Per my recollection of some rather dusty postings to the CR list in the past from the British contingent, the Altenburger dual pivot brakes (and their GB Synchron / Weinmann Symmetric branded equivalents) were favored by tricycle riders (front wheel braking only) for their above average stopping power.
I have had good luck with them even with old, hardened pads. I'm guessing that fitting a set of koolstop pads to them would really yield a good braking system.
Charlie "have to get around to building up my barrow" Young Honey Brook, Pennsylvania USA
> Nels Cone wrote:
>
> Remeber these those ALTENBURGER dual pivot brakes that never took off,
> then Shimano came to rule the world (off topic). check them out on this
> 70s Bottechia
>
> http://ebay.com/
>
>
> In respect to those that came before me, "all that is old is really new"
> ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
> I keep a set or two of the Altenburgers around both because they are
> interesting, and because occasionally they solve a real problem. For
> example, they were the cat's meow for getting decent braking on a first
> generation Moulton small-wheel bike, where the rear swing-arm really
> didn't have clearance for a good (long-reach) a side-pull, and at both
> ends, where movement of the suspension made rigging centerpulls really
> difficult. The Moulton was sold with classic British sheet-stamped
> side-pulls, one step up (maybe) from the old push-on-the-tire rod brakes.
> But I'm not prejudiced or anyting.
>
> Besides working, the Altenburger dual-pivots have an enormous coefficient
> of funk, routinely blowing the minds of newbies. :-)
>
> harvey sachs
> mcLean va