Ok this is one of those mechanical experiments everybody who slings their own wrench should do, particularly since it's easiest on a classic bike with clamped on full housing and non-recessed brakes. I've done this a bunch of times over the years with many different brakes. You can even do it on the front with some Dia-Compe brakes, but I'm only going to talk about the rear. 1. Loosen cable housing clips so the housing can slide around. 2. Remove brake. 3. Move brake and housing to the other side of the bike. 4. Mount brake under the brake bridge. You may have to move the hardware around a bit. 5. Adjust brake and pads. Tighten down the housing clips. 6. Ride bike.
The good reasons of this arrangement are: Looks cool, or at least different; Seems to collect a bit less gunk on the brake; Gives just a little bit more room form the fender.
Alas there are many more downsides. The brake seems to flex more and doesn't brake as well as in the traditional mount. My biggest problem is the extra flex causes the brake to move into the tire easier. One of my ex-coworkers set his brake up like this and had a brake induced blowout within a week of commuting. The brake looked fine on the stand and didn't seem to rub just tooling around in the parking lot, but give it a week up and down Seattle's hills and it's a different story.
Anyway, It's an easy thing to do and if you're interested in the
effects it only takes about 10 minutes to switch it over.
do it,
Brandon"monkeyman"Ives
SB, CA