Richard,
The Weinmann 605 was one of the mid-range brakes from Weinmann.
Because of my fetish for French bikes and components, and the fact that Weinmann brakes were fitted to most of the late 70s and 80s French bikes after the collapse of Mafac, I have managed to collect most of the Weinmann brakes over the years.
1. The top tier was the Carrera 400, a very high quality, short-reach (40-52.5 mm) brake that was sourced with the "Professional" levers, either smooth or drilled. These were very much like other Campagnolo-clone brakes. I seem to remember that someone one this list claimed that these were made by Dia Compe. I have a NIB pair with levers, and unlike many other Weinmann brakes, these do not have a stamping or forging indicating manufacture in West Germany or Switzerland.
2. The Carrera 600 was a longer reach brake (46-60 mm) that was not quite as well finished as the 400, and had typical Weinmann fittings for the cap, adjusting screw, and quick release. I have a pair of these on my wife's Nishiki Pro, and don't feel like taking them off to see where they were made, but I seem to recall that they were European manufacture. They were also usually sold new with the Professional levers.
3. The 405 and 605 were the next tier, and differed in reach--only 42-46 mm for the 405, and 53-60 mm for the 605. They were not as neatly finished as the two series above, but the 405 especially was a very well made and effective brake. I again have a pair NIB that is fitted with the Professional levers, but I think that they were also sourced with the "Racing" levers. I used to have a mid-range Peugeot (?PSN10?) that had a pair of these. I never raced with them, but when I lived in North Carolina I spent a lot of time up and down the mountains, and don't recall any problems scrubbing off speed. They just weren't as "pretty" as the higher end brakes. The 605 brakes that I have aren't even as nicely finished as the 405s, but they come from different eras.
4. The 500/506/610/730 were all very similar, differing only in reach. They looked cheap, and were quite inexpensive. No attempt was made to smooth or polish the caliper arms, and since they did not have a quick release mechanism, they came with the "Special" levers with the little flip-up quick release tab. They were usually seen on the lower tier models from most of the French makers.
My sources come from personal use, and from a collection of Weinmann brakes and catalogs from the 70s and 80s. When I lived in Urbana/Champaign, Weinmann's US headquarters was down the road in Olney Illinois (as were Simplex). They actually put up with my visits, and were generous enough to sell me items from stock if I posed as a distributor purchasing samples. I was at one time offered a huge stock of parts and complete items, but didn't have the resources or the warehouse to keep them.
Galen Poole Still missing the wide variety of components we used to have, Jackson MS
> Ahoy !
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> < CR site made no mention and search via Google was not informative. >
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> From the few Google hits, these appear to have been fitted on mid-range
> bikes. This correct?
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> I assume they are better than the 500's for the calipers are more stout
> and, so , could be a decent brake. I have calipers only, no levers.
>
> Can anyone point me toward possible sources of information?
>
> Thank you.
>
> Richard Cielec
> Chicago, Illinois
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