Re: [CR]Campy brake superiority.

(Example: Framebuilders:Pino Morroni)

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Date: Thu, 07 Feb 2008 16:59:24 -0500
From: "George Allen" <jgallen@lexairinc.com>
To: classicrendezvous@bikelist.org
Subject: Re: [CR]Campy brake superiority.
References: <410338.10774.qm@web55908.mail.re3.yahoo.com>
In-Reply-To: <410338.10774.qm@web55908.mail.re3.yahoo.com>


I agree with all of this. I'll also add that the Weinmann 999 centerpulls standard on mid-1970's Raleigh Competitions and Internationals were the biggest piece of crap to ever come out of Belgium. I believe none other than Sheldon Brown referred to them as "evil". (God bless him, may he rest in peace) Hard to work on, hard to center and impossible to keep centered. It seemed every time the lever was squeezed the calipers were pulled out of center. I could reach the front caliper while riding to readjust but the rear was a bit difficult. The Universal centerpulls of the same era were much better. The Mavic Racers were better still. The only worse brakes than the 999's, IMHO, were the Weinmann sidepulls found on the Competition GS. And don't even get me started on the old Universal sidepulls although they provided an incredible amount of reach. The Campy brakes were a revelation to me. I didn't think brakes could work that well.

George Allen Lexington, Ky USA

Tom Dalton wrote:
>Kurt Sperry wrote:
>
> The eccentric cam QR, the flats in the center bolt to center with a
>cone wrench and the tire guides were all useful and unique innovations
>at the time Campy SPs were introduced if I remember correctly.
>
> I'll add:
>
> The above features were really of benefit more from a mechanic's perspective than a braking performance perspective. Quick wheel changes, easy to compensate for a slightly tweeked wheel, easy to center the brakes... Many of the other Campy features were along the same lines. I'm not really up on stuff from before the 70's, so please forgive me if I'm crediting Campy for anything that came earlier, but I will add this:
>
> The cable clamp was pretty slick. I didn't mangle the wire like some earlier designs, and if you did have a mangled wire it was still usable because you didn't need to thread it through a tiny hole.
>
> Don't forget the Rondella Denta that came out a little after the intro of the brakes. That thing is pure genius... though probably just a borrowed idea like everything else.
>
> At the lever, the cable carrier was easy to orient using your fingers on the outside of the lever... it was even knurled. This made for quick cable hook-up. It also pivoted smoothly because of the large bearing surface (though not like modern brakes with the slick plastic inserts).
>
> Having a clamp that loaded the body and not the pivot pin was a plus, though I suspect Campy was not the first to do this. Winneman's clamp loaded the pivot, and I recall bending and breaking a few pivots in overzealous fits of lever tightening... possibly mechanic's error on my part, but should it really be an issue?
>
> The Campy adjuster was slick too. Very fast to use because the adjuster slid through the D-shaped opening, rather than being a threaded shaft, so you only needed to spin the nut to the chosen position. The bump on the nut held it in place. The ruber o-ring was a nice touch. Newer versions of this setup are really nice, because with the lighter brake springs you can easily ajust the brake on the fly.
>
> The bumper on the short reach was a nice touch, even if it often fell off. See the brand S 7700 caliper for a slick solution to that problem.
>
> Was the open ended pad holder a new thing with the Record brake? Probably over-reaching here, but whoever came up with that was really thinking. Change rubber without setting up the pad orientation all over again.
>
>
> Tom Dalton
> Bethlehem PA USA
>
>
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