JOHN J

good morning everyone.


thanks for all the help so far.

my old road bike is comming to life nicely as a commuter and day tripper.

I found a set of barcons IN Wood Stock NY and they work great ( I can see why people love them), I was also able to install 35c tires and even a set of fenders though they had to be cut and modified .

everything is fine except!, im afraid my early 90s shimano 105 single pivot brakes are way to WIMPY for the new application!!!,

actually Ive always hated these brakes as they never were very good for me !! im a big guy and on a big hill , or when a littel wet they left much to be desired even back when I rode it bare, let alone slightly loaded.

so with this in mind Im looking at dual pivots (long reach models)

should I

1) replace front and back (most likley shimano) are the tektro dual pivot that sell for 40.00 a pair ok??



If I ride enough this next year or so Im thinking of building a sturdier machine on a surly LHT , cross Check or an MTB frame so dumping a ton of $$ may not be practical.




2) change just the front to dual pivot as it does the lions share of the braking and perhaps use KOOL stop pads on the rear and leave the rear with the 105 single pivot ?

many thanks

any wisdom will be very welcome.

have a great day "John"

sch

I had the same reaction when I resurrected a '70s era road bike, old brakes (DuraAce) even with new pads weren't near as good as the newer dual pivots.
One problem is that newer brakes are made for frames with larger/longer mounting
members: the front fork / brake is designed to be mounted with a recessed elongated nut that won't fit into the hole in older bikes, and the mounting screw is too short to go all the way through the fork. I solved this by using the new brake intended for the fork on the rear where its screw was long enough to fit with the old external half round washer and nut. I had to make a new screw for the front fork ( I fiddle with
machining ) that allowed the new (rear) brake to be mounted on the front fork. You
might want to eyeball the old and new brakes side by side with the mounts and see
if this problem exists. If it does and making a new screw is out of the question then
you will have to stick with koolstops for now. Consider a frame with disk brake mounts for your next commuter: they are immune to wet rims and much stronger
than rim brakes. Steve

JOHN J

thanks for the reply.

looks like Im going to leave things alone, Ive had two very knowlageable Cycleing techies tell me that My early 90s 105 side pulls were one of the better side pulls made ("excellent" side pull was the statement) and that I should just use a better pad like kool stop and I should be fine.


so thats what im going to do for now (less work and $$)

as far as building another bike double disc brakes would come to mind or at least drum in the rear and canti up front.

have a great day "John"

sestivers

I have some similar questions: I bought a 2004 Cannondale R800 which has the Cannondale Omega brakes. I read that they are not very good, and I felt the same way after trying them. So I switched them with the Shimano RX100 dual-pivot brakes from my 1994 Cannondale R500, which look nicer, and I thought worked great on my old bike. But I didn't notice a significant improvement after using the Shimano brakes. Also after using the rear brake, there is often about 3 mm of slack left in the cable. I'm wondering if one of the following are the case:

1. The brakes were built for a non-STI system, and maybe the way the newer STI levers pull the cable is not the way the old brakes were designed for

2. The return spring may not be strong enough to pull the cable slack out. Is that adjustable?

3. Maybe I wasn't careful and put a kink in the cable, causing the cable to catch and cause slack

I tried re-running the cable and re-lubing the cable and brake bushings. It seems like the problem with the slack is fixed but I haven't tried riding it yet. Should I get new brakes or am I right in thinking that this design has not significantly changed in the past 10 years?

Steve