Hello,
I am overhauling an early eighties Raleigh Rapide 10-speed road bike. I recently acquired some brand new old stock Lee Chi 500A brakes. The arms appear a little too short to fit my bike but I can't tell at the moment because the bike is disassembled.
If by chance they do fit, would this be considered an upgrade to the original Raleigh brakes? Other than the Lee Chi brakes being brand new, they basically look the same with the exception of the arm length and they also have what appears to be a cam lock on the cable connection that the originals don't have. There were no instructions so I am not entirely sure how they even work. I assume it's a quick disconnect to be used when changing tires but not sure. Am I correct in my assumption? Were the Lee Chi brakes any good in their day?
There is a small black plastic washer on the end of the cable tube. I can't tell if that is supposed to be there or was just put there to keep the tube from falling out and getting lost until it was mounted. ??? It certainly doesn't seem very durable. (If you click on the photo to enlarge it, you can see it on the very bottom of the cable tube.)
Also, the Lee Chi set came with new hand brakes as well. Mine were a little beat up so am using the new ones. The new brakes didn't have the second lever that is used when your hands are on the top of the handlebar. (Like they were made in the 70s-80s .....I know bike enthusiasts frown on these but I happen to like them because I don't always like to be in the down position.) I took this lever off my old one and mounted it to the new brakes. The problem I'm having is that the new levers have a piece of aluminum around where the cable end mounts which allows it to pivot so you can gain access to where the cable end connects. It's riveted on but also has a spring to allow it to slide to the side to access the cables and it slides rather easily. When it moves to the side, it could interfere with the secondary brake lever and might cause some braking issues. I've ground out some of the under side of the secondary bracket so it doesn't catch as bad on the riveted piece but if the riveted piece moves too far, it can still hit the secondary brake lever. Has anyone ever encountered this type of problem? What solutions would you recommend? I thought I might just put a small piece of duct tape on it to keep it in place but would probably come off ever so often. It may not ever be a problem and I'm just rambling for no reason. I guess I won't know until I try it. Anyway, I thought someone might have ran across this before and have a better idea than grinding part of the lever away with a dremel tool. (sorry.. the photo of the brake levers isn't very good)
Thanks for the assistance.
Lee Chi.jpg
Lee Chi Brake Lever.jpg