jonwvara 

Here are my Moto Grand Record and Gitane TdF on a foggy morning in Vermont, with one gratuitous foliage shot looking toward my chickenhouse, which you can just make out beyond the pear tree. Both have Mafac brakes (I go with the New York Times "rule of five" for acronyms in rendering it "Mafac," rather than "MAFAC"). The Moto has Competititions, the Gitane has Racers. The Gitane also has authentic Mafac half-hoods on the levers, but the Moto has some improvised ones that I cobbled together by cutting down some modern Cane Creek hoods (easily cut with scissors) and adhering them to the lever bodies with some automotive silicone sealant.
They fit reasonably well and feel good under my hands. I had worried that they wouldn't be secure--since they lack the formed-into-the-rubber metal clip that holds the genuine hoods to the back of the lever body--but they seem t be staying put without it. Note that I wrapped the bar tape well onto the hood to help hold it in position, which seems to be working.
Fortunately, I already had a pair of Mafac barrel adjusters from a hopelessly shriveled set of hoods. They fit right into the Cane Creek hoods. One minor issue is that on the originals, the end of the barrel adjuster fits into a hexagonal metal fitting that--like the mounting clip--is molded into the rubber. It's there to keep the lower part of the barrel adjuster from rotating when you turn the knurled upper part to adjust the cable pull. The Cane Creek, of course, lacks that fitting. But it practice, it's not a problem. To adjust the travel, you just have to release the straddle cable from the caliper to provide a bunch of slack, then pull the barrel adjuster out of the hood, tighten or loosen it as necessary, then reinsert it and reconnect the straddle cable. At worst, it takes a couple of tries to get the adjustment right--not much of an inconvenience given how seldom that kind of adjustment is needed.
I hope I've explained that clearly and not made it sound too complicated--it's really not.
The best thing about this is that it lets you cut off the damned "Cane Creek" lettering on the hoods. The worst thing--at least if you buy the hoods at your LBS, as I did--is that it's not as cheap as one would hope. I think the hoods were something like $25 for the pair. I haven't priced any lately, but that's probably half the cost of a real set of Mafac hoods on ebay. I do try to buy as much as I can from the LBS, but I would have drawn the line here if I'd realized what they cost before the guy actually rang them up. Overall, though, I'm putting this project in the "win" column.

rootboy 

Great idea. I'm surprised your hoods cost so much though. Is that the going price for Cane Creek? Still, great fix. Those MAFACs are impossible to find.

Catnap 

wow! this is an excellent idea, especially considering how hard it is to find the original hoods now.

jyl

I think it looks great! Clever idea. Thanks for sharing.

rootboy 

I like those leather ones that guy in Japan is making. They're beautiful, but spendy.
This is a clever work-around.

Catnap 

link for more info?

Clydesdale Scot

these?

b dub 

Now that is nice stuff. Check out the other leather hoods and even a leather bottle holder for a Velo Orange cage.



Only problem: 'It cannot reply to an English e-mail'

But Google Translate can do wonders...

SlowRoller

That's actually a Toei bottle cage.

b dub 

Oh, that might be. But the site advertised it like this:

SlowRoller

Oops, I see. The site has a couple versions of that cage, one Toei, one VO. I should have looked closer, you can tell this one is VO, it's slightly off, yukyuk:

PDXaero

I talked to a local leather bikegoods maker about MAFAC hoods and he was willing to put some time into it but admittedly there would have to be a large volume order to make it worth the R&D for them.

I agree that the original rubber hoods are getting past the reasonable price in good condition.
I have had good luck finding singles at bike co-ops for $5-6 and hold on to them until I have a pair.

ftwelder

Nice work on those brake hoods. I think around 6.6 million Mafac brake hoods made it into the US over a fifteen year period.

I bought a pile of Diacompe OE turkey wing levers and calipers and I give Timmy the flipper one NIB set for each set of racers/levers he brings back. I think I have what I would consider a minimum quantity for my needs at this point. I have grown to really love the power and top space on these levers.