Help needed with vintage brakes too hard to pull
 

Hey there! Long time since I last posted in this forum. Music had me busy but I missed taking care of my bike(s).
I recently decided to keep this bike and would like to tackle something that's become a concern: these Galli Criterium brakes are too hard to pull. I'm not sure if its the calipers or the levers. Cables are brand new. They work just fine (braking is good), but they are hard and make my hands feel too small. How would you go about fixing this?
Here are some pictures of the calipers. There wasn't much to see on the levers, so I have no pics of that. I can post some more if needed.
https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...11ba84bce2.jpg
https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...2be4f20d10.jpg

Have you hand squeezed the calipers to see if the pivots are in good shape? I'd take the caliper apart, clean and then grease the bolt/bushing interface. Oil any possible rubs between arms. Make sure the only resistance in the caliper itself is the spring.

It is entirely possible the the spring is too strong, the calipers poorly designed or the levers have too little power or fit your hands poorly or any combination thereof. Many of the sidepulls of that era were far less than ideal. (Paving the way for the dual pivots.) I liked the Grand Comps I raced in the '70s but the Campy NRs of the same era I commuted on for two years (modern levers and Koolstps) were scary. Downhill rain stops took all my hand strength and were a gradual process.

Slick cabling and smooth pivots are definitely the first things to check, but what about the old pads, which might not be responding to the clamping force effectively?

I always seem to get an almost disproportionate improvement in calipers like this by relaxing the return spring.
After removing the caliper with cable still attached, I grab one end of the return spring with good-sized pliers and twist inward toward the center, one side at a time, trying for a few mm of relaxation at each end of the spring. I gauge my progress visually, with the caliper fully open against the cable tension and with one end of the spring resting against it's stop peg, with perhaps ~~10mm of pre-load then being reduced a bit by bending each side successively.
Hopefully doing each side equally but not to excess, resulting in much easier pull and with the top of the spring still appearing level on the installed caliper.
Too loose of a pre-load on the spring may allow the brake levers to clap when riding on rough surfaces, but there is some room to work with before that becomes an issue.

I sometimes have a similar feeling with my old Campagnolo Super Record levers and smaller hands braking from the hoods. I THINK many levers were designed to be actuated from the drops where you get the best leverage (?). I don't always ride on the drops.
Maybe altering position of levers on the bars or looking into "Junior" levers would help?

Yeah, the calipers seem to be in good shape, although there's some slight rust on the spring. Seems like the spring is too damn strong as you mentioned. Way bigger than in my newer calipers. I'll take the calipers apart and clean/grease/oil them. Right now they're squeaking like crazy.


​​​​​​​I don't think the pads are in question here. Relaxing the spring by deforming it so that the natural position of the extremities is closer to the rim is a great idea!

You're absolutely right, I can't brake if I don't have my hands on the dropbars. I do ride on the dropbars most of the time, so this isn't that much of an issue, but I still struggle braking because the brakes are really hard. I'll try to implement the solutions people posted above and see how that goes.

What levers are you using? The Galli Criterium levers are supposed to be longer than the campy levers.

Galli Criterum too, as far as I know. Them being a little hard to reach doesn't help either. You can see that in the second picture below.

https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...4cd5b77802.jpg

https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...24f9d93034.jpg

I only asked since I had not seen the lever. I had a bike where the lever did not work with the caliper.
Your levers and calipers appear to match. You said the cables were new, so hopefully they are fine.
If you disconnect the cable at the caliper to lube the caliper pivot you should also be able to check the cable while moving the lever to see if it is binding somehow.
Good luck

Not sure, but from what I see on the pics, the calipers seem to be very similar to the Mafac LS sidepulls. Like the other Galli components on the bike, these brakes might just be re-branded French items.
Per my extensive experience with the LS sidepulls on my French bikes, they should provide nice, progressive, feeling braking. Plus, the levers by Mafac for their LS was designed with a good shape and long enough levers for enough braking power in most conditions.
Did you check whether the brake cable casings have low friction, internal liners? Maybe the pivot bolts are adjusted too tight. There might be really thin shimming washers at the pivot bolt you can also remove to loosen up the caliper pivot joint just a little bit.

I found this listing for the same levers on ebay, which describes an “internal resin construction for reduced weight.” Is it possible a plastic bushing or something else has worn out and is creating friction inside the lever?

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/352170548389

Braking on my Bianchi was downright scary when I tried Shimano pads with first-generation Campag. calipers and the OEM Modolo levers, which were too big for my full-strength reach from the drops.

KoolStop pads and Shimano aero levers helped immensely. Aero levers, if you don't mind the look on your vintage machine, provide about another 15 percent braking force / leverage.

Ar​​​​e those the correct hoods for that lever? Looks weird. You need to do simple things like check for any drag in the cable. The first thing to do is free the caliper's cable anchor and test the lever by holding the end of the cable with your other hand. Remove the calipers and overhaul them if needed. Do all the simple things. Is that the right bar for your riding position? Are the levers in the best place on the bar to ride on the hoods? Maybe it's time to redo everything, including retaping the bars. Fizik makes a great synthetic leather.

Also check to see if the bottom of the hoods are binding the lever. Happens, can be bad.
If so, a little time with an X-Acto blade will provide free movement.

Woah, lots of great suggestions here, guys. Thanks everyone for your help! Time to redo everything.

These are unbranded hoods from the Bay. Obviously not perfect, but they fit well. I'll try to lower them so that the reach is smaller when I'm on the drops. I'll redo everything and pay extra attention to friction along the way. The tape is still good though, no point in changing it if I can reuse it. ;)

Yeah, maybe there's a little bit of that. Thanks!

From the photo it doesn't seem to look like the cable is routed correctly. The cable seems to be at an angle coming into the pinch bolt.
​​​​​​If pad distance is close try a longer distance.
I judge the most brake power I can use or will need and then set the brakes where the lever almost touches the bar with my fingers wrapped comfortably and firmly around the lever at that power. Takes a couple of adjustments to get it right. I ride the drops all the time.
I can ride with the lever pulled ready to brake but no pad contact if I need.
Aero levers do not give you more power.
It's a combo of lever and caliper. And sometimes they don't work well for what is needed.

The rear brake cable housing should pass around the left side of the stem and headset. The way you have it now will create extra cable drag.

You're absolutely right! I will redo this as well. Thanks!

One additional thought... When we cut the cable housings to length, sometimes a bit of the coiled housing ends up bent inward where it rubs the cable and creates drag and a gritty feel. I like to finish the ends of the housing with a touch against a 1" belt sander or Dremel and use an ice pick to open up the end just to be sure.

Nice looking bike, by the way!

Great looking bike, I love the chrome fork.

Had a guy down the street bring me his new Road Bike to check out the brakes. They were Tektro Side Pulls and in perfect order. Pads were good, levers were good, and taking it out for a test ride they were in fact Great! It was a simple problem. All the bicycles this young guy had ridden had Disk Brakes... Ha

Isolate the lever/ cable system from the caliper.
remove the cable completely from the caliper and evaluate the cable movement / friction without the caliper, just your hand pulling on the raw cable. If not free moving and if it is not easy to pull the cable and close the lever with your hand, that will need to be attended to.
aero cable routing at the levers can have binding issues, check the first cable housing end at the lever and immediate cable guidance.

remove the calipers and disengage the springs
evaluate the caliper mechanism- should be smooth, no play, near free. If not as suggested rebuild the calipers - adjust and tighten before rehooking the springs, a bit of grease at the spring to caliper interface.

my hunch- too much friction throughout the system.

detensioning the springs can be done, if so then I would also look for some aero levers with return springs in the lever- Shimano made "light action" levers that helped push the cable back through.

My Galli brakes have the same problem. New cable didn't help. I became convinced it was the springs that were simply too powerful. I had the idea to grind down the springs, after making sure the calipers themselves are not binding, but I will try the idea that dddd posted, while they are apart. At some point. :)

I wasn't expecting to learn so much from a single thread. Thanks everyone! I should hang around here more often.

Truth is: I don't know much about bikes; I just like riding them! :lol:

I will take this bike apart and try every method previously mentioned, making sure there's no friction build-up. Maybe I'll put a longer stem too and lower the levers a little bit so that they're closer to my hands. To be continued...

I have done this successfully.

As an aside I have mentioned before some time ago that I have also done the same thing (relaxing the spring) on a NR rear derailleur’s return spring. Doing so makes the feel of the downtube shifter much lighter and easier to feel the shifting. I have had several where the amount of pressure needed to prevent a ghost down shift meant a harsh sticky shift lever. It can be over done of course but I never had any issues.

This is just me, maybe not you... If it were me, I would raise them on the bar, so I could ride on the hoods, brake from there, and still reach the lever in an emergency when in the drops. I very seldom brake when I'm in the drops. First, I'd make sure that that bar is the right bar for me and not something that makes it even more difficult for me to apply the brakes, like crit bars ... which really suck for me, maybe not you.