Italuminium

thanks for the link again. It was mentioned earlier on, but it's still a screaming deal.

dddd

The direct-mount centerpull has real advantages over canti's, including the posts being much closer to the crown, so the posts flex a lot less.

A booster-plate for centerpulls can easily be much shorter and thus lighter and more elegant, if it was even needed.

I've messed around with centerpulls, and this pair, modified with cord pull straps to each pad and home-made booster plate was good enough for wet descents on the World Cup XC circuit.
They're still going strong along with the bike in CX guise, though by now the rear caliper's bushings have worn very loose due to the thin stay's flexing in twisting fashion while the pads remain parallel to the rim surface under hard braking. A booster plate on the rear caliper would have prevented this.
BTW, some bikes were fitted with "push" brackets that fed the pad's braking forces directly into the stays instead of into the pivots, much like the pull straps on my front brake accomplishes.

Centerpulls would also seem to have less overhang outside of the fork blades and seatstays than canti's, so less chance of hitting things or snagging the rider's leg.

dddd

Velo Routier 650B Randonneur Bicycle | Cycles Toussaint

That's an attractive consumer-direct price for this presumably Taiwan-built bike. They're sold out of stock (except for XL frame-only), and their frame geometry link is dead at the moment.

It would be interesting to try out such a bike, though I wonder how much that the "low-trail" geometry takes away from the bike's potential as an off-roading bike.
If the head angle is 71-72 degrees, at least a more heavily-raked fork might be used to replace the 2.2lb stocker, to increase the trail and stability, but for carrying heavy loads in front it should be excellent as-is.

I took a long (road training) test-ride on a customer's 21.5lb Bianchi cyclocross bike the other day, and I was surprised by how fast the bike felt with the new Michelin 34mm (actual) tires that I had installed. I had also added an 11-34t, 10s MTB cassette for versatility, adding a 9s XT derailer to work with the bike's original 10s Ultegra STI shifters.
I liken the bike's stability to some of the Schwinns that I ride, but which do not feel fast, even with 1-1/8" road tires. Stability is a very under-rated thing!

pcb 

Just checked Velo-Routier, looks like their stock is low/gone primarily on complete bikes, but frameset-only stock is good.

I'm just working my way through the low-/med-/hi-trail thing, not ready to sign off on low-trail supremacy at the moment. But one of my relatively recent revelations (say that 5 times fast!) has been how fast and smooth 30-37mm rubber can feel on the road, yet still not beat me up on trails. Tires that wide used to feel sluggish on pavement, while also being punishing on trails.

BTW, old news at this point, but I did mistakenly refer to my Ocean Air Rambler earlier in this thread as a lugged frame, even though it ain't. Tig-welded, with lug-looking headtube reinforcements. My brain wasn't really paying attention to my fingers, or vice-versa....

bikemig 

I have an '83 Trek 720 badly in need of a repaint. The cantis worked fine for touring but I would have thought that center pulls worked pretty well also. I almost bought the '82 but instead waited to get the 1983 frame with cantilevers. Sometimes I wish I hadn't though. It can be tough finding cantis that work on an old trek.

rhm

That is good to know. Thanks! So what do you think, have someone braze centerpull bosses on, or just go with the bike on ones? There is a certain elegance to the brazed on ones, but if there's no real advantage, well...

bikemig 

The posts are much closer than on a modern bike which is why most cantis won't work right on a Trek 720. Frankly, I'd get the bike repainted and get some center pull brakes. They work great and will give you plenty of clearance.

Another possibility might be a 650b conversion but the bottom bracket might be a bit too low. Still 650bs would be sweet as you'd have plenty of room for fat tires.

dddd

Having the posts closer together offers a more-horizontal pad trajectory at the rim, so reduces pad-dive implications especially as the pads wear. My 720 had Shimano MT70 canti's, which worked well with aftermarket pads. Changing to 700c rims increased leverage noticeably, but the narrow post spacing helped prevent pad-dive from becoming an issue with the smaller rims.