My view of side-pull brakes is dominated by what I mostly see. "Outside-of-the-forks" mounting of front and rear side pull calipers means that we mostly see calipers 'dressed on the left and right, respectively." How untidy for some who would never similarly unbalance tire labels or skewer handles, front and rear.
For which makes and models of on-topic side-pull calipers were the castings for front and rear arms mirror-imaged my the mfg so that with the conventional mounting, the cables would enter the caliper arm on the same side of the bike. More expensive to do that, of course.
And for that matter, a refresher or pointer to left vs right side location of the cable, stop, and adjuster nut for front side pulls would be welcome, too.
Harry Travis too idle in snow Pine Barrens of NJ USA
On Wed, Jan 19, 2011 at 9:44 AM, <Stronglight49@aol.com> wrote:
> Jim Merz observed:
>
> "In the very early days of caliper brakes the arms were very flexible. It
> was
> possible to transfer the deflection of the rear caliper into the rear
> stays
> by making tabs that came very close to the stays. When the brake was used
> these tabs touched the stays, limiting the flex. In this case the brake
> needs to be mounted on the rear of the seat stays."
>
> -----------------------------------------------
>
> I always thought along those lines too. And older brake calipers certainly
> could
> seem to flex considerably (although perhaps it was not from the arms, but
> rather
> from looseness of the bushings or washers around the mounting bolts).
>
> But, has no one noticed there seems to be no perceived flex issues on a
> front
> brake. A front caliper is always mounted forward of the fork, in a
> position where
> there could never be a possibility of "bracing" even the most flexible of
> brake arms
> against the fork blades.
>
> I would think that brazed-on cantilever studs with center-pull caliper
> arms would
> be ideal for mounting a rear brake on the front side of the rear stays.
> This design
> (whether with center-pull arms or cantilevers mounted) still is sometimes
> applied to best of Mixte style frames. I always thought that made perfect
> sense
> from a functional perspective. And it can also look absolutely superb...
> on a
> Mixte frame, that is.
>
> Here is a JP Weigle example of such a mid-stay "forward" (downward)
> positioned
> brake:
>
> _http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1397/553732075_376d43b57c_o.jpg_
> (http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1397/553732075_376d43b57c_o.jpg)
>
> _http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2198/1543764291_2c165317d6_o.jpg_
> (http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2198/1543764291_2c165317d6_o.jpg)
>
> But, on the far more exposed rear stays of a conventional (Men's) bike,
> even
> the most elegant front-of-stay mounting can just look a bit...
> uh..."unfinished".
>
> I think it is all just about aesthetics and has little to do with
> function. We are
> just accustomed to looking at that rearward facing bit of shiny bicycle
> jewelry.
>
>
> BOB HANSON, ALBUQUERQUE, NEW MEXICO, USA
>
> _______________________________________________
>
--
Harry Travis