Weinmann Side Pull Caliper Brakes

[Nebulous]

Can't believe people are waxing lyrical about them. Weinmann or not those are cheap brake calipers on a cheap bike and would not have worked brilliantly well even when new.Do they even have a model code? i suspect not. If the rider is going to be attaining any useful speeds on that bike then for safety's sake either get some better calipers or at the very least fit new cables and some Aztec road brake pads which will 'upgrade' them for a few pounds and give better stopping power..Buying Swisstop pads would be extravagant to say the least on what are 'toyshop' quality brake calipers.
Oh, and if those rims are chrome, i would get rid of them, again for safety's sake.

I don't really see anybody waxing lyrical about them, most people seem to be adding major caveats to their use. Mine are so bad in the wet that I am renovating an old bike to use when it has been raining!

I've just taken a trip out to the shed, in the wet and mine are stamped type 730, so they are different from the ones pictured. The name Weinmann is also stamped on, rather than painted.

I found an early 80s bike and have wanted to keep it as original as possible, and also didn't want to spend too much money on it. I use it for a 2 mile commute and for work miles if I have to go to meetings. The only new parts have been replacement tubes and the front axle. I'm even running on 30 year old tyres. I don't know what you regard as useful speeds, but I've now done 178 miles on it, and have had it up to about 35 mph downhill.

 

[grimpeur]

I don't really see anybody waxing lyrical about them, most people seem to be adding major caveats to their use. Mine are so bad in the wet that I am renovating an old bike to use when it has been raining!

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Well this poster was singing their praises, in case you missed it:

I think this is the important point about Weinmanns. They are a wonderful brake, but only if you really put a bit of effort into it. It took me a while to realise that too. You need good hand strength to get the best from them.

 

[Nebulous]

Well this poster was singing their praises, in case you missed it:

Well even that is a bit of a back-handed compliment - and I included under my major caveats, 'really put a bit of effort into it' 'you need good hand strength to get the best from them.' Both of those phrases imply some limitations!

I kind of agree with you though, without having the experience you have. I'm using mine because they are original, and to be honest they are a hundred miles away from the brakes on my road bike. I've just upgraded those from Tiagra to 105 and they are effective, well-modulated, and reliable.

 

[tyred]

Well this poster was singing their praises, in case you missed it:

I think to describe them as toyshop brakes and declare them dangerous is unfair. With alloy wheels and decent pads and proper adjustment, they will provide all the stopping power most cyclists will ever need. They are a very well constructed component and they are certainly not dangerous, if you find them dangerous, perhaps you need to learn to read the road better. If they were dangerous, where are all these dead cyclists as they have been used by millions of cyclists all over the world? They do require more hand pressure to work effectively than most modern calipers, but that doesn't mean they don't work.

The real issue is that the long reach required for many bikes like the OP mean that the mechanical advantage of this or any other similar long reach caliper is less than a short reach caliper, so they're never going to compare to the short reach calipers found on modern road bikes. But, this long reach is what makes these frames so practical with all the room in the world for mudguards and practical wide tyres for people who want a practical bike, usable in all weathers.

Oh, and they are lighter than a dual pivot if you're worried about such things.

 

[tyred]

Oh, and if the OP does want to improve braking on that bike and keep things period, shove a set of Weinmann or preferably Mafac centre pulls on it.

 

[grimpeur]

I think to describe them as toyshop brakes and declare them dangerous is unfair. . They are a very well constructed component and they are certainly not dangerous, if you find them dangerous, perhaps you need to learn to read the road better. If they were dangerous, where are all these dead cyclists as they have been used by millions of cyclists all over the world? They do require more hand pressure to work effectively than most modern calipers, but that doesn't mean they don't work.


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I don't remember saying they were dangerous or that they didn't work.I didn't in fact.You made that bit up.
The lack of 'dead cyclists' as you suggest is statistically more to do with the low speeds and miniscule miles most leisure cyclists and typical users of this bike are used to doing than with any shortcoming in the performance of their brake calipers.

 

[colinr]

For the sort of speeds the bike will see, they're doing ok now. I'm just used to modern callipers with koolstop salmons adjusted to within a fraction of their lives, so these were strange and unfamiliar.

Do you mean one brake pad touches the rim first, and then the other one follows, when the lever is pulled? If so, that is fine on single pivot brakes such as these.

Or if you mean that one brake pad is always touching the rim unless the gap is large, then you can adjust this by fiddling with the bolt/nut that secures the caliper on the other side of the frame (or fork).

The second one, I can't get them adjusted anywhere near as tight as what I'm used too, otherwise they don't spring off the rim far enough.

 

[Scilly Suffolk]

Difficulty in centring the brakes is, unfortunately, a characteristic of cheap single caliper brakes: the single pivot and the nutted mount mean that they will tend to sit on one side, even if you do centre them initially.

I'm running an 1989 Peugeot on its original Weinmann Alpha long reach calipers, but have swapped the pads for cartridges and fitted good quality cables: I've done close to 5,000km so far this year without incident.

Even so the difference between them and the hex bolt mounted dual pivot calipers on my other bike is profound. However I have aluminium rims and I don't know what options you have with chrome rims.

Provided your Wife is aware of their limitations and rides accordingly they will be fine: I don't imagine she'll be drafting the peloton at 40 mph on it.