re: [CR]mafac brake question

(Example: Production Builders:Peugeot:PX-10LE)

In-Reply-To: <42834E11.3020400@erols.com>
References: <42834E11.3020400@erols.com>
Date: Thu, 12 May 2005 08:14:27 -0700
To: HM & SS Sachs <sachs@erols.com>, classicrendezvous@bikelist.org
From: "Jan Heine" <heine93@earthlink.net>
Subject: re: [CR]mafac brake question


>
>Let's get this straight, at least from the non-francophile
>perspective. Leaving out the High-Zoot Tiger and late Competition
>models, the-run-of-the-mill RACER version has only two significant
>varieties. The early ones had brass/bronze bushings, and the later
>ones had plastic bushing washers. The early ones must have been
>defective, since they changed the design (maybe they didn't chatter
>enough?), so you are free to send them to me for safekeeping. I will
>exchange them (at no cost) for the later ones with plastic bushings
>that announced your presence far more effectively than today's
>sedate bells.
>
>harvey sachs
>mcLean va

Mafac brakes: It is the pads that cause the chatter. The "cheap" plastic bushings actually wear less than the brass ones... (and even those take decades to develop play.)

With different pads (Matthauser mtb ones work great), you will have a hard time to get brake squeal from a Mafac centerpull brake. And chatter like on many modern cantilevers is unheard of in centerpull brakes anyhow.

See also the test of the Paul Centerpull brakes, Vintage Bicycle Quarterly Vol. 3, No. 3.

The one thing Mafac Racers lack is snob appeal. They are so common, and were spec'd on such cheap bikes, that it probably is embarrassing to some that they also were and are spec'd on the most expensive Alex Singer bikes. (And Rene Herse used the even cheaper Weinmanns!) On the other hand, almost any used bike store will be able to provide you with spares for a dollar or two!

(To be honest, the chrome-plating on the Mafac steel hardware does rust more readily than that on Campagnolo brakes.) -- Jan Heine, Seattle Editor/Publisher Vintage Bicycle Quarterly c/o Il Vecchio Bicycles 140 Lakeside Ave, Ste. C Seattle WA 98122 http://www.vintagebicyclepress.com