Classic & Vintage - Modernizing older bike - couple questions

Firstly - New guy here, so - Hi!

1 - I put some aero levers on my mid '80's downtube shiftered bike and left the old Weinman single pivots on there. Braking is horrible.

Are there any modern dual pivots with a long reach that attach to the frame with the long bolts as opposed to the recessed bolts?

2 - I'm thinking of adding some 7 speed STI's (Sora or RSX). (I already have a nice rear wheel built on a sweet NOS Dura-Ace freewheel hub, so no point in going to the expense of 9 speed and spreading the frame.)

My question is will I need a Shimano freewheel or will the Suntour I have on there now index properly?
Are old screw on Shimanos even spaced the same as current cassettes?

Thanks for the help?

I noticed the same problem with my '70s era DA brakes, even with a pad change the 105s were better
brakes. I was able to take the mounting bolts off the old DA and use the front brake bolt to mount
a 105 on the rear wheel. Bolt was long enough. Then I had to manufacture a bolt long enough for
the front: about 2cm longer than the original. Not straight forward but I had a lathe and was able
to take a long enough rod, turn it to size and thread it in the step thread (7mm inside the fork, 6mm
for the retaining nut. An alternative for a substantial fork is to just drill out the hole in the back side
of your older fork so the recessed nut on the back side will slide in, you can use a current era fork
to measure the hole diameter. Most older forks have more than enough metal they would never miss
a little.
Regarding the freewheel, if the #of cogs is same, spacing should not be a problem that early in the STI
era. Steve

Shimano does make "long reach" DP brakes. Check out Harris Cyclery sheldonbrown.com for a description and prices. I agree, in general, that older sidepulls can be none too great. My retro Basso rides full Super Record except the rakes which are modern Records. However, I feel that the DiaCompe "Royal Gran Compes" of mid1980s vintage are really good brakes.

:beer:

Firstly - New guy here, so - Hi!

1 - I put some aero levers on my mid '80's downtube shiftered bike and left the old Weinman single pivots on there. Braking is horrible.

Are there any modern dual pivots with a long reach that attach to the frame with the long bolts as opposed to the recessed bolts?

2 - I'm thinking of adding some 7 speed STI's (Sora or RSX). (I already have a nice rear wheel built on a sweet NOS Dura-Ace freewheel hub, so no point in going to the expense of 9 speed and spreading the frame.)

My question is will I need a Shimano freewheel or will the Suntour I have on there now index properly?
Are old screw on Shimanos even spaced the same as current cassettes?

Thanks for the help?If you can't or don't want to drill the crown and bridge for recessed mount brakes,Tektro offers Various reaches in nutted mounting.

The old Weinmann sidepulls are indeed below today's standards, but new cables, housings, and pads (KoolStop salmon) can help quite a bit. Another way to pick up more leverage is to buy an offset "drop bolt" (expensive!), which allows you to use shorter-reach brakes.