Brake Lever Reccomnendation for MaFac Center Pull Brakes

[BenGeldreich]

Hello Everyone,

I am at the tail end of my 650b conversion build, see picture below.

I've taken it out on a few rides now and noticed that my hands feel very cramped while riding on the brake hoods. This might be due to the placement of the brake levers on the handlebars, the stem length or simply that my hands need more room then the Dia-Compe brake levers can provide. While I'm playing around with the setup, I've been researching other brands of aero brake levers to see what else is out there that would suite this build. It's to my understanding that I would need to locate a longer reach brake lever due to using centre pull brakes? Does anyone have any suggestions of what brand and model of lever to use with MaFac Raid brakes?

Thanks

Ben

[Josiah Anderson]

Hi Ben, nice work on the 650b conversion- it looks really good. Just about any normal drop-bar lever should work with Raids. The cable pull required is similar to most of the common rim brakes from the last three quarters of a century (v-brakes excepted, obviously).

Those levers look suspiciously like the Dia-Compe v-brake levers, one of the two drop bar v-brake levers available. Not sure where you heard you need long pull levers but that's exactly what these are. They will not work well at all with centerpulls because they pull too much cable and have too little mechanical advantage; they're designed for v-brakes, which have more mechanical advantage in the brake caliper and less in the lever. These will probably feel nice and crisp while you're setting them up, but in actual use it will take excessive amounts of force to slow the bike down. Any regular pull lever should be a significant improvement over these.

As for hood shape, the older Tektros were really nice, although the newer ones are not, in my opinon. They were also sold as Cane Creek and I think also Origin8. Shimano aero levers are my usual go-to, but they feel very similar to those Dia-Compes so maybe no good for you. Beyond that, some people remove the innards from brifters and use just the brake lever to get bigger and flatter hoods.

Good luck with the project!

Josiah

Missoula, MT

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[William Lindsay]

I concur with the entirety of Josiah's post, with the added anecdote:  I visited Paris a few years back, and made a point to visit Cycles Alex Singer.  Most of their bikes had braze on M.A.F.A.C. centerpulls matched with Shimano aero levers.  I took that as a pretty good recommendation about their working well together.  

Bill Lindsay

El Cerrito, CA

[Brad]

Cane Creek SCR-5 is my go to.  I have read that it is  modeled/ copied from a Campagnolo design.  Origin 8 Classique is similar.  They work wonderfully with Mafac Raid brakes.

[Ryan Watson]

> On Sep 10, 2022, at 12:21, Brad <riendeau...@gmail.com> wrote:
>
> Cane Creek SCR-5 is my go to. I have read that it is modeled/ copied from a Campagnolo design. Origin 8 Classique is similar. They work wonderfully with Mafac Raid brakes.

I can confirm this. I use these with my Raids and they’re perfect. Tektro sold an identical lever as well.

Ryan

[John Hawrylak]

I use Tektro RL341's with RH Centerpulls, which I understand are very similar to the Mafac CPs'.  Very happy with the RL341's performance with the brakes.   I believe the Cane Creek, and Origin 8's mentioned here are essentially the same as the Tektro RL341

John Hawrylak

Woodstown NJ

[eric.davi...@gmail.com]

As prior posters have indicated, any normal road brake lever should work fine. In my experience, however, nonaero levers have the best feel with RAIDs. I've set up aero levers a half dozen (wrong?) ways and couldn't avoid some amount of sponginess when attempting to lock out the wheel, which bothered me more than it probably should have. To that end, both my RAIDed bikes have MAFAC competition levers and they work great. 

Eric LR - PDX

[satanas]

Your results will vary with hand size and strength, and with your preferences for lack of motion at the lever versus braking power (from higher mechanical advantage). Those with large, strong hands who dislike the levers being able to move much might get on with Mafac or Universal levers, but I loathe and detest both of these, and infinitely prefer almost everything else, including Shimano R400, Campag NR, Dia Compe AGC, etc, etc. I find everything about Mafac levers very uncomfortable, including the reach, hood shape, lack of MA, etc. Some people like them though so YMMV, although I note that no modern levers attempt to mimic their ergonomics - or lack thereof.

Later,

Stephen

[Brad]

At one time Mondia spec'd Weinman levers with Mafac Racer brakes on its highest range bike.  The Mafac lever is an artifact without the functionality to be kept in use based on  my experience.

[eric.davi...@gmail.com]

The Mafac lever is an artifact without the functionality to be kept in use based on  my experience.

To be clear, the Mafac RACER brake lever is awful for small/average size handed folks. The projection of the lever from the body is comically flung-out and really hard to brake from the hoods, or even drops unless your fingers got their own growth spurt. 

The Competition/Course lever from Mafac, however, is great. It projects out less and generally more ergonomic. I'm always on the hunt for these guys.

Pic below is the Racer brake (pic not mine)

Competition lever (my pic)

[Evan Estern]

I have Mafac raid brakes/Kool Stop Salmon pads on my main bicycle.  My favorite lever for this set up is the Origin 8 Classique.  They are fatter and more comfortable for my hands than Shimano and Diacompe levers.  Kind of remind me of early Campy Ergopower levers, sans the shifters.  They look nice, and the plastic bodies and drilled out levers make them very light.  The performance with Raids is great--I can brake almost as easily from the hoods as from the drops and they've been incredibly durable on the several bikes I've used them on.  The only problem is they are getting hard to find.