specific levers such as those offered by Cane Creek, Gevenalle (aka, Retroshift), or Tektro.

  5. This is a great article. I’ve been putting together similar information. You are right on the Shimano, they advertise 90mm for all the models. If you want to complete the table a bit.

    BR-R353 is Shimano Sora
    BR-R463 is Shimano Tiagra
    BR-R573 is Shimano 105

    I have sets of each, all measure between 87 and 90mm with my calipers. Seems there may be some quality control issues.

    Campagnolo Mirage Linear Pull measure 85mm

    For completeness they should all probably be listed

  6. Really useful information, thank you much! But…..you don’t provide a diagram or indication what the measurement, precisely is of. That is, are you measuring from the center of the mounting bolt to the noodle insertion? Or from the center of the brake pad boss to the noodle insertion (I would think the former). It may be obvious, but ambiguity like this makes a useful article MUCH less useful. Could you indicate in a few words what you are measuring? Thank you!

    1. That’s an excellent question. Arm length is measured from the center of the mounting bolt/brake boss to where the cable attaches.

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