Not chauvinism, but SCIENCE!

Hey, that's cool. Of course, there are exceptions, and one of my daughters is one. She has really long fingers, and her grip strength is, as someone everyone knows would say, tremendous.

[MENTION=61614]verktyg[/MENTION], why did you expect your long post to offend anyone?

Tongue in cheek....

verktyg

Chas.

On my rb-have slots but no closed ends...

https://www.bikeforums.net/attachment...1&d=1477044145

Those of us posting in this thread who were working in shops in the '60s and '70s know all about the peculiarities of the brakes manufactured by Universal, Altenburger, Weinmann, DiaCompe, Balilla, etc., but for the rest, here's a PSA:

The brake pad pictured in the post by juls above is installed incorrectly. Brake pad holders with one open end should always be installed with the closed end facing the front of the bike. That goes for both the front brake and the rear brake. (You don't want the pad to eject itself from the holder during a panic stop, which is when it's most likely to happen.)

Also, I don't think anyone has mentioned that the designations 500, 610, and 720 do not refer to brake models---they tell you how long the brake arms are. More specifically, they specify the distance from the center of the brake arm pivot to the center of the brake arm slot.

While that is all true, I believe what juls is saying is that those Mathauser super brake pads were open at both ends. The ones picture on the bike were a development from the earlier 6 fin version, which was simply a strip bonded to the finned backing piece. FWIW there is still a version of these sold by Yokozuna which is like the later 4 fin Mathausers, but with at least one closed end for safety.

Loving this thread as I contemplate what to put on my International frame.

Gratuitous picture of the new Gran Compe 610 on my Mercian. These are the stock black pads that came with them. You must supply your own dust.



Just got my new pads last night. I think I'll put these on Saturday after my morning ride, in order to be able to make a better comparison to the stock pads.

I do not need long reach. I currently have a tektro dual pivot on the front, medium reach, and I have the pads as high as possible. These GC450's look great, it's probably what I would get, but they seem like the most expensive brake I've seen so far, hands down. I'm finding fron+rear pairs for ~$270

I really like those. But I can't find apair for sale anywhere except for the brand new version which is very pricey ($~270 set)

Hmmm. Can anyone tell em any more info on these?

I agree, and I did purchase a dual pivot Tektro brake for my front. The problem is that it robs me of my fender clearance. That's the main reason I'm looking into center-pulls

Interesting. 500/610/700 what? Tenths of a millimeter?!

Yeah, "500" sounds a lot better than "50", doesn't it?

Those Zeus brakes were part of their 2000 groupset, which was more or less equivalent to Super Record, only tricker. It had lots of titanium bolts long after campy had given that up, and an alloy freewheel. The brakes are similar to GC450. They are short reach (39-49) racing centerpulls.

Hm. I'm really liking the GC450's, theyre very hard to find though. So if these Zeus are similar maybe I should look into them? Also, I think the Mafac's are growing on me, Racer's or Competitions. In just about every thread on center-pulls that I can find, they seem heavily recommended. What do you guys think about them?

The Zeus 2000 brakes were oddly enough weight weenie stuff. Silly light for centerpulls. They are cool for sure but between the short reach and the slender caliper arms, they wouldn't be my first choice for touring. They were very rare in the US. GC450 were spec'd on a few bikes so they do come up. If you are patient I'm sure you can score a set. Do they have enough reach for you? Might not be so happy with fenders. The original GC610 are somewhat more common on ebay, and probably more appropriate. Nothin wrong with Mafac either, and they are easy to find.

FWIW. no affiliation of course. centerpull brakes gran comp | eBay

Conventional wisdom back in the bike boom days was that center pull brakes had greater mechanical advantage than side pulls and thus stopped better.

Large flange quick release hubs and center pull brakes were an indicator of quality on lower priced European bikes during the boom!

Until Campagnolo brought out their side pull brakes in 1969, the European pro peloton used mostly MAFAC center pull brakes with some teams running Universal Mod. 61 center pulls or Mod. 68 side pulls. Campagnolo was hard pressed to produce their new brakes and it wasn't until at least late 1970 before all the pro teams had them.

Peter Rich owner of Velo-Sport in Berkeley, CA told me he bought 100 sets of Campy brakes in 1969. He received 50 sets but didn't get the other 50 until a year later. They were all unmarked - no Campagnolo logos on the calipers.

During the early 70's, "10 speed racing bike" was the phrase that drove the bike boom fad. A large majority of those bikes were bought by or for high school and college students. Bikes were still considered kid's toys by many Americans. Very few people in this country knew anything about bicycle racing or how big a sport it was in Europe.

Derailleur, Peugeot, Motobecane, Gitane, Frejus, Legnano, Colnago and so on were strange foreign words... Campagnolo??? What was that?

After the bike boom in 1974-76 mid price range performance bikes became more popular. Those bikes started coming with side pull brakes - center pulls were only for lower priced bikes!

By the late 70's side pull brakes were far more common than center pulls.

It came down to Andre Agassi's comment in the Canon Camera ads: "Image Is Everything"!

I have ~18 bikes with center pull brakes because they are period correct - mostly MAFAC but I have Universal 61's on several of my early 70's Motobecanes.

Except for occasional screeches from the MAFACs, when I'm riding I don't even think about what brakes are on the bike, just that they stop.

verktyg

Chas.


The best stopping brakes I've ever used... These are a set of prototype Bonntrager Speed Limit Brakes I was given to evaluate. The final products had some minor improvements.

Stop and take another look at those Bontrager! Where can one get?

MAFAC Competition

[IMG]DSC_1154 by carrera247, on Flickr[/IMG]

[IMG]DSC_1156 by carrera247, on Flickr[/IMG]

Technically not center pulls. Knarly, ugly but all business. Discovered these Tektro rim crushers by chance. Went to the LBS to purchase brake pads. Spotted them brand new - in the clearance bin for $5 each....... pads included

Installed on my velo cheapo build Viner. I know what some might be thinking, all wrong and for modern TT, but man do these work. Operate like center pulls but sans cable hanger. Some engineer was studying quite well.

[IMG]NOS Tektro Quartz R-725 brakes, pads, noodles 161 gm by carrera247, on Flickr[/IMG]

[IMG]DSC_0215 by carrera247, on Flickr[/IMG]

[MENTION=350383]crank_addict[/MENTION], those pictures intrigue me. First, someone (you?) riveted chain links together to make a hanger. What's the purpose? Second, on the front brake, there is a long brace with short arms attached to it. This is brilliant, and it makes me think I might want to do that, too. Are there any more details available?

This is such a timely topic, as I'm trying to decide today between the Bontragers, Dia Compe Gran Compe 610s (the new ones that VO sells), or vintage Mafac Racers. This is for an older bike build and as a fixed gear I am only running a front brake. What do folks think?

I picked up the GC610s, installed them yesterday morning then rode around all day.

I *really* like them. They're pretty, they brake well, and they modulate well. They do require more lever strength than dual pivots, but they are super stiff so the maximum braking force isn't limited by arm flex the way cheaper vintage brakes can be.

Edit: also they provide maximum clearance for fenders because they don't protrude below the mounting point, so I'm not having my braking compromised by squeezing my fenders like I did with my Tektro R539s.

Thanks for the quick response. They really are beautiful visually as well.

This bike is primarily for street riding in flat areas so I am sure these will be fine. I just need something to help me in the event of a car door flying open, etc.