At 5:12 PM +0300 8/13/08, Amir Avitzur wrote:
>I could be wrong, but I think I once saw a NIB set of Mafac Center-pull
>bakes with Braze-on pivot studs.
>NOT cantilevers .... center-pulls.
>
>My google and wooljersey gallery search turned up no hint of such a product.
>Was I dreaming?
>
>Amir Avitzur
>Ramat-Gan, Israel
You were not dreaming - that was a rather common way of mounting centerpull brakes on custom bikes.
Almost every single bike in our book "The Golden Age of Handbuilt Bicycles" from 1960 onward is equipped with centerpull brakes and brazed-on pivots.
Here is an example
http://www.vintagebicyclepress.com/
Scroll down to the chrome bike with the first generation Mafac Racer brakes, then click on the thumbnail for a larger image.
I believe the pivots were sold separately, and you just took the arms off a standard set. However, since Peugeot used the setup on some of their custom bikes in the 1970s, it is possible that Mafac supplied OEM brakes just with the pivots.
I do not recall any reference to the model name "Randonneur" among Mafac brakes.
Jan Heine
Editor
Bicycle Quarterly
140 Lakeside Ave #C
Seattle WA 98122
http://www.bikequarterly.com