Titanium bolts make your bike go faster.

In a fit of retro-enthusiasm a few weeks ago I bought a set of period correct XT canti's from a guy on Retrobike to go on the rear of my bike. I fitted them but soon realised of course that my v-brake levers pulled in the wrong way and no matter how much brake I grabbed, there was basically no rear braking. I obtained a canti correct brake lever but the braking was still poor (and LOUD).

As I was replacing these canti's with a spare set of Avid Arch Rivals the other day, I realised I'd lost the original bolts and was left with a fairly random collection of  mounting hardware. Being the slightly obsessive type, and as a nod to the weight saving craze of the early nineties, I splurged £12 on some 6Al/4V titanium brake boss bolts from ebay and now have a very coordinated looking bike. The bolts were slathered with copper grease before fitting as titanium has a bad reputation for galling.

These new bolts look really smart as a full set and as all of us who were around in the weight saving craziness of the early nineties know, my bike can now go up hills 37% faster than before no matter how unfit or hungover I'm feeling!

There now follows a gratuitous pic of my new rear brake (pre- the speed enhancing bolts). I have an Arch Rival on the front of the bike and they're like car brakes - powerful, quiet and unobtrusive. The rear is now much the same: