Has anyone used these? I'm not particularly thrilled by the Mafac "Racers" but these ones would work really well for a bike I'm building.

ps I'm looking at the center mount version.


http://www.paulcomp.com/frmbrakes.html

Good clearance! You could ride through a field of manure and come out clog free.

and we all know that there really is no better measure of quality than that.

Haven't used them, but the design is good, they look good, and will work well for you. Nothing weird like the Mafac-style. Just make sure your levers are compatible with caliper brakes and cantilevers; v-brakes need more cable pull so their levers aren't compatible with other brake types.

What do you have against mafac racers? My only beef with them is that they squeal a lot. If these dont do that, then they are probably the best long-reach brakes anywhere. Adjustable mech advantage and awesome stopping power. I almost spent $100 for some mafac competicions for my last bike. Mafac-style is nice, and those pauls look sharp.

Btw, here's the correct link to the "racer" brakes. They're a canti-boss mounted centerpull design. The link given in the OP only goes to the Paul brakes page.
http://www.paulcomp.com/racer.html

they hve two versions, the centermount and the canti mount. the center mount look like new and improved mafac racers.

Paul has lots of different brake offerings, but the Mafac-style is called the "Neo-Retro" brake. The "Racer" model is the centerpull. The original link shows you the Paul lineup of different brake models.

Ira, could you chime in here to clarify what you're looking at?

It's called the New Racer(my mistake), and like the Mafac original, it is center mount. My dislike of the Mafacs is partially the squealing and partially my inability to adjust the pads(should be different with these, as they use modern brake pads.) Also these are availible in "shiny".

http://www.paulcomp.com/newracer.JPG

To my knowledge, this one is actually based on the old Dia-Compe centerpull design. It's a very good, very powerful brake design for road frames. I didn't know Mafac made centerpulls, but I guess everyone did back then.
And yes, with these you can totally adjust the toe-in on the pads.
Sorry to have misread your original post and thougth you needed acnti bosses on your frame. Also, I've always heard the "non-low-profile" cantilevers, that stick way out to the sides, referred to as "Mafac-style." So that was mixing up my terminology. So sorry to you, too, genericbikedude.

Nope. Dia compe style did not allow for adjustment oif the transverse cable, which is why mafac style is so superior. By allowing the pads to be adjustable, these brakes have solved mafac's only problem.

Also, if you needed canti posts for these, they would be "U brakes," and you would need nonstandard (above the rim) canti posts.

pretty bling if you're running centerpulls. but probably some of the highest quality centerpull road brakes ever made (mostly because no one else has made centerpull brakes in a long time).

there was an article on centerpulls in one of last years rivendell readers, i'll look it up when I get home

Yeah, I was trying to remember the name for U-Brakes the whole time during this thread. I used to work on them back in the day. Riv compared the Paul centerpulls to the Dia-Compe, which were the only centerpulls I'd ever seen (having worked on many of them that came on old road bikes - good, very effective brakes).

There is a fellow on RBR who hangs out in the commuter forum that has set up several custom waterfords with them. The pictures he has posted look fantastic, and clearly a man of his age and experience is using something that works quite well. Particularly since price seems to be no object.

I can't say anything specific about the Paul's racer brakes, but I do use
the Paul Neo-Retro & Touring cantis on my 'cross bike. If they are at all
a like then I am sure they will be amazing. My Paul cantis are super powerful
and have a nice pull to them (i.e. the translation between the lever pull and
the stopping is very good). They adjust very easily for even a dumb-a like me.

So yeah I don't know if that helps, but I like Paul.