80's Steel Frame - New Brake Calipers

52Teeth

I have acquired a nice early 80's lugged steel road frame which is currently in the spray booth to become my spare/winter bike.

I had intended to fit my spare set of brake calipers to it to lose the retro braking performance, however the long alan key fittings wont fit / the fixing threads are too short for the frame.

So, does anybody know a way around this or some good modern brakes that have the long thread and hex nut traditional fixing?

Thanks.

ugo.santalucia

Campagnolo brakes come with nuts of three different sizes, so possibly your LBS should have some spares... just ask.

Some old frames only take calipers with long arms, that's another possible headache as there isn't much on the market in the way of long drop calipers

balthazar

SJS sell various long drop/nut fitting calipers —

http://www.sjscycles.co.uk/brakes-caliper-dept601_pg1/

Tektro have a pretty good range.

desmosedici

The Shimano BR-R600 might suit, but I'm not sure if they're still in production.

http://techdocs.shimano.com/media/techd ... 609104.pdf

craker

Doesn't your steel fork have a relatively narrow bridge? My experience is that the bolt attached to the calipers is over long, in which case put a hex nut on it instead of that allen key nut that disappears inside the frame.


When I came to building up my new carbon bike I found that all the bridges were extra chunky and I needed to find long nuts like you describe. Some kindly chap in China airmailed them to me for a modest sum.

here

keef66

Regardless of the fixing bolts you'll need longer drop brakes for that age of frame. There are plenty to choose from on t'interweb; Spa Cycles or SJS as mentioned above will have something to suit. I got a pair for £15 for an 80's Peugeot, and was pleasantly surprised to find that the frame was already drilled to take the allen key nuts