[CR]Favorit Superbe Repair ...

(Example: Framebuilding:Restoration)

Date: Sat, 28 Jul 2007 16:23:41 -0700 (PDT)
From: Donald Gillies <gillies@cs.ubc.ca>
To: classicrendezvous@bikelist.org
cc: radfin@SpiritOne.com
cc: JohnThompson@new.rr.com
cc: radfin@SpiritOne.com
Subject: [CR]Favorit Superbe Repair ...

Thanx to list member Harvey Sachs for helping me to get my clamp-less Suntour Superbe Lever (campy-clamp type) back on the road. Harvey said that he had used a MAFAC clamp to repair a Campagnolo lever once.

Going through my junk-parts bin, I found a set of Favorit brake levers of the lowest possible quality, corroded, part of a 10 lbs $8 parts-buy, that undoubtedly would never see service again. I removed the clamp and tried it in the Superbe levers, but the bolt was too short.

I have pre-purchased a full smorgasboard of M4-M6 stainless hardware (it's hard to find) over the past year when visiting various hardware stores. I found a M5 25mm bolt, 2 washers, and a nut. I ground down the sides of the bolt head with my dremel, then polished it up again. Then, using a flap wheel and sandpaper, I polished up the lever clamp to be like new. Then, I brush plated it with my brush chroming set.

As a result, I repaired the penultimate brake with small parts from one of the most humble brake levers in history ...

What a great feeling !! What is your greatest kluge to get high end stuff back onto the road ?? Thanx, Harvey !!

- Don Gillies
San Diego, CA, USA