Athena D500 braking power

[The_Don]

I am looking at buying a really nice condition 1994 Bridgestone RB-1 and it has mostly Campagnolo Athena group set. It rides really nicely, reminds me of the Keirin bikes I used to ride in Japan.

The only issue was the brakes were really weak. This could just be that the pads and rims have not been broken in yet (the seller said he's only ridden it a few times since new, and it looks like it).

Brakes look like these.


Is it just that these brakes aren't very powerful compared to the 7800 Dura-Aces on my previous ride?

 

[hamster]

Definitely the pads need to wear in...those don't look like the right pads, which I think should have cast holders - I reckon those are earlier.

Most dual pivots will be more powerful than your single pivot; however it's amazing the extra power that you get as a result of new (and modern) cable inners and outers. I'd do the cabling first before swapping. Generally Campag dual pivot brakes seem to have a slight edge over Shimano.

 

[The_Don]

Re:

Sorry, that was an example photo of the brake calipers I found online.

I wanted to know if the brakes will always be so weak so I can think about replacing them.

 

[hamster]

Nobody died with the old brakes! Decent cables are the key. The limit will be the adhesion of the tyres and they still have enough power to chuck you over the bars if you are clumsy.

Yes modern dual pivots are more powerful, but it is unnecessary to brake with only one finger.

 

[pigman]

Re:

With dual pivots I can let it go and brake harsh at the bottom or just before the bend and it will bite hard. With single pivots you need to brake more before hand. I can compare directly. One bike has 5700 105 stis and I had single pivot 6400 tricolours calipers on. I have recently changed to 5800 105 DP calipers and the difference is amazing.

But like hamster says, you can still stop with single pivots, you just have to be less reckless.

BTW my riding area is an all steep hills and hairpins route.

 

[Jonny69]

You can't compare modern brake calipers with old ones. You just have to pull them harder.

Sounds like you need to import yourself a nice NJS Bridgestone frame. Then you won't have to worry about all this brake fliff flaff

 

[stefthehat]

Re:

Yes the brakes are squishy ive same set, they look lovely but have no snap to them, which is odd as any old Campag single pivots have v strong springs,but lots of these groups were sold

 

[The_Don]

Re:

Thanks very much. squishy was the feeling I had with them too. Apply a lot of power and they stopped. Just didn't have that feeling the 7800 brakes (or modern dual pivots) had.

 

[ShanDoom]

Can anyone suggest which modern brake pads work best with these D500's?

 

[Tamandua]

Re:

I have a pair of these and replaced the holders with modern cartridge types (cheap silver Clark ones I think) and salmon kool stops. It significantly improved the braking. However they are still no match for dual pivots, there is no contest , so for practicality I don't use mine anymore . Modern levers will help too. If you're using friction shifters the cane creek Scr-5 levers worked well for me . Very comfy. They are shaped like 2nd gen ergo levers and have a quick release

Some of the best looking calipers ever though!