Listees,
Last thing in the world I want to do is get in the middle of the debate/reasoning on which brake lever goes to which brake. I have a 1971 Masi Gran Criterium that was assembled in Italy and has never been altered. The cable ends have never been off(still has the factory yellow paint in the crimps); even has the original white cloth handlebar tape on it and the Masi plastic brake cable gizmo that holds the cables together. It is set up right lever to the front brake. I set up my 1969 Special that way because that's the Masi way. If I recall correctly, the Carlsbad Masis were also assembled right lever to front brake. Everything else I have I have set up right hand rear brake.
The thing I've noticed; especially after all of this discussion is that it doesn't matter to me which way it is. I haven't noticed anything about right to front that makes any differance to me; besides, who uses brakes anyway? I think I prefer right to rear only because the cables crossing over tends to make them want to stay together nicely without using one of those cable thingies. I tried putting one of those things on a bike with cables that cross over and quickly realized that not only is it unneccessary; but it doesn't work. They're made for cables running right to front.
No doubt those who have a deffinite preferance also have a reason (or some reasoning) behind it; but from my personal experience it doesn't seem to matter to. I suppose because my left hand is so active on account of drumming there is less of a differance from one side to the other for me. I don't have any problem controlling a brake lever regardless of which side it is or which brake it's activating. Is this unusual or does everybody have a one way only policy?
Brian Baylis
La Mesa, CA
Left hand just had a five hour workout; another one tomorrow.
>
> Mark Bulgier wrote:
> >
> (cut)
> > Here's Coppi right-front:
> > http://bulgier.net/
>
> That's a photo of Fausto Coppi in the 1949 TdF (he won) using Italian
> Simplex derailleurs on his Bianchi. This victory is what motivated
> Tullio Campagnolo to design the Gran Sport and abandon the Paris-Roubaix
> (Coppi really hated using the P-R derailleur).
>
> http://www.torelli.com/
>
> Bianchi's mod. Tour de France bicycle goes back to this 1949 victory
> with Simplex (It.) derailleurs and it was originally delivered with
> these derailleurs only to change in later years to Campagnolo Gran Sport
> derailleurs. When Coppi won the Worlds in Lugano in 1953 on a Gran
> Sport equiped Bianchi, Bianchi offered the mod. Campione del Mondo with
> Gran Sport shortly afterwards.
>
> Chuck Schmidt
> SoPas, SoCal
>
> .