I purchased a 1978-ish Nishiki Mixte for a family member. It has Dia-Compe centerpull brakes and 27" wheels. The stock brakes provide more than 60mm of reach, according to my measurement. I'd like to replace the Dia-Compe brakes with the nutted version of the Tektro R559 long reach caliper. Both the original and replacement brakes are nutted. I'll probably convert the bike to 700c wheels. The R559 will allow either wheel size, according to my measurement.

Is installing the brake as simple as using all new cables and housings?

Yes, you'll also have to adjust the toe-in on the pads, those calipers have cupped washer on the pads to make it easy.

I think the Tektro R559 are just long reach caliper road brakes and use road brake pads. I didn't think there was any toe adjustment like V-brake pads. Would like more info.

John

Thing is the rear centerpull on a mixte works so well .. as they are, (due to straight cable pull & MA) re-cable and New Pads.

the braking on the front is most effective.. so put a long reach double pivot tektro on there..

The front cable stop can usually be removed with the headset, but you may need some different spacers.
The rear cable stop is often from the seatpost clamp, and can be easily removed.

Otherwise, the change should be easy, as lont as all the cable pulls match.

Tektro 800A brakes are another option. They're dual-pivot brakes like the R559's, but they have a slightly longer reach (61-78 mm), lack a quick release, and the stock brake pads don't come in carriers. Because of these differences, they can be found a lot cheaper than the R559's. Modern Bike sells the 800A's for $22.99 per pair, while the R559's sell for $55.99.

I bought a set of 800A's for my daughter's road bike, but I wound up using R559's instead because the cable attachment is on the opposite side and the cable routing worked a little better for the R559's. (Cable routing can be a little trickier on a kid's bike. Smaller bikes can mean sharper cable bends.) So I've got a never-used pair of 800A's if you're interested.

What's wrong with centerpulls? All you need is another 4mm of reach. If the brakes you have are not long enough, you can get some Dia-Comp 750's.

Hi Skydog,

The Tektro 800A look promising. Basic question, how does a user remove a wheel with an inflated tire without the quick release?

Quick release at the lever instead of the caliper. Tektro & Campagnolo levers often have a little slide button that lets the lever open further than normal, allowing the caliper to open a bit more.

TEKTRO BRAKE SYSTEMS

The R559's I just installed on my fiancee's mixte have the cupped washers on the pads, so setting the toe-in was a snap.

On my bikes, I tend to set up my brakes so that the barrel adjuster is turned as far out as it can while using all the threads in order to complete the adjustment. Screwing the barrel adjuster back in allows me to open up the calipers further for wheel removal.

Thanks! That is what I was looking for.

John

That is just so wrong...

Mind elaborating?

To be clear, this is done in concert with using the quick-release, so that I don't have to deflate tires to get them in and out.

Sounds ok to me. Especially if the initial set up is easily repeatable.

Ah, you didn't say this was the only way to get enough clearance in your original post; that made it sound like you did it instead of using the QR...

Yeah, my wording in the other post wasn't the clearest.

On mixte bikes the rear cable stop is usually in the middle of the diagonal stays. Some mixtes have cable guides on the stays for sidepulls, but most don't.

There seems to be an assumption that double pivot sidepulls are better than centerpulls, but are they? They are better than single pivot sidepulls, but most of those were not better than centerpulls. Centerpulls with good pads should stop just as well as the double pivot Tektros.