It's not impossible that there was something incorrect in their installation, but I do have other bikes with DiaComp centerpulls, plus the usual assortment of sidepulls, V-brakes, cantilever brakes, and disk brakes, so I think the problem was not installation-related.
The fork I was using was built for 700C and required long-reach Tektro 559's to reach the rims. Then I switched it over to 650B and used some Tektro cyclo-cross sidepulls which worked fine (they got me through PBP in 2011) but have no quick-release, so they were a pain in the butt. That's why I switched to the Raid's, on which the pad-holders had to be pushed right down the bottom of the slot, maximizing the length of the lever arm. Standing astride the bike, squeezing the brake as hard as I can, and pushing hard down and forward, I could rock the bike and see the brake arms flex back and forth several mm at the pad-end. Enough that if I set the pads parallel to the rim, then under braking force their front tips would angle upward toward the edge of the tire. So I set the angle pointed slightly downward so that under braking force with the arms flexed forward, the pads would be parallel to the rim. The Raid brakes themselves were bought on EBay from some charity in France that buys old bike parts and then resells them and donates the proceeds to charity. They were clearly used, but I would not think that that would make them more flexible, just more likely to fail. I did replace the red plastic pivot sheaths with brass ones bought from a guy in Israel, which helped somewhat. If your Compass centerpulls had been available when I decided to get the new fork made, I might well have gone with them. But buying NOS Raid's, plus fancier build requirements to get the Mafac braze-ons correct, was too daunting so I went the easy, cantilever route. Anyway, for long-reach centerpulls, braze-ons are the way to go, in my opinion! Nick On Tuesday, March 10, 2015 at 4:23:35 PM UTC-4, Jan Heine wrote: > > I think there was something very wrong with your Raid setup, so I am glad > you are using a better-performing brake now! Being able to stop well is > important, and it's not worth risking an emergency room visit to try and > save a few dollars. > > Your braking problem is difficult to diagnose from a distance, and there > are many variables with bolt-on centerpulls. The interface between the yoke > and the fork crown matters greatly (unlike on a modern sidepull, where the > bolt takes all the load). If the fork crown is shaped in a way that makes > that interface less-than-optimal, it might affect your brake power. For > example, a curved surface, or a raised lip around the hole... That would be > my first guess. > > That is one of the reasons we offer the Compass centerpull brakes only for > braze-on mounting. With dedicated braze-ons, you eliminate any flex at the > fork crown/brake yoke interface, as well as within the brake yoke itself. > As long as you have decent pads and rims, your stopping power and > modulation will be among the best of any brake ever made. > > Jan Heine > Compass Bicycles Ltd. > Seattle WA USA > http://www.compasscycle.com > > Follow our blog at http://janheine.wordpress.com/ > > On Tuesday, March 10, 2015 at 8:15:11 AM UTC-7, NickBull wrote: >> >> Sorry, don't know. I was just comparing between bikes so ... on the Ram >> I could come to a full stop before the house number painted on the curb, >> but with the Raid's I came to a full stop about ten feet after. I would >> guess the stopping distance was about 25 feet on the Ram, but that doesn't >> mean a whole lot because I don't remember my target speed, and of course >> the downward angle of the road matters. >> >> On Monday, March 9, 2015 at 9:49:12 PM UTC-4, ted wrote: >>> >>> Guess I'm lucky and/or not discerning, since I'm pretty satisfied with >>> how my Raid brake is working. >>> Mildly curious, what was your stopping distance with with Shimano >>> medium-reach brakes on your Rambouillet? >>> >>> On Monday, March 9, 2015 at 9:21:45 AM UTC-7, NickBull wrote: >>>> >>>> After a couple of years of trying to get my Raid brakes with arches and >>>> Kool Stop red pads to 1) not squeal intermittently, and 2) brake >>>> effectively, I finally gave up and bought a new fork for which I could >>>> mount cantilever brakes. The final straw was a comparison test that I did >>>> on a gentle hill near where I live, where I rode several bikes at a >>>> constant 20mph speed toward a particularly noticeable crack crossing the >>>> road and then did a panic stop at that point. The stopping distance was >>>> best for the Shimano medium-reach brakes that came on my Rambouillet, and >>>> only slightly worse for Dia Compe 600's and for Tektro CR720's and R559's. >>>> >>>> For the Raid's it was a good ten feet of additional stopping distance. >>>> Note that on my Raid brakes, in order for them to contact the rim at the >>>> correct angle, the pad-holders were slammed as far down as possible in the >>>> slots, creating the longest possible lever arm. That may be why I had so >>>> much difficulty getting these adjusted for acceptable braking distances. >>>> Bolt-on Raid's would probably (but not definitely) have solved the >>>> problem, >>>> so I had to make a hard choice between having Waterford build up a >>>> cantilever fork or one with Mafac braze-ons. Since they had no experience >>>> with the latter, I was not all that confident that they'd get it right, >>>> and >>>> since my Raid's were bought used and have some noticeable wear, I decided >>>> that the millions of people riding on cantilever brakes (including me on >>>> my >>>> Burley tandem and Soma Grand Randonneur) are probably not making too big >>>> of >>>> a mistake, and I joined them. >>>> >>>> Nick >>>> >>>> On Saturday, March 7, 2015 at 11:04:48 PM UTC-5, ted wrote: >>>>> >>>>> Minor update. >>>>> This morning I took a little time and got the toe in down to something >>>>> approaching the amount I typically find works well on other brakes I have >>>>> set up. >>>>> Rode up hill and down dale after that. The raid worked just fine. >>>>> Lever travel is about what I like. No squealing (except one or two modest >>>>> very low speed chirps). Braking power seemed fine to me. Controlled speed >>>>> and stopped the bike just fine. >>>>> One caveat, I don't think I am a particularly demanding brake user. >>>>> I've got no complaints about how the CR720s and R559s I have used >>>>> perform. >>>>> I gather some find those under powered and can't stand em, so as usual >>>>> YMMV. >>>>> >>>>> On Saturday, March 7, 2015 at 7:53:45 AM UTC-8, A. L Young wrote: >>>>>> >>>>>> >>>>>> On Fri, Mar 6, 2015 at 6:19 PM, ted <ted....@comcast.net> wrote: >>>>>> >>>>>>> It's a bit lost in the mists of time, but I think I bought the aero >>>>>>> levers to replace older non aero levers, and that they seemed the same >>>>>>> (except for being "aero"). Do you know when levers started having more >>>>>>> mechanical advantage? Was that a Mafac versus others differentiator? >>>>>> >>>>>> >>>>>> My understanding is that the more modern aero levers have more >>>>>> mechanical advantage than the older non-aero style due to the position >>>>>> of >>>>>> the pivot in the handle and direction of cable pull. I've used both >>>>>> types >>>>>> and when set up correctly had no complaints about braking, so maybe the >>>>>> mechanical-advantage advantage isn't the biggest issue. >>>>>> >>>>>> Aaron Young >>>>>> The Dalles, OR >>>>>> >>>>> -- 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.
