Consider using the long arms on the front and the shorter ones on the rear, assuming the two are cosmetically matched. Don't know if Mafac ever made a balanced pair like this, but there have been other brakesets designed to provide more power in the front where most of the raw braking force happens. One nice treatment of this is Campagnolo Record 10 with its beefy dual pivot front caliper paired stock with a svelter single pivot rear one. Having a front/rear balance like this with Mafac cantilevers seems like a nice detail on a bike build to me.
--Mitch
On Wed, Sep 17, 2008 at 2:52 PM, Sean Flores <seaneee175@gmail.com> wrote:
> Let me start off by saying my knowledge of touring canti's is less than
> desirable.
>
> Just rec'd a set of Mafac Canti's from an ebay purchase to find two
> different sets. One pair has a shorter arm and hardware with a dull finish,
> the other pair has chrome hardware and longer arms. I know that the chrome
> was a "nicer" version option, but can someone clue me in to why the
> difference in arm length? The reach is the same, just the extension of the
> arm is different. My first guess is braking power. But what was the purpose
> of the two models?
>
> Thanks.
>
> Sean Flores
> San Francisco, CA
>
> P.S. This very well may turn into a WTB for a matching pair when I get the
> answer! :)