As a teenager in the 70's I was impressed with the stopping power of my Dia Compe centerpull brakes on my Volkscycle. My 82/83 Miyata 610 has the original Dia Compe side pulls on it, and the brakes are good, but not impressive. Assuming all else being equal, are centerpulls more powerfull? Tim

I would say yes, when compared to their sidepull calipers from the same period.

The centerpulls did seem to incur a bit of cabling flex from the hanger, but power seemed better than their sidepulls to me.

I guess it makes sense in the sense that centerpulls are usually heavier.

I am no expert on brakes, but I have always been satisfied with Dia Compe and Weinmann center pull brakes. The cheap ones even worked well, they were just a bit rough in the finish. I always found the easier to set up than side pulls, although I have quite a few bike with side pull brakes. My favorites are cantilevers.

Inexpensive brakes of any design and period have inferior performance to their more pricey counterparts.
Japanese OEM single pivot sidepulls, center pulls & cantilevers of the early 80's all reduce speed well if properly set-up on true wheels.
Modern brake pads of the correct type from mfgs like Kool-Stop, well lubricated and adjusted calipers, properly installed levers and the correct length of new brake cables should be adequate for use on any 80's Miyata.

Absolute "stopping power" has never been high on my list of braking requirements, although good feel & modulation are.
Some prefer the feel of centerpull, cantilever or sidepull brakes and even choose design by application. All are available today.

-Bandera

The secret to center pulls (well, it's not really a secret, but that sure sounds better, doesn't it?) is to get them adjusted correctly. When dialed in, I'll take a decent pair of center pulls over side pulls any day of the week. Some dual pivot side pulls are pretty darned nice though.

DiaCompe produced their center-pulls under license from Weinmann-Vainquer, and these in turn were used on everything from low-end to Rene Herse.
They were decent stoppers and IMO, better than (most) side-pulls back then - but not as good as the Mafac Racers.

Cleaned up and in proper working order they should do just fine. Make sure that what you're feeling isn't your tires sliding. Old/bad tires can fake you out. Just something to be aware of if you aren't already.

I recall that I did years of mtb racing using Weinmann centerpulls. This included steep descents in wet conditions, so I added a booster plate of my own design.
Really, they have a bunch of power using the pink brake pad material.
Looking closely, I had forgotten that I also found an even shorter straddle cable for the front caliper, not that it was needed. It was from one of those 2-piece canti straddle cables, and had a cast-on gripper tab along it's length that I had to carefully grind away, and I had to actually take apart the caliper to install it. What a fight it was putting it back together with the springs hooked and pre-loaded.

I think that is true of all brakes regardless of design.

True enough. What I was getting at, but should've maybe elaborated upon, is that center pulls are less forgiving (in my opinion) when it comes to adjustment. I've come across many center pulls that were adjust "just ok," and which the owner subsequently thought needed replacement. The real culprit was adequate adjustment. I have always suspected that the home wrencher tends to phone it in on brake adjustments, and then wonder why the braking power was less than adequate. Side pulls, by contrast, I find I can "eye ball" into place and just about nail things right off the bat. Back to the original question - which is somewhat subjective and up to the personal preference of the user, I realize - I still prefer the way that center pulls brake and modulate over similar era side pulls.

I suspect riders familiar with only modern DP designs and pad material will always be disappointed with older brakes. The most stopping power I've ever experienced is with new Tektros. Not far behind are Campy, in this case Gran Sport. Even so, Mafac and Weinmann have always performed well enough, even if they do require a bit more hand effort. Adjustment has never been an issue with any of them. I've had hangers migrate sideways a little on straddle cables, but that takes just seconds and no tool to correct.

Very true. I am sort of having this issue with the MAFACS on my Hetchins but I have not decided if it is a caliper, lever, cable adjustment, rider or lack of use to get the newness off the pads and rims


Personally while I love newer pad materials, especially the dual compounds, I was never a big fan of DP and their 'stop on a dime" ability


I do think somewhat contrary to the OPs experience most of us associate poor performance of centerpulls with our experience of the 70s boom "10 speeds" which normally paired lower end centerpulls with even lower end brake levers and the almost useless "safety" levers resulting in lackluster performance and therefore a dislike for centerpulls. The same would also hole true of low end side pulls with turkey levers.

(Not that I am condemning turkey levers. I think properly set up and used to modulate speed they cane be a great thing)