At 9:21 AM +0100 1/18/09, M-gineering wrote:
>Barb and Dan Artley wrote:
>>I finished reading the latest bicycle quarterly a few days ago and
>>was very impressed with the history and advances of braking
>>technology. I learned a lot. I do have to question an item that
>>Jan brought up in Chapter 4, Modern Racing Brakes, describing the
>>Campagnolo sidepull as being a step backward in brake technology.
>>'Campagnolo's brake offered adequate perfomance, but it did not
>>compare favorably to a good centerpull brake. The famous line was
>>invented that these bakes did not stop the bike, but just
>>"modulated speed".'
>>
>
>In the peloton you'll crash if you run in to something, but also
>when you're struck from behind. That the brakes needed a
>concentrated effort to get real retardation was considered a safety
>feature
In racing, you rarely have to brake much, so all you need is an adequate brake. I raced for 10 years with Campagnolo sidepull brakes, from 1989 until 1999, specializing in hilly races on small backroads, like the Tour of Willamette, which was famous for its windy descents. By the mid-1990s, most other racers had dual pivot brakes. I only had problems once or twice, when I was at the tail end of the peloton, and the slower racers braked before turns that I would have rounded without braking. I almost ran into these cautious descenders. At the front, people rarely braked, no matter which brakes they used.
So while the Campagnolo sidepull brakes were (almost) fine for racing, they still were a step backward compared to centerpulls. I say "almost" because of the famous 1973 Tour de France, where riders crashed into Luis Ocana, the Tour leader, because their brakes failed to slow them on a rainy descent. The problem was exacerbated by the then-popular rims with small dimples/pockets along the brake track. The roughness was thought to increase friction, but in fact, the pockets held water which lubricated the pad/rim interface. Daniel Rebour wrote an article about that, and shortly thereafter, the water retaining pockets fell from favor among pro racers (or more likely, their mechanics).
The line "racers can't be wrong" is misleading when it comes to components. Just look at the chapter on the 1949 Tour de France in our book "The Competition Bicycle." For a long time, Gino Bartali led the the race with his antiquated Cervino derailleur. He had no trouble keeping up with Fausto Coppi, who had an ultra-modern Simplex derailleur on his bike. Does that make the Cervino as good a shifter as the Simplex? Not at all. It just shows that shifting performance does not determine race outcomes.
However, there is an error in the "Modern Racing Brakes" chapter of the current Bicycle Quarterly. The Campagnolo Delta brake works a bit differently from what is described. It does have a proper linkage, so it works exactly like the 1974 Shimano Disc brake... My source for this was incorrect, but I have since examined one of those brakes in detail. There will be a correction in the next issue.
By the way, there still are two weeks remaining in the big prize contest - figure out how the Schulz brake at
http://www.vintagebicyclepress.com/
works, and you can win $ 60 worth of books.
Jan Heine
Editor
Bicycle Quarterly
140 Lakeside Ave #C
Seattle WA 98122
http://www.vintagebicyclepress.com