At 2:42 PM -0700 10/24/09, verktyg wrote:
>Just changing the brake block was an option too but it usually had
>little effect.
I have ridden a good number of bikes with Mafac brakes - centerpulls of various models, with and without brazed-on pivots, as well as cantilevers. Different bikes, different rims. The ones with Mafac blocks squeal. The ones with Matthauser or Kool-Stop salmon pads don't squeal. The ones that squealed stopped squealing when I replaced the pads with Kool-Stop salmon pads. The same has worked for friends as well.
I never bother to toe in the brakes, as the pads grind themselves into the correct shape during the first rainy ride anyhow.
Kool-Stop's replacement pads for Campagnolo brakes (pre-2000 model, but not NR/SR) fit the Mafac holders, but for the best fit, you want to file down the holders a bit, as the new pads are thinner. We had a little report, with the model number, in the "Brake Special" of Bicycle Quarterly (Winter 2008, Vol. 7, No. 2).
Jan Heine
Editor
Bicycle Quarterly
2116 Western Ave.
Seattle WA 98121
http://www.vintagebicyclepress.com