Hello all,
Do center and side pull brakes have the same cable pull ratio? I ask because of my 1982 Fuji.
It has the original Dia Compe quick release sidepull caliper in the front, and a non-original Chang Star center pull caliper at the rear. The front brake is controlled by the original Dia Compe lever, the rear by a Modolo lever.
Are the levers mismatched because they have to be? Would the Chang Star caliper have worked with the Dia Compe lever that was meant for a sidepull caliper?
From a looks standpoint, I don't like mismatched levers. From a braking performance, ease of maintenance, and desire to not have a brake bridge attached to my seatpost bolt standpoint, I prefer the sidepull quick release caliper. I want to make sure I understand what is compatible with what so I can get this sorted out.
Here's my thread: https://www.bikeforums.net/classic-vi...niversary.html

Just change the levers and the calipers to Tektro and all will be fine.

My understanding is that virtually all brakes except (non-mini)V-brakes use short-pull levers. It should not be too difficult to swap over the cables for a quick test to confirm.

Sidepull and Canti/center pull should both be utilizing short pull brake levers. I would just get a brand new set of short pull levers and then you are good. They are pretty cheap. If they are mistmatched at all you will just have weak or extremely strong braking. You will still have braking power either way, just test it somewhere safe before you go on a ride so you know what to expect. I have some bikes with those old dia compe side pulls and they feel about as weak (due to the technology of the brake, lever, and braking surface) as using a long pull lever on a short pull caliper but it still stops.

As above. Short pull for both.

relative cable pull shorter to longer of road brake levers .. Aero > pre aero, cable out the top > and then V compatible ..
mechanical advantage is the inverse of cable pull length .

Thanks for the replies. In that case I wonder why the levers are mismatched.
LifeCycles, I've put 125 miles on the bike as it is. The brakes work ok.

How badly do you want to know? The real test would be to disconnect both brakes, switch them to the opposite lever and see what happens. Or you could disconnect the cables from the calipers and measure the cable pull some way. Either would give you a "for sure" answer that I can't provide. Honestly, if it were my bike, I'd either ride it the way that it is or swap on whatever brakes and/or levers that met my budget and see what happens.

I do know this for sure: In the past, due to economic necessity, I've built up and ridden some pretty marginal bikes from whatever I had on hand. One trick I remember doing was to clip off the quick release thingie from a Weinmann drop handlebar lever so the lever would open farther and increase the cable pull. What I don't remember is what kind of brake I was using. It might have been an Atom hub brake. The bottom line is that at least a few bicycle brakes have differing cable pull requirements but I can't say what all of them might be.

As long as we're on the topic, I might as well stir up the pot a little. I've also tried using V-brake levers with regular calipers. They met my standards. YMMV.