Mafac brake lever help
 

I have a 1973 Motobecane Grand Touring with Mafac QR levers. I have never seen these before and I am missing one of the small red caps that fit on the release mech. Any clues where I might find one?

http://bikeforums.net/attachment.php...hmentid=485944

My only suggestion would be to watch eBay...good luck!!!!

Trolling the C&V thread is like watching major league baseball games. Pay attention and every couple days you'll see something you've never seen before.

Doesn't look original. Hard to tell from the photo, but what's the point of the rod and red cap to begin with? Why not dispose of it entirely?

I've seen pictures of those MAFAC levers before but in over 40 years, I've never actually seen them.

I've looked over all of the MAFAC catalogs and literature I have but didn't see any references to them.

You may be able to modify a plastic bead to fit and then glue it on.

Good luck finding that part.

verktyg :50:

Chas.

It is original and the red cap provides a grip point to allow you to engage the quick release. The brake lever is allowed to open further by moving the "rod" to a different position within the slot on the lever. It is similar to the gate on other levers that when swung to one side allows increased travel. The bike is all original and I am trying to keep it that way. If you go on ebay and see what original mafac parts are going for, it makes you think twice about discarding them.

If you have one, take some precise measurements, reengineer it in a 3D modelling program, and have some made by 3D printing. Such a small part will be very cheap to 3D print.

Thanks for the explanation. I've never seen that model before. Good luck.

I have a set of those brake levers on a Gitane. Odd, I have had several bikes with these MAFAC levers. I would have thought they were common. Anyway, the pair I have is missing all but one of the red thingamajigs. So you can have the one I have.

I will PM you for shipping address.

EDIT: Funny thing is I have had several bikes with the QR MAFAC levers. All of them were missing the red tabs. When I got the Gitane with the little red tab on it, my first thought was did someone stick something on the lever or was this some ancient original packing material. Then I saw in a picture on the internet that the red tabs were part of the QR setup.

I am unable to PM you due to the fact I don't have 50 posts yet.
Thanks,
Greg

Sent you an email.

A big thanks to big chainring for sending the part!!! It was the last part needed to complete the project.