Howdy,

I have an '82 Miyata 310 which is nearly stock, in very good condition, which I purchased new. The only change I've made are aero 105 brake levers and 6 cog freewheel.

My daughter (21) likes to ride it and want to inherit it but doesn't have much hand strength. Of course I advised that she squeeze a tennis ball etc., but we all know that our kids often don't want to hear our advice. ;-)

I have 2 sets of better brakes that I could put on it. Shimano 600 (gray prob '88-89) or some new Tiagra's, but both have the same larger diameter, and shorter stud and allen head nut that don't fit properly.

It looks like I would need to do a little modification to get them to work, eg. little drilling of frame, changing stud, or???

I'm not into reinventing the wheel and I'm sure some of you out there have already resolved this issue.
Please advise

Cheers,
Mark

I replaced the 105 brakes on my '87 Trek with some closeout campi veloce brakes I got for $35 on ebay. I felt like these modern dual-pivot brakes were definitely an upgrade, but be forewarned that these on the campi chorus brakes do not have quick-release - that feature is in the campi lever.

I did something similar with my italian ss. This time it came with campi and (omg!) I switched to Nashbar $30 dual-pivot brakes. The Nashbar's were probably the better design of the two sets I tried (quick-release, and cartridge pads). In both cases I didn't feel like I was getting enough braking power from the old single-pivot designs.

With the Trek, I had to drill to get the new brakes in. It was not difficult. Sheldon's site says to "drill out the back of the fork crown (8 mm or 5/16 drill bit)". The article is about halfway down this webpage. Go to Recessed Brake Mounting. https://www.sheldonbrown.com/gloss_ra-e.html

Very helpful,
Many thanks

new modern pads like Koolstop often make more difference than futzing around with different calipers.