hi,

i just bought a motobecane mixte frame to build up for my girlfriend. originally the rear brake on the bike would have been a centre-pull calliper brake and it would have been mounted just below the sloping top tubes against the seat tube. i would rather use a modern side pull calliper brake and mount it between the seat stays like on a traditional road bike frame.

there is a mounting whole on the piece between the seat stays but i am not sure if it is adequate for mounting a brake. i wonder if it is just there to mount a rear rack, reflector, etc.

do you think it will be ok to mount a side pull brake in this way or should i stick to the centre-pull. if the mounting whole is there should i assume it is strong enough for a brake.



let me know.



thanks,






chris

I'm sure it will be fine. The production mixtes often used the seat stay bridge for brakes, and just had a pulley to route the cable. You might find that the cable routing is problematic, if there is a way to go in a straight line, I would do that.

Pictures would help us provide an answer with less confusion.

I recently restored an older Peugeot mixte bike as a casual ride loaner and because I had all the stuff to put it together. I wanted to switch to sidepull calipers but in my case there was nothing I felt was worthy of withstanding the sort of load that a brake will generate. The only spot was a flat bit of bridging used to mount the fender. And that was far too flexible for my tastes to be used as a brake caliper mount. The caliper on my frame was sized such that I COULD have switched it over but I would have had to buy a longer reach sidepull. And since this was a full on parts bin "buy nothing" project I stuck with the center pull on the rear. With a switch to some decent brake pads performance is more than adequite for a cruiser/comfort bike such as these are.

+1 I would be careful as well. Fitting different rear brake calipers on mixtes can be problematical. Cable routing can be a headache. I have side pulls on my wife's Centurion, but if you look closely, you will see that the cable enters at the BOTTOM of the caliper, whereas normal calipers enter at the top. This particular caliper came with the bike.

+1 on the above posters. I've built up/refurbished several mixte frames. The upside-down sidepull cable routing isn't all that great, and besides that, if you're just talking budget brakes for a casual rider, the original centerpulls will behave better than sidepulls of comparable quality. If you do the normal centerpull routing along the twin center tubes, the cable routing is more elegant, straighter and shorter, and less susceptible to getting messed up from casual brushes with random stuff, etc. Better pads and new cables and housing will make the brakes perform wonderfully.

Here are some pictures. The first two are of the location I am hoping to mount the side pull brake. The last image is of the original mounting location for the centre-pull brake.

So even though the support between the seat stays might be strong enough to mount a brake it might not be a great idea. Hmmmm.... I would really prefer to mount a side pull brake. It doesn't have to do with trying to build on a budget or anything. I would just like to have matching brakes front and back and would prefer to use side pull. I think it will just look cleaner to have the brake mounted between the seat stays.

If I use side pull is my only option to put the cable in through the bottom?



Thanks for all the insight.

Also is it possible to mount a side pull brake in the original location of the centre-pull brake? I have been looking at images on google and it seems like some people have gone this route?


Thanks again.





chris

i put Tektro long reaches on my Le Tour III mixte that i put 700 wheels on. ran the brake housing along double tube to
the caliper mounted on the double tube bridge, bypassing the cable stop. you have to leave enough slack near the
caliper so it can move.

You've got a tube bridge where on my Peugeot it only has a flat plate bridge. So there's no reason at all why you can't use a brake in that position. All you'll need is the usual saddle washers used to spread the forces into the tube without crushing it. This assumes that it's in the correct position to allow the pads to align with the rim of course. GIve it a whirl for a fit if you haven't done so already.

If you do choose the sidepull, brake from the bottom option be sure to lubricate the cable as you insert it into the housing and put a plug of waterproof grease into the cable adjuster before inserting the housing. that will prevent water entry and water vapor from rusting the cable. The other option would be a stainless steel cable and a very light lube.

I did it like this. The clamp is a modified braze on FD adapter. I use stainless cables and I never lube them.

I'd buy a pair of Mafac centerpull brakes, put in koolstop mountain pads, and call it done.

Just a thought but again if the sidepull will work at the proper lower location the fitting is obviously designed to handle the load and the cable routing would be far nicer at that location as long as the side arms do not rub the rider's legs due to sticking out a bit. Score a point for the center pull caliper on that count.... and probably a very nice reason for keeping the center pull option on the rear just for that reason. Especially if it cleans up well.

There're nothing at all wrong with the idea of a mixed set of brake calipers you know. There's some neatly done sidepull installations shown here but IMHO none of them are as neatly integrated as the original center pull option. In my case I went with the side pull for the front to simplify the front end and be able to adjust the stem height easily between various riders. For that use the side pull and a slightly overlength housing makes sense over the center pull with the need for a fixed location cable stop.

BCRider I agree with you. None of the options for running a non-centre pull brake on the rear seem great.

I think I will run mixed brakes. Side pull will clean things up in the front and I agree with you about adjusting stem height and so on. I have always found centre pull a pain on the front.

Thanks for the all the suggestions everyone. I appreciate it.





chris