Here's another perspective: I don't see using "correct" cables as taking anything to far. In the scheme of things, none of this matters at all really, but I like to set up bikes to be as close to original as possible. As has been pointed out, newer cables can help those otherwise questionable vintage brakes, but I say "so what?" If you want good performance why ride with Mafacs at all... or Super Record for that matter? Isn't riding your vintage bike about the authentic experience? And moments of terror on a wet downhill are certainly part of the Mafac experience! Change the cables and the pads, and what's next? Toss the Cambio Corsa and add STI? Seriously, if you want good performance, get a modern bike. If you want the vintage experience, keep it real. Of course I realize that some people just want to ride their old bikes, but want to maximize safety, and there is nothing wrong with that. But the experience changes when you modernize cables, just as if you went from tubulars to clinchers. Convenient, practical, and safe, but not necessarily real. Jerry Moos wrote: "I think the only PX-10E that would qualify on that score would be the one ridden by Tom Simpson in the 1967 TdeF." I'm no Peugeot expert, but surely there are other important PX-10Es. In the case of the '67 Simpson bike I would not only use OE cables, I wouldn't change the original cables in the first place. In fact, I would hesitate to grease them or clean them or alter them in any way. Regards, Tom DaltonBethlehem, PA I personally think trying to find authentic brake cables and housings is carrying things too far. I might keep the originals (at least the housings) if they were in good condition, but once replacement is necessary, I always use modern stuff, though I try to find realistic colors. The only exception might bee a super-valuable bike ridden by one of the legends of the sport. I think the only PX-10E that would qualify on that score would be the one ridden by Tom Simpson in the 1967 TdeF.
Regards,
Jerry Moos Houston, TX
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