I am about to fit Tektro 359 dual pivot calipers on my daughter's Raleigh Mixte. It has straight handlebars with flat bar Weinmann levers (1980s) that currently pull Weinmann 650s with little effect. Will the old levers be any good with the new calipers, or do I have to dump them as well and shell out for Nexave levers or something similar?
Dual pivot calipers/old Weinmann levers?
- Thread starter Sterba
- Start date
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sidevalve
Über Member
Curious about the old weinmann brakes - what exactly is the problem ? As I recall if well set up these could be very good. Are you looking at another problem, are the rims chrome ? what type of brake material are you using ? If the real problems are as above you might not get the result you hope simply by increasing the leverage.
RecordAceFromNew
Swinging Member
- Location
- West London
Don't know what a 650 looks like but if it is like the 605 then I think you will find the new long drop Tektro are about 20% more powerful, with a corresponding need to have tighter pad/rim clearance to avoid levers bottoming at the bars. As sidevalve said better pads and if possible avoiding chrome rims would also help.
Assuming those levers match the old brakes, that is. If they don't all bets are off. They match if the cable pulled is around 4 times less than the lever pull/travel at the index and middle fingers.
Assuming those levers match the old brakes, that is. If they don't all bets are off. They match if the cable pulled is around 4 times less than the lever pull/travel at the index and middle fingers.
I fitted the Tektro dual pivot to the front and it has given a great improvement in front braking compared to the old Weinmann single pivot caliper. The old lever works fine with the new brake, so that problem has gone away.
The problem now is that the bike is a Raleigh Mixte, ie ladies' bike, and the cable for the rear brake comes up from underneath, and the cable clamp is on the top caliper. I can't find a dual pivot brake that can accommodate this. The outer cable has to go into the top of a modern caliper. I don't want one of those horrible little wheels that you clamp to the seat pin and run the cable over so that it is heading down to the brake again, they don't work well and soon make the back brake stiff (unless you constantly lubricate them).
Anyone have any good ideas?
The problem now is that the bike is a Raleigh Mixte, ie ladies' bike, and the cable for the rear brake comes up from underneath, and the cable clamp is on the top caliper. I can't find a dual pivot brake that can accommodate this. The outer cable has to go into the top of a modern caliper. I don't want one of those horrible little wheels that you clamp to the seat pin and run the cable over so that it is heading down to the brake again, they don't work well and soon make the back brake stiff (unless you constantly lubricate them).
Anyone have any good ideas?
RecordAceFromNew
Swinging Member
- Location
- West London
Not so much a good idea, just do what can be done I think... Just reroute cable from
to
to
Davidc
Guru
- Location
- Somerset UK
I can confirm that that works.
To quote Sheldon Brown:
"Another common approach on mixte frames is to use a pulley behind the seat cluster to redirect a cable downward to a centerpull brake at the seatstays. The convoluted cable routing results in much inferior brake performance."
I am now wondering about the possibility of mounting a dual pivot brake on the bridge of the mixte downtubes.
"Another common approach on mixte frames is to use a pulley behind the seat cluster to redirect a cable downward to a centerpull brake at the seatstays. The convoluted cable routing results in much inferior brake performance."
I am now wondering about the possibility of mounting a dual pivot brake on the bridge of the mixte downtubes.
In the end I installed the Tektro dual pivot in the usual place, on the seat stay bridge, with the outer and inner cables entering from underneath anchored in a length adjuster screw that screwed into the hole left by removing the cable clamp, then, above the top arm, I clamped the inner cable with a pinch bolt I found that was square at one end and a nut at the other, with a thick washer in between. Being square, I could hold it in a spanner while I tightened up the bolt. It sits above the brake, held in place by the tension in the spring. It looks a little inelegant, but it works. Job done, thanks all for comments.
