What’s this called? Any substitutes?
#1
Senior Member
Thread Starter
What’s this called? Any substitutes?
Think this may have been covered in a different thread but I can’t find it.
What is this washer from a brake called? When can I find some? Is there any non bike washer that will do the same job?
Thanks
What is this washer from a brake called? When can I find some? Is there any non bike washer that will do the same job?
Thanks
![](https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikeforums.net-vbulletin/1598x1474/img_5705_e0144b57ca79355d7be9949838c33fd61024c209.jpeg)
#2
Senior Member
Join Date: Oct 2015
Location: PDX
Posts: 13,262
Bikes: Merz x 5 + Specialized Merz Allez x 2, Strawberry/Newlands/DiNucci/Ti x3, Gordon, Fuso/Moulton x2, Bornstein, Paisley,1958-74 Paramounts x3, 3rensho, 74 Moto TC, 73-78 Raleigh Pro's x5, Marinoni x2, 1960 Cinelli SC, 1980 Bianchi SC, PX-10 X 2
Mentioned: 272 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 4577 Post(s)
Liked 6,567 Times
in
3,770 Posts
#3
Senior Member
Join Date: Apr 2011
Location: Maryland, USA
Posts: 2,546
Bikes: Drysdale/Gitane/Zeus/Masi/Falcon/Palo Alto/Raleigh/Legnano
Mentioned: 34 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 1042 Post(s)
Liked 724 Times
in
443 Posts
I presume "Campy Magic Washers", which is what we called them in the 1970's, is not a name used in the Campagnolo Catalog, but descriptive. Worth looking for.
__________________
Larry:1958 Drysdale, 1961 Gitane Gran Sport, 1974 Zeus track, 1988 Masi Gran Corsa, 1974 Falcon, 1980 Palo Alto, 1973 Raleigh Gran Sport, 1974 Legnano. Susan: 1976 Windsor Profesional.
Larry:1958 Drysdale, 1961 Gitane Gran Sport, 1974 Zeus track, 1988 Masi Gran Corsa, 1974 Falcon, 1980 Palo Alto, 1973 Raleigh Gran Sport, 1974 Legnano. Susan: 1976 Windsor Profesional.
#4
Senior Member
Thread Starter
#5
Senior Member
Join Date: Jun 2006
Posts: 20,320
Mentioned: 130 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 3471 Post(s)
Liked 2,846 Times
in
2,007 Posts
rondella dentata
#6
Senior Member
Join Date: Jul 2022
Location: Pac NW
Posts: 2,190
Bikes: several Eddy Merz (ride like Eddy, braze like Jim!)
Mentioned: 42 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 1199 Post(s)
Liked 2,090 Times
in
757 Posts
I’ve seen them called “star washers” at hardware stores
__________________
"Leave the gun. Take the Colnagos."
"Leave the gun. Take the Colnagos."
Likes For Robvolz:
#7
It's MY mountain
Join Date: Sep 2006
Location: Mt.Diablo
Posts: 10,011
Bikes: Klein, Merckx, Trek
Mentioned: 70 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 4383 Post(s)
Liked 3,055 Times
in
1,653 Posts
#8
Bianchi Goddess
Join Date: Apr 2009
Location: Shady Pines Retirement Fort Wayne, In
Posts: 28,007
Bikes: Too many to list here check my signature.
Mentioned: 194 Post(s)
Tagged: 2 Thread(s)
Quoted: 2978 Post(s)
Liked 3,091 Times
in
1,575 Posts
__________________
“One morning you wake up, the girl is gone, the bikes are gone, all that's left behind is a pair of old tires and a tube of tubular glue, all squeezed out"
Sugar "Kane" Kowalczyk
“One morning you wake up, the girl is gone, the bikes are gone, all that's left behind is a pair of old tires and a tube of tubular glue, all squeezed out"
Sugar "Kane" Kowalczyk
#9
Senior Member
Thread Starter
#10
blahblahblah chrome moly
Join Date: Apr 2009
Location: Seattle
Posts: 2,104
Mentioned: 97 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 1231 Post(s)
Liked 2,754 Times
in
1,144 Posts
We used to call them Campy "patent washers". Dunno how widespread that terminology was, maybe just the shop where I worked in the '70s? Earlier ones had "BREV CAMP" or "PATENT" stamped in. (Brev means patented, in Italian) Presumably they stopped doing that once the patent expired.
The main feature is they are hardened, so the teeth bite into whatever they are sandwiched between. Biting into both sides prevents rotation, the kind that makes your brakes get knocked off-center. So don't tighten the brake down then try to rotate it until centered, you're gouging up whatever the washer has bitten into. Try to hold the brake centered while you tighten it the first time, making only one set of teeth marks in the things sandwiching the washer.
Being hard, they are also somewhat brittle and cannot be bent without cracking. One way I've seen them crack is from tightening one against a curved crown or brake bridge, wiithout a radius washer to give the patent washer a flat surface.
Picky judges at concours will take a point off if you put one of these behind the crown or bridge. When Campy shipped their brakes with two patent washers on the F. brake they were both meant to go in front of the crown, but many people mistakenly put them on both sides of the crown. The reason for two in front is for those forks with a built-in flat spot, which elinimates the need for a radius washer. The radius washer added some forward offset to the brake, allowing you to reach the wrench flats on the centerbolt that are for centering the brake, otherwise inaccessible under the bulge of the headset. Later, when the newer crowns did away with the radius washer, we needed two (or in rare cases 3) patent washers to provide the same forward offset.
If your headset doesn't block the wrench flats, then you don't need a second washer, and you can save the second one Campy gave you for some future build. I like them for headlamp struts, to keep them from rotating down from the weight of the lamp, like when hitting a pot hole.
And never put two in the rear brake, that's just blasphemy. Unless you feel like it!
The main feature is they are hardened, so the teeth bite into whatever they are sandwiched between. Biting into both sides prevents rotation, the kind that makes your brakes get knocked off-center. So don't tighten the brake down then try to rotate it until centered, you're gouging up whatever the washer has bitten into. Try to hold the brake centered while you tighten it the first time, making only one set of teeth marks in the things sandwiching the washer.
Being hard, they are also somewhat brittle and cannot be bent without cracking. One way I've seen them crack is from tightening one against a curved crown or brake bridge, wiithout a radius washer to give the patent washer a flat surface.
Picky judges at concours will take a point off if you put one of these behind the crown or bridge. When Campy shipped their brakes with two patent washers on the F. brake they were both meant to go in front of the crown, but many people mistakenly put them on both sides of the crown. The reason for two in front is for those forks with a built-in flat spot, which elinimates the need for a radius washer. The radius washer added some forward offset to the brake, allowing you to reach the wrench flats on the centerbolt that are for centering the brake, otherwise inaccessible under the bulge of the headset. Later, when the newer crowns did away with the radius washer, we needed two (or in rare cases 3) patent washers to provide the same forward offset.
If your headset doesn't block the wrench flats, then you don't need a second washer, and you can save the second one Campy gave you for some future build. I like them for headlamp struts, to keep them from rotating down from the weight of the lamp, like when hitting a pot hole.
And never put two in the rear brake, that's just blasphemy. Unless you feel like it!
Likes For bulgie:
#11
blahblahblah chrome moly
Join Date: Apr 2009
Location: Seattle
Posts: 2,104
Mentioned: 97 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 1231 Post(s)
Liked 2,754 Times
in
1,144 Posts
Those are sub-optimal because they are designed to be easy to turn in one direction (tightening), resisting loosening only. They might be better than nothing, but they won't bite into both sides , locking out any rotation in either direction, like the Campy washer does.