Doug,
Jerry is correct in his assessment that the venerable Racer brakeset had migrated downward in the MAFAC hierarchy by 1978 and was often seen by that point on more pedestrian offerings. On the other hand, both the relatively new MAFAC 2000 and second edition Competition centerpull calipers were being fitted to higher end French bicycles by then (...Thevenet's 1975 TdF winning Peugeot PY-10CP had been equipped with gaudy gold 2000 brakes prior to their general availability here in the States, although at the time they were passed off as being modified Competition models). And for whatever it may be worth, the year 1978 did, indeed, mark the introduction of MAFAC's new LS model sidepull calipers with their close cousin the LS2 being first offered in 1979.
At the risk of inviting the slings and arrows of others (...who are entitled to their own opinions, of course), I am still of the mind that the MAFAC Competition centerpull brakset was one of the best of 1970's decade. Admittedly, they were a bit temperamental to initially set up so as to truly maximize performance, most especially when compared to the simplicity offered in this respect when fitting either Campagnolo Record or Shimano Dura-Ace sidepulls. And I would agree one could make an excellent argument that when compared "stock" out of their respective boxes, the Record brakeset ensemble provided better tactile response for purposes of speed modulation (...although with modification, I found my own MAFAC Competitions not lacking at all in that regard). But in terms of sheer brute force stopping power, I consider MAFAC Competitions to be without peer in that era.
If you have a sporting nature and wish to modify your MAFAC's so that they are every bit the match for any of their period counterparts, here is what I used to do. I started off with a pair of adjustable bridge long reach MAFAC Competition calipers so as to maximize "dial-in" range, modified the springs to "ease" their tension a tad before adding a set of No-Stick brake sleves, fit 54 mm long Scott Mathauser finned and curved alloy brake shoes with zinc oxide pads, crafted from aluminum horseshoe shaped brake boosters patterned after those first offered by Spence Wolf at the Cupertino Bike Shop, swapped out the original clunky Dural Course 121 levers for a pair of light action ultra lightweight MAFAC Course 435 "drilled" alloy levers with composite bodies and integrated cable adjusters which also afforded a much better finger grip, ditched the standard brake cables in favor of aerospace grade cabling that would absolutely never stretch under tension (...thank you very much, Boeing), and finally, I regularly doused the insides of those old unlined outer brake cable housings with liberal amounts of graphite so as to all but eliminate unwanted cable friction. About the only thing else I could have done at the time would have been to go with braze-on mountings similar the those found on the aforementioned Peugeot PY-10CP ridden by Thevenet to victory in the 1975 TdF in lieu of those custom made brake boosters in order to further reduce stress induced caliper flex to an absolute minimum. The only real drawback to my modified braking setup was that it took a bit of time and patience to dial in the proper brake pad angles and cable tension to extract the absolute best performance. However, after a little bit of practice, one got rather proficient at that task.
Robert "dem's da brakes" Broderick ...the "Frozen Flatlands" of South Dakota Sioux Falls, USA
-----------------------------------------------------------
>From: "Doug Van Cleve" <dvancleve@gmail.com>
>To: classicrendezvous <classicrendezvous@bikelist.org>
>Subject: [CR]What French brakes for a 1978 bike?
>Date: Wed, 27 Dec 2006 11:45:31 -0700
>
>Howdy folks,
>
>My brother has a Gitane that was purchased new in Paris in 1978 by my
>uncle for my dad (who never really rode it). It was originally all
>Shimano 600EX 12 speed except for the seatpost. Over the years we
>have switched it to all period correct (I think) French stuff except
>for the Sugino seatpost (put back on when the Simplex alloy kept
>slipping) and 600EX headset (kinda cool, don't have proper headset
>tools). It has Campy Gran Sport brakes, but I am wondering what it
>would likely have had if it were sold all French? I would think that
>it is new enough that it wouldn't have had Mafac Racers. Any ideas?
>
>Thanks and happy New Year :^)
>
>Doug Van Cleve
>Chandler, AZ USA
>_______________________________________________
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