Thanks for the information and pictures.

Any comments/experience with Dura-ace center-pulls?

thanks, nick

MAFAC Racers pared with a Grand Compe toy rack:

It's nice to see a yoke mounted correctly.

stop being nice, you're messing with my mind.

You mean like these? At least pre 1973

I run a set on my Gran Sport with Kool Stops... they work very well and as it is a fixed gear there is only the front brake doing all the heavy lifting.

They are not as impressive as the Zeus centre pulls on my Cooper which are stunning in their build quality and stopping ability.

Universals on my Garlatti are also nice and will benefit when I install better pads which really seems to make the most difference with any vintage brake regardless of type.

and I've got hoods for those brakes now

Here are a couple of shots from my recent FrankenCilo build. It is for work, not show, not not as shiny as some of the bikes here. The first photo shows the ubiquitous Weinmann I initially installled before I had the Mafac Competitions worked out. Also, the bike left brake lever has now been replaced with one matching the bike right lever. They are matched set of two, but one was cracked and was out for repair when I first built the bike, hence the initial mismatch. These levers are later Weinmanns; I'm not sure about the exact vintage, but I chose them because I think they're attractive, and yet they accept the readily available Cane Creek hoods, important for a working bike. The second photo shows the Competition caliper now in place. I had to improvise the straddle cables, but they function fine. Also notice the Kool Stop pads, now available for vintage Mafacs.

Bumping an old thread:

I modified my Weinmann front caliper with a home-made booster brace, a super-short straddle cable, and cord straps to keep the pads level during steep, off-road descents.

The lower picture is of my Dura-ace centerpull's levers with modified hoods, since Shimano didn't offer hoods with the safety-lever option.
The big, fat screw head rotates with lever movement, so the hood is cut for clearance.
The inside pivot assembly in these levers is a bag of tricks, and the entire pivot had to be removed to install the modified hoods.

Meh, whatever, you're just jelly. Seriously though, have you seen the prices that NOS Mafacs go for on ebay? In my parts, online is about the only source of good vintage gear. It ends up being cheaper to go new in a lot of cases.

good thread bump-

Just for a what the heck and be different, dual pull single lever for a pair of Uni centerpulls on a Bottecchia. Barrel adjusters on top tweaks the bias. Yah, so razz me.... but I like it


Thinking of making some boosters. Who cares if they work or not, they look neat. These two courtesy of the late Sheldon Browns ride:

In the last year I installed a set of Mafac Racers with post mount mountain bike shoes. Got no squeal from the first ride onwards, and the braking power is somewhere between Canti's and V brakes. The shoes made all the difference I believe, not that I am discounting the design of the Mafacs. Far from it. I am very happy with the performance obviously, and that's all that matters.,,,,BD

I will try to take a shot of them tomorrow.

NOS Schwinn Approved Weinman's on my 73 Schwinn Super Sport.

0430201173SS 133 by vonfilm, on Flickr

0430201173SS 084 by vonfilm, on Flickr

0430201173SS 083 by vonfilm, on Flickr

I picked these up from clubman a couple of years back. The whole build is a hodge- podge of parts, so these CLB2 brakes are a good fit in my opinion.

That's a very good looking bike imo.

I've wondered what these calipers are called, and what technical feature(s) other that the hidden springs that they might employ.

Are the pivot axes perhaps at some orientation other than parallel?

I would love to see one disassembled.

Some Grand Compes, nice brakes.

Dia Compe 610 and Honjos by djk762, on Flickr
-D

Thanks dddd. The straddle 'cable' is actually the spring on these. They pivot forward and inward, and it seems to require less effort on the levers while increasing the pressure on the wheel(if that makes any sense).

Those are great looking brakes.

heres a couple more :-)

I have aero Dura Ace AX calipers on my single speed. I recently got 4 pairs of NOS brake shoes for them at $2.00 a pair. I love those calipers as I fing them very positive.


#4 Shimano Dura Ace AX Front Brake Caliper by Miele Man, on Flickr

Cheers from Miele Man

Hi Geoff,

Just wanted to comment on a 3 year old post-

I love that Avocet headset!

Why thank-you!
It came with the bike that I got for a pretty good deal from CL. Crankset was also Avocet. Classy build, all-around, I mean when I got it. My build was focused on making it almost exclusively European (Swiss/French/Italian), exceptions being the Strong seatpost and Suntour freewheel, not counting consumables. I changed the Avocet crankset to a more period correct-looking Ofmega (Campy NR clone).
It was definitely a working bike before my acquisition and is still a working bike now. However, I've been taking good care of it neverthless; so far have not been caught in the rain... I have bikes with fenders for that. The weather here has been pretty unsettled lately, chance of rain almost every day, so I haven't taken the CILO to work lately, but I'm looking forward to a few more rides before winter sets in.