Re: [CR] Brake mods or we are mad scientists !

(Example: Racing:Jean Robic)

Date: Fri, 23 Jan 2009 12:57:54 -0800
From: "Bob Freitas" <freitas1@pacbell.net>
To: CLASSIC RENDEZVOUS <classicrendezvous@bikelist.org>
Subject: Re: [CR] Brake mods or we are mad scientists !


Jeeze all this time I thought maybe I was the only one to do experiments with brakes, of course most of my ''mods'' were in the long past. We regularly rebent brakes levers, mainly MAFACs to create less reach for small hands (obviously this was well before ''liability insurance'') My favorite levers were rebent Universals which I reshaped to more of a curve to help with braking from the hoods. I even used this same set of levers with my Dura ace Brake calipers (first set in USA) before I acquired another bike and went to straight DA set on #1 bike.(RETRO IN 1973!) Before Scott/Mathhauser I used MAFAC pads with my Universal 61s as they lasted longer. Heres a funny story some of you might appreciate. Peter Rich at VeloSport removed the auxillery levers from all the Nishikis he sold so I would buy them from him and sell them to a volume Peugeot dealer I had . He would use the Bike Research adapter pinset (anyone know how Don Milberger is doing?) to mount them. He put them on every thing including PX10s (cringe)

BOB FREITAS
                                                     rain at last in MILL VALLEY, CALIF USA