Ok, I'm rather late to this discussion but after 35 years of riding I have set up and used a lot of brakes. The two worst brakes I have ever had were shimano (550?) cantis and an early, mid 80's diacompe canti. Both hard to set up and poor stopping with shimano levers. My favorite have been the Paul's neo-retros. They have been on a number of my bikes. I have sold the bikes but never the brakes. I have had a lot of other brakes I really liked. Campy Grand Sport, which I have had for 25years and are still on my winter bike. Chorus & Ultegra side pulls. Great power, good modulation, easy set up, but all needing regular attention. I have the posted racers on the tandem. and RacerM's on my Ram.
It's hard for me to compare the power of the Racers with the retros since the loaded tandem weighs 400+ lbs. However they do a pretty good job both in stopping the tandem and in modulation. My only complaint against them has been the opening. They are specked for 55mm fenders and 38 mm inflated tires, although I have managed to get the VO 60mm fenders under them. The Racer Ms on the Ram are fabulous for a fendered bike with mid size tires on them. When all is said and done, though the Neo-Retros overcome all of these problems. I have swapped out the pads for shortys and so they open up as wide as I need them. They never interfere with any fender. They are incredibly powerful and when matched with tectro levers offer great modulation. My only complaint against cantis is because they sit below the fenders, they get very dirty. When I bought my first set of Paul's I had a hard time setting them up. Once I learned how to work with these brakes I have found them the easiest brakes I own to set up and they hold that set up wonderfully. If anyone has a pair and is struggling with set up I would suggest studying their instructions http://www.paulcomp.com/shared/instructions/neoretro.pdf ) carefully and be patient with yourself. After you have worked with them a bit a light will go off and it will be very easy. If you have worked with other "modern" Cantis or CPs, its like switching from Windows to OSX. Confusion followed by, "Oh that's how you do it, simple." Good brakes can be a lifetime investment. I like that Paul sells all the wear parts individually and at reasonable prices. I expect these brakes to outlive me by many, many years. Michael On Wednesday, December 3, 2014 8:23:21 PM UTC-5, Patrick Moore wrote: > > Whoops, sorry, the replacement for the Dura Ace/Tourney front centerpull > was a dual pivot, 57 mm reach Shimano; salmon pads. > > > On Wed, Dec 3, 2014 at 6:21 PM, Patrick Moore <bert...@gmail.com > <javascript:>> wrote: > >> Someone on the boblist (I think) traded or gave me a pair of "Dura Ace" >> (so pantographed; Olof Stroh says Shimano sold these under the DA moniker >> for 6 months in 1976; but *in re *= Tourney) centerpulls that he had >> manually polished. Those were both exquisitely beautiful (until the >> unprotected aluminum oxidized) and more powerful than any Racer or Weinmann >> I've used -- possibly slightly shorter arms. But IME, good calipers (even >> single pivot) worked just as well -- all instances with salmon Kool Stops >> (but centerpulls all mounted with single bolt bracket). I replaced the DA >> centerpull on the Motobecane now owned by Eric after coming down a steep >> hill with 30 lb of groceries, hauling on the lever, and finding that, after >> a certain point, lever travel meant no augmentation of retardation. The 57 >> mm reach single pivot replacement worked better. >> >> On Wed, Dec 3, 2014 at 5:56 PM, Eric Norris <campyo...@me.com >> <javascript:>> wrote: >> >>> Seems to me you could get *almost* the same performance at a much lower >>> cost by sourcing some original Mafac Raids. Spend a little money to have >>> them professionally polished, and Voila! >>> >>> The Mafac Racers on my Motobecane are nearly as pretty, but they’re >>> about the most powerful brakes I own (including sidepulls, V brakes, and >>> more modern centerpulls). >>> >>> -- >>> >> > > > -- > Resumes, LinkedIn profiles, bios, and letters that get interviews. > By-the-hour resume and LinkedIn coaching. > Other professional writing services. > http://www.resumespecialties.com/ > www.linkedin.com/in/patrickmooreresumespec/ > Patrick Moore > Alburquerque, Nouvelle Mexique, Vereinigte Staaten > > ************************************* > *[I]n exploring the physical universe man has made no attempt to explore > himself. Much of what goes by the name of pleasure is simply an effort to > destroy consciousness. If one started by asking, what is man? what are his > needs? how can he best express himself? one would discover that merely > having the power to avoid work and live one’s life from birth to death in > electric light and to the tune of tinned music is not a reason for doing > so.”* > * > -- George Orwell, Pleasure Spots* > > *Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, and have not money, > I am become as a sounding brass, or a tinkling cymbal. And though I have > the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries, and all knowledge; and > though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, and have not > money, I am nothing. And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and > though I give my body to be burned, and have not money, it profiteth me > nothing. Money suffereth long, and it is kind; money envieth not; money > vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up, doth not behave unseemly, seeketh > not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil; rejoiceth not in > iniquity, but rejoiceth in the truth; beareth all things, hopeth all > things, endureth all things. . . . And now abideth faith, hope, money, > these three; but the greatest of these is money. * > * > -- George Orwell, Keep The Apidistra Flying* > -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "RBW Owners Bunch" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to rbw-owners-bunch+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. To post to this group, send email to rbw-owners-bunch@googlegroups.com. Visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/rbw-owners-bunch. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
