Why braze washers onto the rear bridge?

[D Gillies]

Why did Raleigh braze washers on the rear brake bridge?

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/265197416751

(see the last photo).  Couldn't you just get moon washers from weinmann or dia compe for pennies and create a flat area to mount the rear caliper brakes?  I thought there was a mantra of "braze as little as possible to the frame" in the early 1970's and yet they did this brazing on the rear bridge always.  The picture is a 1982 frame but it was done on every model from International on down all throughout the 1970's.

- Don Gillies

Palo Alto, CA, USA

[Jon Norstog]

The people who could answer this question are probably all dead. 

jn

--
--
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google
Groups "Framebuilders" group.
 
Searchable archives for this group can be found at http://groups.google.com/group/framebuilders (recent content) and http://search.bikelist.org (older content).
 
To post to this group, send email to frameb...@googlegroups.com
To unsubscribe from this group, send email to
framebuilder...@googlegroups.com
For more options, visit this group at
http://groups.google.com/group/framebuilders?hl=en

---
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Framebuilders" group.
To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to framebuilder...@googlegroups.com.
To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/framebuilders/372b3fec-fc8b-4c52-9c8c-d233884b4360n%40googlegroups.com.

[M-gineering]

Are you sure it is a washer and not a tophat? Cross drilled bridges will
always get squashed , half moon washers not withstanding, so sticking in
a reinforcement with an integrated surface makes sense.

> -

--
mvg

Marten Gerritsen

Kiel Windeweer
Netherlands

[Mark Stonich]

Not likely a washer. If you aren’t familiar with the term “tophat” think an H2O BO with an oversized flange and a longer, unthreaded barrel, that takes all the compressive load.

IMHO half moon washers look tacky on a quality frame, don’t do the paint any favors and make assembly slightly more complicated.

[Jim Adney]

On 6 Jul 2021 at 9:58, D Gillies wrote:

> Why did Raleigh braze washers on the rear brake bridge?

Probably a top hat, as others have said. These were a common item back in
the day, to assure stability of the caliper and remove any chance of crushing
the brake bridge.

We had those at Mazi in '73-4. Don't know if they continued using them.

I never cared for the look, but I appreciated the anti-crush property. For my
frames, I brazed in a 5/16" steel tube, drilled the ID to 6 mm, and then filed
the ends round to match the bridge. When finished, it would look like a solid
brake bridge but without the weight. Weinmann fitted washers finished the
job.

I'm not dead yet! ;-)

--
*******************************
Jim Adney, jad...@vwtype3.org
Madison, Wisconsin, USA
*******************************

[John Thompson]

On 7/6/21 12:50 PM, Mark Stonich wrote:
> Not likely a washer. If you aren’t familiar with the term “tophat” think
> an H2O BO with an oversized flange and a longer, unthreaded barrel, that
> takes all the compressive load.

Exactly.

Like this:

--

-John Thompson (johndt...@gmail.com)
Appleton WI USA

[D Gillies]

Are tophats still being made / sold?  I realize you can achieve its purpose with a right-sized bit of tubing, but are there any framebuilding parts suppliers still selling tophats?  Thanks.