Well I don't agree with the statement in the earlier email that we are all here because of our interest in racing bikes. Some like racing bikes, some touring bikes, some like both. And as this group has aged, there has been a shift toward touring bikes.
Much of what you say is true for racing bikes, but for a touring bike, or especially a tandem, on a steep downhill, all the top classic CP brakes stopped the bike significantly better than Campy SPs, especially if the Campys had original pads. And for touring bikes, clearence for fatter tires and mudguards is an important consideration. I think touring bikes and their components are more versatile, and in many ways more sophisticated, just as was the case when the racers in the TdF were on single gear and cottered steel cranks, while the tourists already had derailleurs, alloy components, and superior brakes.
Regards,
Jerry Moos
Big Spring, Texas, USA
> From: Harry Schwartzman <harryschwartzman@yahoo.com>
\r?\n> Subject: Re: [CR] Side pull brakes
\r?\n> To: "Jan Heine" <heine94@earthlink.net>
\r?\n> Cc: "Classic Rendezvous" <classicrendezvous@bikelist.org>
\r?\n> Date: Monday, January 19, 2009, 2:57 PM
\r?\n> Jan and listers,
\r?\n>
\r?\n> Perhaps it is more accurate when you list the weights of
\r?\n> centerpull and cantilever brakes, to include the weight of
\r?\n> the mounting posts (without which they could not work)...
\r?\n> which is probably way more than 100 grams.
\r?\n>
\r?\n> While the Campy's may not be the lightest, there are
\r?\n> plenty of on-topic superlight brakes like Galli Sports at a
\r?\n> claimed 300g per pair or CLB Olympics at a claimed weight of
\r?\n> 200g per pair, or Dia Compe 400 at 222 grams (Sheldon Brown
\r?\n> certified real weight). I know, at least, that the Dia
\r?\n> Compe's work very well.
\r?\n>
\r?\n> I really think it's hard to find any advantages in a
\r?\n> centerpull design... which is why it's basically
\r?\n> extinct. For racing bikes, in particular, the sidepull is
\r?\n> clearly king.
\r?\n>
\r?\n> Here is our beloved Sheldon Brown's (I know he was a
\r?\n> devotee of centerpulls) list of component weights:
\r?\n> http://www.sheldonbrown.com/
\r?\n>
\r?\n> -Harry Schwartzman
\r?\n> Long Island City, NYC
\r?\n> Glad that the forty year reign of Centerpull brakes is
\r?\n> finally over