errantlinguist

Hi, about 6 months I bought a '71 Motobecane 10-speed touring bike, which I love dearly and have been riding almost every day since (for commuting)... where I live, that means through terrible amounts of snow, rain and everything in between. Given that it has steel rims, the braking has never been fantastic in wet weather, and I've been trying to get new brake shoes/pads for it for a while. As of this week, I'm a bit desperate after having to basically plant both feet onto the ground while going downhill in order to avoid being hit by a car... so I would be very grateful if someone could help me figure out what sort of brake shoes I actually need: The main problem I have in finding brakes is that

1. The bike shops where I live are few and are generally full of overpriced parts for €3,000+ bikes, and many of the people working at these shops haven't seen steel rims in their entire lifetime-- let alone stock brakes designed for steel rims (I heard Kool Stop Salmons are probably my best bet, but no one stocks them here). I was even suggested that I simply replace my rims with aluminium ones-- however, I would prefer to try less-expensive options first, especially considering the age of my bike.*
3. Due to these reasons, ordering online seems the only way to go.
4. In order to order brake shoes/pads online, I have to know what style of brakes I have (e.g. Campagnolo, Dura...), and I have no idea what fits on my bike:



The brake arm is 2cm wide x 3.5cm high and the brake shoe itself is 4cm wide x 1.5 high; The rims are 1cm thick.

I would feel a bit daft going into one of these bike shops and then trusting them to tell me what type of brake shoes would fit on my bike without actually buying them. Thanks for any help you can offer!



* There is a very cool local bike self-help shop in my neighbourhood which helps bike owners once a week to fix their own bikes. The only problem is that they don't have many parts of their own, and are open only once a week: For reasons described above, I really need these brake pads ASAP...

Bianchigirll 

Hello Errantlinguist, Welcome to the forums. Steel rims are notorius for weak stopping power. First thing is make sure the braking surface is clean and clear from wax, polisg, grease and oils. New pads may make a difference compared to the dried out older ones.

DiaCompe makes a good basic pad that lots of guys here recomend. https://www.amazon.com/Dia-Compe-Grey.../dp/B001CJZ2S8



Or the KoolStop brand pads are nice too https://www.amazon.com/Kool-Stop-Bicy...op+continental

kerispring

Wow a question I can help with! :-)

You're looking for something like a Fibrax raincheater. A pad that is a leather/rubber composite

I found a cheap old set here - https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/4-LEATHER-...d=448545786373 Might not cost too much to ship over?

errantlinguist

Thanks for the help so far...

@kerispring: Yeah, I'd heard the leather composites are also good... but although it sounds like I'm just being difficult, I don't use Ebay (stopped about 5 years ago) because in order to open an account with them/PayPal they basically want to have all your financial details as a "security" measure (ironic that, if they wanted to, with that much information, THEY could steal MY identity).

@Bianchigirll: even your link for Kool Stops has a choice of TWO sizes: "Dual-Ace/Ultegra" and "Continental"... I am simply overwhelmed by the choices and don't know what fits my bike at all.

reggieob

Second on the grey DiaCompes. I have them on many of my steel-rimmed bikes - cheap and work nice. I've tried the Continentals but found that they tended to squeal in nearly every instance, even after toeing-in and sanding them a bit.

zukahn1 

The cool stop Eagle 2s are readily avaible on Ebay for $5-10 a pair. However for these brakes I would also recomend classic Dia-Compe pads grey matter or Black they can be had online or nearly any bike shop for under $20 for a full set and they are basically the correct pads for this bike.

errantlinguist

Perhaps I should add that ordering brake parts online is EXTREMELY country-specific: E.g. it seems DiaCompe brake shoes by themselves (I did find some brake caliper assemblies) are not available where I am, nor the "normal" Kool Stops which Bianchigirll posted.

Although, luckily, I did find the (British) website for Fibrax, and it seems that they do send overseas, so I am now writing them to ask what their expected delivery times/costs are for (continental) Europe...

Bianchigirll 

You would want the Continentals. I didn't think about Country Specific website, Try SJS and Wiggle in the UK too.

https://www.sjscycles.co.uk/

https://www.sjscycles.co.uk/

zukahn1 

Will if your in Europe the Fibrax shoes are a great option I have them on one of my bikes. It is just that they are not currently avaible to those of us in the US.

errantlinguist

The people at Fibrax told me that shipping actually doesn't take too long; I ordered two pairs of Raincheaters (will definitely order more if they are good)-- praying for my life (literally) that it works out! Thanks for the recommendation!

ericzamora

Once you find a nice replacement set of brake shoes, i would seriously consider finding a used set of aluminum wheels to replace those steel wheels. I was in the same boat with a 72 motobecane for my daughter with those steel wheels with dimpled sidewalls and it was a no-brainer for me, switch out the wheels. luckily, i found an old unused set at my parent's house. there are many options to ebay.

as an example, amazon sells new inexpensive aluminum wheels from US$19 through US$47 each in 27" and 700c sizes. you would gain not only increased brake performance but also a general upgrade in cycling performance with lighter wheels. and forgive my ignorance but certainly there are yard sales or other used options in stuttgart?

eric
fresno, ca.

PS, and as FrenchFit mentioned below, these amazonian replacement rims (if available to you) are hooked, so they would allow using higher pressure in the tires.

FrenchFit 

Steal your identity? Jeez, you mean right before the meteor falls on you?

Whatever, Koolstops work great. If you have a clearence problem, try the thinlines. A little more expensive solution, the Sun M13 polished aluminum replacement rims on Amazon look vintage but will allow high pressure tires and a better braking surface. I assume they are available from your geo-specific Amazon, perhaps not.

ericzamora

by the way, i understand your hesitancy in fully registering with ebay and your financial information. but if you're going to have a vintage bike, you may want to reconsider ebay. embrace these modern times

eric
fresno, ca.

ThermionicScott 

Kool-Stops go a long way toward making steel rims suck less in the rain, but an aluminum-rimmed front wheel would make that bike a lot safer.

errantlinguist

Yeah, aluminium wheels will definitely be my next investment. But I really wonder how people actually RODE back then (before aluminium was cheap and readily available-- In the 70s-80s, people rode WAY more than now, and I don't hear horror stories from my parents' generation of people dying left and right back then from bad braking...

And as for Ebay, all room for discussion ended when I tried registering (again) 5 years ago, after I gave my bank account details and some 3 months of statements and a copy of my passport, and THEN Ebay also wanted several statements from my credit card: I'm sorry, that's far too much. It doesn't matter if there is an actual risk of them stealing my identity or not-- no entity (human or otherwise) will get that much sensitive information from me. Why does Amazon, in contrast to Ebay, only need my credit card details?-- I can sell stuff on there too.

Oh, and I've heard horror stories about their "conflict resolution" methods these days (or rather lack thereof). Sounds like a great community to be a part of. Too bad it was so nice back in the stone age of the Internet-- but I suppose their shares weren't worth as much then than now...

Scooper

I have two pair of Kool-Stop salmon Continentals I can mail to you gratis if you'll email me your mailing address. I use these on my '72 Paramount which has Weinmann centerpulls, and am certain they'll fit your sidepulls. k4drd@earthlink.net