Direct Pull (V-Brake) vs. Center Pull Cantilevers (pros and cons) I am looking around for an old mountain bike to ride this winter (and this summer when it is wet).  

I was just browsing around and was curious what the difference was between 

Direct pull brakes: 



And Center-pull Cantilevers:



Sheldon Brown has a good description of both kinds of brakes but he does not give pros and cons.  Or suggest which are better.
The main reason that the direct pull (V brake) was invented is that it approximates a center-pull cantilever in terms of balanced force and leverage, while not requiring that the cable be anchored at some point above the wheel.  This is important for front wheels on suspension forks, but not significant for most other uses.

Another slight advantage of the V brake is that it doesn't generally protrude out of the profile of the bike quite as much and is thus somewhat less likely to be damaged in off-road use.

Neither advantage is of any importance for a road bike without a suspension fork.  However, there is the problem that the two require different levers (because the cable travel length is different) and the old cantilevered levers are getting hard to find, should you break one.