briantrek1984

Thanks in advance all! I have a 1984 Trek 560 bike with 'racing geometry' i.e. very short wheel base and small clearances everywhere. The original brakes were a decent set of single-pivot Dia-Compes (damaged) that were perfect for the bike with a 37mm-43mm reach (but appears to be fixed at 39mm?). I bought a new set of Tektro brakes with dual-pivots to make centering easier. These however are reach adjustable from 39-49mm. In addition to looking clunky the rear brake pads will not go high enough in the adjustable reach slot to hit the back rim. So it looks like I may need to grind out the rear slots to enable a shorter reach. Do I have other options? I may have to buy a new set of brakes (which is not all bad as the Tektro pads do not even sit parallel to the front rim). Again thanks for any ideas.

icepick_trotsky 

Why not keep the single pivot Dia-Compe in the rear? Front braking power is way more important anyhow.

3speedslow

Welcome to the Forum ! Would love to see the Trek you have, Pls post pics.

Brakes... I tend to try first to acquire the original ones before moving on to others. Since they were DC, have you visited Velobase to see which other DC brakes had short reach ? DC made a lot of brakes.

Good starting point.

briantrek1984

The rear Dia-Compe rear is the one that is damaged (the center bolt's threads were stripped when I bought it last month). I was eager to move on to dual-pivots as I have tried and tried to center single-pivots and never can get it right. A better mechanic may be able to and I may be able to buy a pair of the original Dia-Compes on ebay.

John E

You may also be able to get a replacement pivot bolt, perhaps from a donor caliper.

I remain a fan of much-maligned old school center- and side-pull calipers, provided they are given KoolStop pads and modern low-compression cable housings. Aero brake handles are worth considering, as well, since these increase leverage and braking force by about 10%.

SJX426 

check out the action of the new calipers with the existing levers. I just installed some dual pivots with old Suntour levers and the levers don't really return well. They need SLR type of levers (springs in the levers for return).

I too tend to keep with near original.

JohnDThompson 

No, they are adjustable. The mounting stud sits on an eccentric cam that gives vertical adjustment. And BTW, I've found that while the original AGC pads are pretty much unobtainable, Modolo also used a threaded socket (as opposed to the more common threaded stud) on their pads, and the Modolo shoes allow pad replacement:

JohnDThompson 

Yes, the pivot bolt doesn't appear to be unusual. It's quite possible that a bolt from any Dia-Compe or Gran Compe (or even Weinmann) single-pivot caliper could work.

briantrek1984

Thanks for all the tips guys.. .I think I will switch back to those beautiful original Dia-Compes, clean them, replace the cables (probably some gunk in them), and find some donor parts on Ebay. I want to keep my '84 Trek 560 as original as possible... I look forward to sharing our mutual love of all our vintage bikes... Brian

Chombi

Universal AER brakes have similar eccentric pad adjusters. I always wondered if one company copied the other's design. I was gonna suggest checking out AER holders/brake pads, but I don't think I ever saw any for sale anywhere, separate from the AER calipers.....

briantrek1984

Glad to have my bike finally restored, kept the Dia-Compes, went from a 13-24 Helicomatic to a 13-21, I did use Speedplay pedals (old school cleats are hard to find)... hope all enjoy this 31 year old solid bike.. love the handle bars and the very, very short wheelbase, very responsive.

3speedslow

Hey there briantrek1984,

Great looking Trek ! Black and pink really go together. Those are some wonderful riding frames. Love my 400 and it's only DB tru temper.

Greensboro, my old stomping ground. 13-21 will make you work on them hills there.

Do you ever get around to CDO? Miss my old shop.

Chombi1 

FYI, Weinmann 400 Carreras and Deltas also came with prake pad holders with threaded sockets instead of the usual threaded studs, and so did Mafac/Spidel LS2's. These brake pads/holders are not that common either, but they do come up for sle at eBay once in a while.....
Universal AER brakesets use a very similar eccentric adjuster on their calipers. Some rumor that Diacompe and Universal actually collaborated on the design in the 80's. It's a possibility that the pad/pad holders are interchangeable between the two, although they do look very different, I think they use the same threaded socket mount on their holders.

The Golden Boy 

Those brakes look really cool and really nice.

It's a great bike all together.

Is that a Miyata fork?

John E

You're a better man than I am, Gunga Din! With a 42T inner chainring I want a 26T low in back; with 38 in front, I want 23 or 24 in back.

briantrek1984

I'm not sure about the fork... I'll have to look over it more... it's CrMo with a great chrome job which I haven't seen on any other '84 560s... I believe it may have been early in the production year as the brake cables loop up instead of being under the tape.

briantrek1984

Thanks... I just drag the bike paths here which are very level (had a nasty collision with a car that keeps me off the roads)... Yes I was just in CDO a month ago to get some Park tools (hex wrenches and cone wrenches) Dale Brown (owner) still comes in and remains a fixture in the local bike scene... I bought my first frame to build up from Dale at CDO in 1982... It was a red 1980 Romic (CrMo) previously owned local accomplished younger racer in town traded up for something like a Colnago, Pinarello, Ciocc or something... Dale has a masterpiece 1983 Bianchi Specialissima that can be drooled over at BIANCHI main

3speedslow

Cool! Miss the G at times. Loved dodging traffic downtown in the canyons and also riding the quiet country roads. Have they punched under the hwy and continued the trail on towards Summerfield?

Dales always been around. Good guy and deep in the C&V scene. My boss at one time. Miss, miss it!

Can't wait til June for the CR weekend!

briantrek1984

As far as I know the path running parallel to Battleground runs just up to Pisgah Church Rd. near Country Park (oh the Carolina Cup memories there!). The path does now go under Cone Blvd. with a really nice tunnel. The old abandoned railway line will probably get more cement put down in coming years as there is tremendous widening going on of 220 N. Yeah I first went in Dale's shop when it was on Spring Garden back in about May 1980... I was in high school and it was really just an Italian bike 'lust' run $900 for a nice Ciocc seemed like a lot of money then! I was riding an old Gazelle bike at the time. I'll be trying to make it to CR weekend in June... thanks for the reminder, it will be my first.

JohnDThompson 

In the interest of Science, I had to find out. It turns out that the threaded studs on the AGC and AER pad holders are the same thread, but the AGC studs are a bit longer. The AER holder mounts fine on the AGC caliper, but the opposite does not work; the longer stud prevents the AGC holder from seating securely against the AER caliper arm. I suppose one could use washers between the holder and caliper to fill the space and make it work if you wanted. And FYI, the AER holders do have replaceable pads.

plonz 

I have a pair of these in silver if you're looking for replacements. Pretty sure they have the original style pad still on them as well. I'd have to dig them out to check.