Listers,
This brake discussion hits close to home, as I am wrestling over how to set up the brakes on my 1975 (+/-) Swiss Allegro. I have both period-correct Mafac Racers and Campi NR sidepulls in my parts bins, and have only decided thus far that: 1) I will use Kool-Stop pads on whichever brakes I install, and 2) my right lever will operate the front brake.
MAFAC RACER CPs I have used Mafac Racers and 2000s successfully and recall them fondly because I loved the peugeots on which they hung. But I always hated the squeal of Mafac brakes, even at their best-adjusted and finest-tuned. (Kool-stop pads should fix most of that problem, and I may even replace the post assemblies with an adjustable-toe-in Kool- Stop or similar upgrades.) But, as long as a quick-release cable hanger is used, Mafacs can be adjusted close enough to the rim and permit fast wheel changes when needed. They ARE lighter, and, if used with braze-on posts (an option if I repaint the Allegro and add other braze-ons for bottle cages and shift levers), they will be much stiffer and more efficient. But I always loved the gold Mafac "2000" brakes on my 1975 PX-10, which I unfortunately sold long ago at a bike club swap for $20. :-(
Dennis Stone, my bike guru and owner of Stone's Cyclery in Alameda, likes the Mafacs' stopping power over Campi NR brakes, especially with braze-on post mounting or the reinforcing plates seen here recently, and I never had them fail me in that department. Plus, the Mafacs seem more culturally appropriate on a "continental" frame (a French-influenced Swiss bike built of metric Reynolds 531 tubing). And mafacs remind me of my beloved PX-10....(pause for smile while reminiscing :-)
CAMPAGNOLO NR SPs The Campi NR sidepulls, from my second Raleigh Pro Mark IV, have been with me for many miles, too. They DO modulate nicely, and have used the adjustable-cam quick release many times "en route" to deal with suddenly-wobbly rims as well as change wheels fast. I've always preferred the feel of Campi levers over the Mafacs, and centering them with a 13MM cone wrench or a Park brake tool is a snap. (I often have to fidget with the Weinmann 750/999 CPs on my UO-18 mixte, especially the front caliper: it seems averse to staying centered, no matter what. This is a reminder of what I'm up against if I go with Mafacs.) And I DO have two matching belt buckles to go with these brakes... :-) Installation is simpler with these, too--no cable hangers or extra quick releases needed. And they ARE European, and I love Campi over Shimano, no matter what.
I've spent a fair amount of time and money investing in parts for both braking systems and weighing the options--almost as if I were struggling with an important component choice. This bike is a rider, not a restoration, so it does NOT matter whether the brake washers are engraved or match each other. Either brake (the NRs are "normal" or "long" reach) will fit the drop to the rim on the Allegro. And I find it amusing that, like many of my fellow CR list members, I become extremely emotional about some of these components far in excess of any "rational" consideration of their actual utility.
(Which reminds me. I still have some used early-1980s (off-topic?) Shimano Dura-Ace--SIS-optional--components hanging on my TREK 1500/2000. I have no intention of riding or using either the bike or most of the components again. Email me off-list if you are interested. No prices here because the items are off-topic.)
Jon Spangler in Alameda, CA USA where I am excited about the regime change that's coming in less than 10 hours, and I'll be getting up in 6 hours to watch it all live with about a hundred of my closest friends and neighbors at the Alameda Free Library
On Jan 19, 2009, at 8:05 PM, <classicrendezvous-request@bikelist.org>
<classicrendezvous-request@bikelist.org> wrote:
>
> Message: 3
> Date: Mon, 19 Jan 2009 17:29:48 -0800
> From: Norris Lockley <norris.lockley@yahoo.com>
> Subject: [CR] Side Pull brakes
> To: <classicrendezvous@bikelist.org>
> Message-ID: <62315.71876.qm@web44905.mail.sp1.yahoo.com>
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1"
>
> I'm not convinced that I can add very much in the way of
> authoritative figu
> res etc etc about the various merits of sidepull versus centre-pull
> brakes,
> but I thought that I might throw in a few observations
> ?
> My first lightweight brakes were GB Hiduminium ones..very
> revolutionary way
> back in 1951, particularly as they were made out of a
> sophisticated alumin
> ium alloy and had hooded levers. Their real problem was their
> stirrup lengt
> h which gave rise to considerable chatter. The next pair I bought
> in 1954 w
> ere stamped Frejus to fit onto my Super Corsa. Of course these were
> in fact
> Universals, ..had rubber hoods and had shorter stirrups..and
> braked better
> and had less chatter. Then in 1956, along with a change of frame
> came a ch
> ange of brake..and I had been seduced by the superb finish and
> appearance o
> f the Weinmann 730 sidepull and its elegant lever. However a more
> elegant l
> ever, a beautiful one?almost art nouveau in its curvaceousness, the
> sinuo
> us ALP/CLB paired with its chunky no- nonesense shorter stirrup and
> wing-nu
> t type QR took my fancy. They had good pads - La Vipere - I think
> and laste
> d years until I?caught Anquetil and Poulidor fever and transferred
> my affection to the ubiquitous and highly successful Mafac Racer
> and its m
> ore refined derivatives.
> ?
> And so I rested content until I came across my first pair of B/O
> Mafac 2000
> s..and then I started to use the MAFAC B/O cantilevers on various
> bikes, us
> ing anything from the diminutive Jacky version to the longer tandem
> ones. I
> n more recent years, like the majority of cyclists I caught a?
> groupset in
> fection and have used various Campagnolo brakes ever since, except
> for when
> I use the B/O Mafacs.
> ?
> In selecting brakes I have never ever taken into consideration
> their weight
> , just their efficiency. When different brands of brakes offered
> different
> weights for the same stirrup lengths eg, 400 mm close clearance on
> a time-t
> rial bike, and where ultimate braking was not a crucial factor I
> occasional
> ly chose the lightest and..most aerodynamic, so that I might choose
> some of
> the very sophisticated CLB aero brakes over say, the Dia
> Compe..and Campag
> nolo Record never featured on any of my time-trial bikes. The only
> exceptio
> n to that rule was that I never chose Modolo Kronos for any
> purpose..as the
> y did not seemed designed to offer any?braking power.
> ?
> If I were to be strictly honest I would choose to use the Mafac
> standard B/
> O cantilever, or its Weinmann or Modolo derivatives, for almost any
> bike, r
> egardless of the bike's function. The brakes are efficient, easy
> set up and
> maintained..and happen to be light. In the 80s Hinault and Fignon
> both roa
> d Gitane road bikes, on accasions, and certain stages in the Tour
> de France
> .., fitted with such MAFAC brakes.
> ?
> One brake that I never tried, perhaps because it did not appear
> functional
> enough was the Campag Delta..possibly because it reminded me of it
> being a
> grown up version of the Modolo Kronos. At the Paris Show in about
> 1992, I h
> appened to meet up with Sean Kelly and Stephen Roche during a quiet
> period.
> ?With Kelly I discussed frames and with Roche, brakes, the reason
> for th
> e latter being that most of the Campag equipped bikes had Delta
> brakes and
> Roche's Carrera, that was on show, sported the Campag Cobalto side-
> pull.
> ?
> When asked why he did not use the Delta he replied that, having
> tested them
> , he found them, in certain racing conditions, to be downright
> dangerous. W
> hen asked to describe the conditions and the reasons, he said that
> when usi
> ng the slimmer rims even some such as the MAVIC SSC, which were not
> the sli
> mmest in use, the Deltas had to be adjusted close to give effective
> breakin
> g. The problem that arose was that as the two?hinged stirrups
> inside the
> smooth outer cow moved closer to the rim, so the upper end of the
> stirrup m
> oved to reveal gaps between themselves and the apex of the cowling.
> Roche m
> aintained that the gaps allowed grit to enter into the precision
> mechanism
> and to? impede and occasionally jam up the braking action. In rainy
> condi
> tions, with more grit being carried around on the treads of the
> tubulars, m
> ore grit got into the works, often rendering the Deltas virtually
> lethal in
> terms of stopping ability.
> ?
> Wasn't the Delta mechanism similar to the one used on Shimano's AX
> aero cal
> iper and the very early French JEAY brakes ?
> ?
> Norris Lockley..still relying on MAFAC technology..Settle UK=0A=0A=0A
>
>
Jon Spangler
Writer/Editor
Linda Hudson Writing
510-864-0370/FAX 864-2144
MOBILE 510-846-5356
hudsonspangler@earthlink.net