Great info Eric - I knew the Racers had a deeper drop than the Competition but never took the time to measure them. Thanks!
I'll have a Spence Wolf modified Mafac Competition brake as one of my "pass around" exhibits this weekend.
And the Mafac Top-63 has an even crazier and harder to find straddle wire! Fortunately I have a couple spares for each.
===================================================== Mark Petry 206.618.9642 Beautiful Bainbridge Island, WA mpetry@bainbridgeisland.net
===================================================== "Nothing can match the simple pleasure of a bicycle ride"
John F. Kennedy (Sr.) =====================================================
From: "Eric Elman" <tr4play@cox.net> To: <dbilenkey@sympatico.ca>, Subject: Re: [CR]Mafac Competitions vs. Racers Message: 11
The Mafac Competition brakesets always had calipers with a bronze pivot bushing whereas the Racer's had a plastic bushing (very early Racers had the bronze bushing too). Also, the Competition was available with a slotted brake bridge to offer a wider drop range, I've never seen in person nor in a Mafac catalog that the Racer's were available with such a bridge. The Competiton has an impossible to find straddle cable. Finish was the same on both, polished alloy. Lastly, the Racer's and Competition's had different drop ranges with the Competition's being a smaller overall range.
Racer w/small stirrup (bridge) 48.5 - 63 Racer w/large stirrup 53.5 - 68 Competiton w/small stirrup 43 - 53 Competition w/large stirrup 48 - 58 Competition w/adjustable/slotted stirrup 50 - 65
Mafac Competiton's are my favorite brake of all time - really!