I have a question about setting these up, before I transfer them to another bike. These are circa 1979 Suntour Superbe side-pull brakes. They look great, but on the old bike, they always seemed to pull themselves off center a bit and rub the rim after a bit of use.

Is this a common problem, or an issue with the way they are installed? What is the fix, or is there one? thanks

p.s. I am not vintage-savvy, so don't assume I have a starting knowledge base; I won't be offended if you dumb it down.

Not familiar with these brakes, but here's some advice anyway, haha. Given their quality, I'd be surprised if this was a common problem with them.

Easiest way I know to adjust sidepulls is an OTC wrench (over the caliper)

Funny this came up, as I am hunting for a set of Superbe brakes to complete a groupset I'm accumulating. (I've got a funky pair of Dura Ace calipers if anyone wants to trade...)

Regarding adjustment, make sure nothing is binding, and be cautious with the snugness of both the caliper and mounting bolts. Sometimes too tight is not good for freedom of movement...

There is a point of contact between the spring and a little nub on the back of the caliper arms. Oil it. They won't stay centered if the spring binds.

Anti rotation washers help when all else fails.

These were very very high quality brakes. They will stay centered if properly set up. If they are drifting to one side, there is something wrong with the adjustment and set up. They should probably be taken apart completely, cleand, lubed and reassembled at this point. It could be corrosion and/or dried out lubricants causing the problem.

Thanks for all the replies. The set I have looks very good, and probably just needs a little maintenance. I'll clean them up, lube them, and give them a try when my new frame is ready. I'm sure they will be an attractive component, and, they are 'free', since I already own them, along with a lot of other sharp, high end vintage parts on that frame.

This will be my new frame, a Bob Jackson 'Vulcan', like this but chromier;


There are some other nice vintage parts on my old frame that I could use, though I doubt many of them would fit, except the headset. (The new frame will be fitted for a threaded stem, but 130mm spacing, braze on derailleur mount)







(not my photos, but that's what's on there)

...if you use those anti-rotation lock washers, and set up the initial centering by applying pull to the caliper so it's compressing your wheel before you tighten the nut that holds the caliper onto the fork or bridge, you shouldn't go very far wrong. If it's still off by a little in terms of centering at that point when you release the brake, you can turn the caliper bold on those sideways a little bit, IIRC.

They are too high quality to suffer from the dreaded loss of spring rebound, which can only be addressed by bending.

brian, that looks like a great build. congrats. hope you update this or another thread as you complete it.

i'm not sure about using a campy nr rd with a wide rear cluster appropriate for 130mm dropouts. that might be asking too much from it. usually, these rd's work best with 5- and 6- speed freewheels (120-126mm). even getting my campy nr rd's up and over to a 28t cog on a 6-speed freewheel is a chore.

i had a set of superbe brakes on my '79 columbus trek that worked great. i didn't need a special tool to center them. but i later bought one of these park obw-4 wrenches that work well when both adjusting calipers and centering them on the frame. (about $10 on ebay.)


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also, if you put a lot of campy on the build, think about going with a campy record headset as well. it's not much more valuable than your 600 headset, and they're relatively easy to find. and 600 headsets are in demand, so it won't be difficult to sell or trade. you might even start in the iso thread atop the c&v main page.

I have Superbe brakes on Geraldine - I use the Campag 'star' washers between them and the frame/fork and have had no issues at all. I did, last year, replace the pads with the Orange pads whose name I can't remember at the moment. A worthwhile change.

Dave Moulton's Blog - Dave Moulton's Bike Blog - Centering side-pull brakes

Note that kool stop now sells brake pads specifically for those brakes.

+1 on the Kool Stops.

I had a pair of cheapo "grey matter" pads that wore out in about 1000 miles - the kool stops fit perfectly and salmon color makes them look like the originals They stop great.

My exact question about your build is the same one that eschlwc put forward, with a 130 spread on the rear drops, you are into 8, 9, 10, and 11 speed width. The NR mech is going to be uncooperative about things, it wasn't designed for that type of set up.

That is one beautiful frameset, quite a good quality builder that you chose, just wanted to express a fear about what you say that you want to accomplish.

The Superbe brakes are first class stuff, I had a pair on my Raleigh International, no problems with setting them up, or with getting them to hold the setting. I used the washer shown above, and installed them carefully, loosened the mounting nut, pulled the brakes down on the wheel, and tightened the nut to spec. No issues ever with them, or any of the Campag side pulls for that matter. Buy the tool shown, set it up carefully and enjoy. the mech choice is going to be your bigger problem, IMHO.

Bill

I just had an old Specialized Sequoia built up with Suntour Superbe brakes and I'm very impressed with the quality. Mine haven't had any problems with centering. I put Suntour brakes on the bike because they have more clearance for tires and fenders than the Tektro 539 double-pivot brakes that came with the frame. I was initially concerned that the Suntour brakes would not have adequate stopping power, but those fears proved to be unfounded. The bike stops great with excellent modulation, helped I'm sure by the use of Kool Stop salmon pads. They are also very nice looking brakes.

Actually, you don't need the tool. A cone wrench works fine (13 mm if I recall correctly).

Agreed, I have a pair of cone wrenches, just showing how CDO I am. if i have a reasonably good excuse to buy a specialty tool I am at it. Its an Engineer thing.....

Bill