I'm dealing with a set of those original Dura Ace sidepulls right now. I bought a NOS set from an old shop and installed them on my Woodrup, which needed brakes as I built it. The shop owner also thought they were from 1974. I know center-pulls were common on '80 Woodrups, but I don't like c-ps.
The DA calipers are beautiful, fully a rival for Campy sidepulls in finish and stiffness. The QR latches work smartly, too. What I don't like are everything else. The levers seem a cheapened version of bike-boom Weinmann, the cables are not lined and hence unsuitable to my modern eye, the cable clamp acorn bolts are brass and one stripped easily, and the shoes feel greasy. I think I'll be replacing the shoe rubbers with the black Kool-Stops sold for Nuovo Record and Super Record replacement.
Braking performance as stock and as-aged is much worse than Campy Record of the same day. I have two bikes set up with those, and they are very good brakes IMHO. I can't see how Shimano got the reputation of building better brakes than Campy, at least not in the '70s (my '80s OT Shimano 600s are no champion, either!). I can also easily see why Shimano didn't penetrate the peleton early on.
Ken Freeman, stopping smartly in Ann Arbor, MI
-----Original Message----- From: classicrendezvous-bounces@bikelist.org [mailto:classicrendezvous-bounces@bikelist.org] On Behalf Of Thomas Adams Sent: Thursday, April 13, 2006 3:11 PM To: Classic Rendezvous Subject: [CR]Dura Ace...
Hello All,
I was racing as a junior and I remember seeing my first set of Dura Ace brakes in 74. They were in the lust after glass case with a World Championchip wool jersey sent to our local bike shop from Baggio of Montreal. Baggio was the supplier of overseas gear and was an offical sponsor of the worlds in Montreal. "The Canibal", won that year. You can be sure he wasn't using Dura Ace.
Cheers,
Thomas Adams,
Blandford, Nova Scotia,
Canada.