Having logged a lot of miles with both Campagnolo and Mafac brakes, I'd say either works fine. I think the pad/rim combo is a larger variable in terms of stopping effort but you'll maybe see a little more braking torque from the M brakes than the C for a given lever pull force, but the C brakes will be less prone to squealing. I would add that the last gen script logo Record C brakes seemed to me to have required even less of a tug on the levers than Racers but with different pads or rims, who knows? I am a fan of the eccentric cam Campagnolo caliper QR that will hold whatever adjustment you make and I like having the adjuster barrel on the caliper too so minor points to the C brakes for those.
I don't get the whole Campagnolo "speed attenuators" sobriquet, I can lock either wheel with a two finger pull with them given fresh pads and clean braking surfaces on the rims.
Kurt Sperry Bellingham, Washington USA
2008/10/8 devon warner <crabulux@yahoo.com>:
>
> --- On Tue, 10/7/08, Jon Spangler <hudsonspangler@earthlink.net> wrote:
>
>>
>> 3) I have both my 1973-4 Campi NR sidepulls and 2 sets of
>> Mafac Racer
>> centerpulls in my parts collection.
>>
>> This also leads me to ask: which brakes will really stop
>> better? Both
>> Mafac and Campi are period-correct and appeared on Allegros
>> at the
>> time. I want to optimize (dare I say
>> "modernize"?) and update their
>> performance with more modern brake blocks, but the
>> once-available
>> Mathauser pads for the NR brakes seem to have disappeared.
>> Has anyone
>> in CR land had good luck using the currently-available more
>> modern
>> pads on either of these brakes?
>
> I'm interested in this topic because,
>
> i intend to put Mafacs on a bike i paln to ride, in the rain, actually. (a lister graciously gave me a pair for shipping cost some time ago.) since it will be a commuter specifically for winter in California, i may want to put on newer brake blocks if it really makes a difference. but i seem to remember last time i had a bike set up with old mafacs and orignial pads (late 70s- early 80s) that they were pretty decent in the rain on aluminum rims. if some of ya'll still have them, will you venture an opinion?
> and didn't koolstop buy mathauser? i belive i read that (on this list?) some time ago. if so, they should still be available.
>
> -devon warner
> in sunny san francisco, CA, USA
>> >
>> Please email me off-list if you have any suggestions,
>> unless the
>> knowledge is new to and belongs in the communal sphere.
>>
>> Thanks very much,
>>
>> Jon Spangler
>> Alameda, CA USA