Hello all; I'm new here, I'm a road cyclist, currently riding a Motobecane Super Mirage. I'm about to upgrade a few of my components, the most crucial of which are my old centerpull brakes. I'm switching to dual pivot side pull brakes, and wanted to get some opinions.

My problem is that my current cable runs down the lower right hand side of the top tube, with braze-on cable stops, and the brakes all accept the cable from the left side of the bike. My question is, will running cable housing from the right side to the left side be bad? I'd like to get a couple more braze-ons and paint my bike, eventually, but I don't have time for that now. Other solutions include running housing along the entire length of the top tube and zip tying it in place (not so aesthetically pleasing) or getting clamp on cable stops and putting them on the left side of the bike.

Thoughts/ideas?

Thanks,

Matthew

Oops - derp. Please ignore this post.

"...zip tying it in place..." There are available some reasonably attractive clamps, just search on "bike cable clamps, clips" or similar.

If nothing works out well, you might consider looking for these Diacompe AGC 300 Aero Grand Compe brake calipers for your bike.
https://www.velobase.com/ViewComponen...=117&AbsPos=24
Notice how the top brake cable casing perch angles to one side. (to the right for the rear one). At least it might help keep the contortions of the brake cable and casing to a minimum.....

Good luck and tell us which solution you went for!

Chombi

Here's the thing - dual-pivots are great; I consider them essential on the front... but you don't need or even want one on the rear.

IMO, they're overkill because being so powerful, you have much less travel in which to modulate the brake. If you can lock the wheel up a hell of a lot easier, you have much less control over the brake.

But if it takes about the same amount of lever travel to lock up each brake, it makes for a nicer and more consistent feel.

So you simply get hold of some old-school single pivot rear caliper with the reverse arms, and bingo. Or just stick with the old centrepull (even these can be a bit too powerful for the rear IMO).

Get an extra-long recessed nut for the rear DP to make it a front, and upgrade the braking on another bike.

The AGC 300 brakes aren't practical since they're ultra short reach and won't work on an old Motobecane.

The easiest option for the OP if he has a fairly tall frame (56cm or so plus) he can cross the rear housing loop across to the other side of the seat tube and on to the brake. Or, if the frame will accept it, he can mount the rear brake to the front of the bridge which will put everything on the right side.

Thank you everyone for your ideas. FBinNY: my original idea was to just cross the frame, as the housing doesn't look like it'd be too drastic a curve, but I just saw your second proposal on sheldonbrown.com/calipers. I think I may give mounting the brakes in front of the seat stays a try, it looks like (eyeballing) there shouldn't be any conflict, and I won't need to add any hardware to my bike. Thanks again.

Matthew

The only issue is the bridge. Some are simply round and use curved washers for the brake and nut, and it's easy to flip everything. Others have symmetrical flat faces in the center and, again, no issue flipping. But many have a large face to the rear for the brake, and a smaller face in front for the nut.

Mounting the brake reversed can be tricky since there's not enough surface up front to properly stabilize the brake center bolt and keep it from rotating over time. For these you have to be a bit creative, and adapt to what you have. If there's some area to work with punch a hole in adhesive sandpaper and glue a small washer of it to the back of the bolt, so it'll bite into and hold on the limited area there.

If there's not even enough surface for that, use a strong grade of locktite, or super glue to hold a washer stable against the frame. That will allow you to move the brake and center it, but still hold to the glued washer. Hint- oil the center bolt make a sandwich of the parts, assemble loosely, then add the glue between the washer and frame and tighten the bolt to hold it until it cures. Then you can loosen the nut and center the brake. The oil on the bolt will keep it from getting glued also.

Could some sort of drop bolt work with AGC300 the calipers?
Otherwise, I believe CLB and Weinmann made some OK models with long reach that have their cable perches on the side needed by the OP. Maybe he should check those out first before bodging something together with the frame's cable routing.....at least it will look "correct" and not forced on to the frameset....
Here's a NOS CLB brakeset that will work, but you can also get them cheaper used at eBay:
https://www.ebay.com/itm/CLB-Course-A...item35c607a8d9
How about these used Weinmann 500s,....
https://www.ebay.com/itm/VINTAGE-WEIN...item257c4a28cb
Nothing really fancy, but they can work pretty well the the proper adjustment and maybe a modern pair of pads....It at least has the nice basics, like a quick release mechanism, and wheel guides. You can also find these NOS without too much effort.....

Chombi

You need "wrong sided" sidepulls like the Tektro 800A. Crossing over will work, but it will look stupid.

I think you should keep the centerpulls.

+1, I'd keep the existing brakes if they were still working. I based my earlier post suggesting that he mount forward of the bridge on the assumption that the OP had already made up his mind, or purchased brakes.

Mirror image brakes are also a solution, but it can be a question of comparative quality and cost.

So the OP has choices, keep what he has (or buy C-pull replacements) mount reversed if the bridge lends itself to that solution, or buy a mirrored brake if he finds one he likes.

Which is the best choice depends on the specifics, but keeping a good brake has the advantage of being free.