A year ago I resurrected my from-new 1985 Raleigh Gran Tour and it’s now doing hard service as my only rainy day/winter/commuting bike.
Plans are to upgrade transmission to modern STI but priority was to upgrade the awful Weinmann centre pulls which, on wet downhills were lethal. In the dry they were nowhere the near as good as the modern dual pivots on my other bike.
Dimension-wise, the front is on the limit of the reach of the Vainquer 610 and the rear was just past this so I’ve been using a Vainquer 750 for this. After trying various types of brake block I knew the answer was better brakes.
The US company Tektro makes a brake just for this purpose, including a model with the old nut type of fixing. The R559 extra long drop dual pivot came from SJS at £35 in silver (Black was £55).
I fitted them using the existing (slightly tatty-ended) cables and kept the original pads despite all the internet chat about how Koolstop salmons are the only way to go. Levers are old 600 Tricolour.
Adjustment is lovely thanks to the rubber o-ring-gripped locking wheel and I set them quite tight to my still-true but quite worn old MA40s.
Last night was perfect testing conditions, pouring rain and lots of flooded roads.
After 20 hilly miles I have to say that I am very, very impressed. The performance of these new brakes is like day and night compared to the old “will they stop me in time” Weinmanns. I can actually go and ride hard in the wet now without fearing for my life!
As you can see, the Tektros have plenty of scope for deeper drops still, up to a claimed 73mm.
When I researched this subject I found virtually nothing on the internet, hence I thought I’d post this up to aid those in a similar position to me. I hope it’s of use to somebody.
Plans are to upgrade transmission to modern STI but priority was to upgrade the awful Weinmann centre pulls which, on wet downhills were lethal. In the dry they were nowhere the near as good as the modern dual pivots on my other bike.
Dimension-wise, the front is on the limit of the reach of the Vainquer 610 and the rear was just past this so I’ve been using a Vainquer 750 for this. After trying various types of brake block I knew the answer was better brakes.
The US company Tektro makes a brake just for this purpose, including a model with the old nut type of fixing. The R559 extra long drop dual pivot came from SJS at £35 in silver (Black was £55).
I fitted them using the existing (slightly tatty-ended) cables and kept the original pads despite all the internet chat about how Koolstop salmons are the only way to go. Levers are old 600 Tricolour.
Adjustment is lovely thanks to the rubber o-ring-gripped locking wheel and I set them quite tight to my still-true but quite worn old MA40s.
Last night was perfect testing conditions, pouring rain and lots of flooded roads.
After 20 hilly miles I have to say that I am very, very impressed. The performance of these new brakes is like day and night compared to the old “will they stop me in time” Weinmanns. I can actually go and ride hard in the wet now without fearing for my life!
As you can see, the Tektros have plenty of scope for deeper drops still, up to a claimed 73mm.
When I researched this subject I found virtually nothing on the internet, hence I thought I’d post this up to aid those in a similar position to me. I hope it’s of use to somebody.
