old centerpull brake questions
 

Hey guys and gals!

I'm building up a mixte for my girlfriend's birthday in August and today I was installing some old dia-compe long reach centerpull brakes (complete with nice new V brake pads!) onto both the front and the rear of the bike. The front was easy but the rear presented some problems. I need a really long Cabble Straddle to reach around the seat tube. I was brainstorming about this tonight and I was wondering if I could use an older cantilever brake straddle or if I could find an extra long centerpull brake straddle for sale on the internet. Any body have a clue?

She's really cute and I might like to marry her one day, if you can help you're invited to the wedding. There will probably be Jeni's Ice Cream!

-Aaron

Sounds like you need a cable hangar, that let's you a length of regular brake cable as the straddle cable. Maybe something on this page will work?

I think the 250mm are the ones you want http://www.biketoolsetc.com/index.cg...dle/Link-Wires

Perfect! We have a winner!

No a hanger won't help.

On a Mixte frame, the rear brake is attached to the central stays. This avoids the cable routing issues that a seat stay mount causes. But there's never enough room for the cable so SOP if for the yoke to be looped around the seat tube as the OP described. The hanger is integrated in a bridge typically about halfway up the central stays.

What I was mostly curious about was if I abosolutely had to use a double ended straddle, or if I could make something work out of a cantilever cable straddle. I didn't really even know the vocabulary for that particular part.

There are (or used to be) small heads that could be attached to cables using an internal set screw. Using one of these and a standard mtn brake cable you can make your own yoke of any length. Other than finding the part, the only issue will be the diameter of the part, since it has to fit the arm. As long as the diameter is right the length isn't critical since it can stick out beyond the arm.

If you can't find the roll your own part, you'll have to hunt around for the right yoke cable. They should exist someplace because they still build mixes with similarly arranged brakes.

Cable knarps?

http://sheldonbrown.com/harris/images/knarps.jpg

Will those work with dia compe centerpulls?

If not those exact ones , there are others.. some stocked through QBP.. same Idea

a set screw end to do what double fixed ends used to do..

Use of a hanger lets you make the straddle as long as you want, to run it past the seat tube. It's common practice on BMX freestyle bikes with U brakes mounted under the seat stays. (or, less commonly, on top of the chain stays)

Update:

I was able to get back into the shop this week to work on the ride and I figured out a work around. This will also probably work for all center pulls and not just those on mixte that need the long cable. I didn't have a long straddle but what I came up with was the following:

I used a cantilever straddle

http://www.bikesonline.com/product_i...75281_zoom.jpg

One end of the straddle fits snug into the hole on top of the center pull brake. The other end I fed through cable anchor bolt that went through the other hole on the centerpull brake. I fastened the bottom of the bolt with a nut. It's not glorious but it seems quite secure and it works! This seems like an option for people fixing up vintage road bike who would like the nice stopping power and price point of center pull brakes, but can't find a dia-compe style center pull brake straddle cable lying around.