Jerry Moos wrote:
>
> That's a really good story, but the LS2s on my 1978 Motobecane Team Champion
> seem to stop about as well as Campy NRs (which isn't all that great compared
> to modern dual pivots). I suspect the story is apocryphal (meaning it ain't
> true, but it sure makes a heck of an entertaining tale). I also have a pair
> of less expensive LC4 Mafac sidepulls. These do have pads with unusually
> small contact area, so there may have been some problems with these in hilly
> terrain, though changing out the brake shoes and pads should solve this.
> Given adequate pads, with hands on the drops, you'd think pro riders would
> all have adequate hand strength to get the required braking with any brake,
> as long as the calipers didn't deflect badly under loading. Still, the
> image of one rider clinging to another's saddle on a 100 kph Alpine descent
> is amusing to contemplate.
>
> Regards,
>
> Jerry "still a Mafac fan" Moos
I've been riding Mafac LS2s on a Peugeot PRO 10 team bike since the early 1980s and never had a problem with them. They are not wonderful stoppers in the "dual pivot" sense, just typical of the time. I don't think the blocks are as good a compound as they could be however, and remember seeing one of Phil Anderson's team Peugeot he rode in the TdF with Campagnolo brake blocks fitted to the Mafac holders (the holders have a cool arrow cut out of the holder to show direction of mounting). I always thought the lever was striking with the back filled in and completely smooth, and "MAFAC" actually pantographed in the front.
Chuck