While unpacking one of those NOS Legnano city bikes from Poland today with
my friend Bill I noticed the Universal brakes on it. I mentioned to Bill
that there had been much discussion of late about breaking the arms on them
while attempting to set toe in.
"Yup", he said, "You gotta heat 'em". Now when a guy with forty years of
bike shop experience says such a thing to me my ears perk right up.
I asked him if he used to heat them back in the day and he asserted he had.
I then asked what he used, a hair dryer or a heat gun. I was laughing right
out loud when he told me "Heat gun or hair dryer...why we used to even have
an old toaster we heated 'em in."
I didn't ask him if it had a Bagel setting, but the image of this old outlaw
heating brake arms in a toaster was a lot of fun, I thought.
Anybody out there ever tried heating them before bending?
Tom Sanders
Lansing, Mi USA