centerpull brake choice
 

No braze-on posts. MAFAC racer or Universal 61?

Or CLB! What bike?

I really like Mafac Racers... I have them on several bikes.

I like Mafacs too... their loud squeal wakes me up on AM rides. Seriously, thogh, they're good.

Mafac Racers. My '71 yellow bike originally had Weinmanns, but sometime in the late seventies Oscar Juner pulled the Weinmanns off and replaced them with Mafacs. They're good brakes. I like the ability to individually adjust the angle and depth of the pads.

That would depend on the frame. While I like the MAFAC adjustability and largre pads, they are fussy and I used them only on French bicycles. Similarly, I restrict Universals to Italian bicycles. For the rest, there are Weimann and their Dia-Compe clone. However, my real favorites for (traditional style) center-pull brakes are Dura Ace and Dia-Compe Gran-Compe. Non-traditonal would be Dura-Ace AX, even over Campagnolo Delta!

This is for that Hetchins. I have a set of the DA centerpulls, but they'd be a little out of keeping with the rest of the parts, I think. The universals are very nice, the Racers are new. The hoods on the racers match the paint. I've heard setup horror stories, though, and thought I'd get a vote before continuing...

I think they are very easy to set up... lots of adjustability... even the straddle cable is adjustable. As Pogue mentioned they do have a tendency to squeal and will require a careful toe-in.

well, right then! the racers it'll be! still need a bar to hang the levers on - but I'm getting close!

What sort of handlebar did you have in mind? I believe you mentioned having a "Titan" stem in an earlier post... I have an alloy Titan bar. Belgian made, I believe, but they were imported and marketed in England by Ron Kitching during the 1960s. Has a with a VERY wide/thick center ferrule size: 27.0 mm. (to make it super-rigid), but otherwise is around 23.4 mm (for normal brake lever bands). - This bar really does require a specific stem with a very large bar clamp opening... which I believe was also only made by Titan.

• Drop me a note if my bar might be of any interest to you. [I may eventually just offer it on eBay... but what a shame - appears to be in MINT/NOS condition - and very pretty.]