Aero brake levers for Mafac Racers

[Tim McNamara]

I have had a custom bike built and indulged in having it set up for
brazed-on Mafac centerpulls. I had a set of Campy Record aero levers
but they have way too much mechanical advantage. I can about lock up
the wheels with one finger but either the pads are set about .5 mm from
the rim or the lever goes straight to the bar. Is there a set of aero
levers that pull less cable and would be more compatible with the
Mafacs?

[AMuzi]

I would just install a pair of Mafac levers. The cable pull
is slightly different, as many riders found in the 1970s
when running Mafac calipers with Weinmann levers.


--
Andrew Muzi
<www.yellowjersey.org/>
Open every day since 1 April, 1971

[Tim McNamara]

On Tue, 19 Jan 2016 14:51:44 -0600, AMuzi <a...@yellowjersey.org> wrote:
> On 1/19/2016 2:35 PM, Tim McNamara wrote:
>> I have had a custom bike built and indulged in having it set up for
>> brazed-on Mafac centerpulls. I had a set of Campy Record aero levers
>> but they have way too much mechanical advantage. I can about lock up
>> the wheels with one finger but either the pads are set about .5 mm
>> from the rim or the lever goes straight to the bar. Is there a set
>> of aero levers that pull less cable and would be more compatible with
>> the Mafacs?
>>
>
> I would just install a pair of Mafac levers. The cable pull is
> slightly different, as many riders found in the 1970s when running
> Mafac calipers with Weinmann levers.

I thought briefly about that but really like the Ergo shape and not
having exposed brake cables. Although better the exposed cables than
locking up both wheels in the middle of a turn...

[george....@gmail.com]

Tim, I used your standard Shimano Aero lever, (non STI), and they worked fine with the Mafacs. I think they are currently called BR400s, here's a link to one source:

https://www.universalcycles.com/shopping/product_details.php?id=6373&category=902

Good luck,

George

[Frank Krygowski]

I think you want levers that pull _more_ cable. Pulling more
(millimeters) of cable would correspond to lower mechanical advantage in
the lever body, and more travel at the brake shoe.

Our Bikes Friday have Shimano direct pull cantilevers ("V brakes") and
drop bar (non-STI) brake levers. I've been told the Diacompe 287-V
levers we use are the only comparable ones that pull enough cable for
the V-brakes, so they'd certainly pull enough for your Mafacs. The
question, I guess, is would they pull too much cable and give you the
opposite problems?

The 287-Vs work by having an extension bolted onto the top of the lever.
http://phred.org/~alex/pictures/bikes/diacompe-287v.jpg
I wonder if it may be possible to adjust the position of that extension,
and consequently adjust the mechanical advantage of the lever? Andrew
would know.

--
- Frank Krygowski

[ERSHC]

Try a shorter stradle cable. "Almost flat" might just do it.

[Tim McNamara]

Thanks, George!

[AMuzi]

Weinmann CP calipers mount on the same brake studs.

[Tim McNamara]

On Tue, 19 Jan 2016 22:46:59 -0500, Frank Krygowski
<frkr...@sbcglobal.net> wrote:
> On 1/19/2016 3:35 PM, Tim McNamara wrote:
>> I have had a custom bike built and indulged in having it set up for
>> brazed-on Mafac centerpulls. I had a set of Campy Record aero levers
>> but they have way too much mechanical advantage. I can about lock up
>> the wheels with one finger but either the pads are set about .5 mm
>> from the rim or the lever goes straight to the bar. Is there a set
>> of aero levers that pull less cable and would be more compatible with
>> the Mafacs?
>
> I think you want levers that pull _more_ cable. Pulling more
> (millimeters) of cable would correspond to lower mechanical advantage
> in the lever body, and more travel at the brake shoe.

Hmm. Yes, less mechanical advantage at the lever and more cable pull.
The Mafacs have much more mechanical advantage than the old Campy
sidepulls had and need more cable pull. I had mixed up cable pull and
MA.

I might actually have a pair of those levers that I used with drop bars
on a bike with V-brakes. At least I used to have a pair and may or may
not still have them in the parts box. I recall there was a little cable
stop doohicky that had to be inserted into the lever body which is easy
to lose... I didn't particularly like the shape of those levers (I like
the Campy Ergo shape for aero levers). I'll have to dig around this
evening.

[Tim McNamara]

Good to know! Thanks, Andrew!

[AMuzi]

Tektro has an Ergo-esque aero lever and it's available in
V-cable pull, cheap too.

My intuition is that a V lever is going too far the other
way but I haven't tried it with Mafac.

[Frank Krygowski]

Yes, I wondered about it going too far the other way. If so, the lever
would feel rock-hard when Tim squeezed, but it would give very little
braking force. That's why I wondered about moving the extension thing
on the lever, the bit to which the cable attaches. But moving it too
far (even if possible) would put the inner cable out of alignment with
the outer cable.


--
- Frank Krygowski

[Tim McNamara]

On Wed, 20 Jan 2016 15:24:26 -0500, Frank Krygowski

I have used the Tektros on other bikes, but the regular road version.
One set is used with old Sun Tour Superbe Pro sidepulls and work fine,
the other is used with Mafac tandem cantis and likewise work fine.

I located my old 287s and found that contrary to memory they were the
cantilever version rather than the V brake version (and found a pair of
the tandem version in the box too). The 287Cs pulled about twice as
much cable as the Records, so I installed them on the bike. They seem
to work fine although I am not gung-ho about the shape of the lever
bodies. I have big mitts (being 6'3") and liked the extra flat room of
the Ergo style levers, whether Campy or Tektro.

The 287s pull about 16 mm of cable compared to about 10 mm for the
Records and the regular Tektros; anyone know how much the Tektro V
version pulls?