Retro/Classic brakes for a tour.

[velomentary]

Hello. Back again for advice. The two brake sets that came with a project bike are pretty naff after a few short rides. Is there a good quality retro or classic set of touring brakes, I'm happy with side pull if I can get them to work well for a tour with a probable side pannier. I'd prefer more retro/classic brakes but I'm new to touring brakes so just need to know where to start investigating for a second hand pair. Thanks for any advice. Bike is below for reference.

 

[bikeworkshop]

In reality if you want braking power you need to choose modern twin pivots.
Tektro and Acor make them deep drop with nutted fit - rather than modern socket.

Even the best vintage calipers didn't do much stopping.
Braking was an afterthought, and collisions were a way of life.

 

[zerogravitas]

Your main options for quality, well performing deeper drop caliper brakes are TRP RG 957s, Velo Orange's Grand Cru calipers and Shimano BR 451s. RG 957s are excellent from many thousands of miles of personal experience!

They are all (as far as I know) for modern top hat style Allen fittings rather than nuts however..

 

[velomentary]

Thanks - yes it would be nut connected. The Tektro type look fine to me to be honest for what I'm going to do. Can you use the other slide through modern fittings or is it better to use the original nut style? For me as long as it slows me on a Yorkshire hill I'll be happy. Thanks again for advice.

 

[bikeworkshop]

Sometimes the back of the fork is drilled (8.5mm?) so you can use a modern "sleeve nut" caliper, depends on the fork crown as to whether that's safe or not.
Ask an expert.

Don't do it on the brake bridge - although a modern front caliper sometimes has enough thread to reach through the back.

We stock those r559 tektros for this application.
They are the best value.

 

[grantoury]

I think Jtek offer a conversion bolt to use nuts on a modern set like the Tektro r559. I have those and would recommend them.

 

[bikeworkshop]

The r559 comes in a long bolt, nutted version, but that jtek conversion sounds useful

 

[hamster]

I've run Tektro R559s for 7 years now, really excellent with Campag Ergos. They even come with decent pads!

 

[pigman]

I found the old Weinmann centrepulls to be quite effective, but there are provisos.
First, I used modern MTB blocks, which aren't retro and look a bit chunky
Second, the modulation is poor by modern standards. They were powerful enough to stop, but it was an "all or nothing" action, which was fine for me, as I tend not to feather-brake, I tend to jam em on when I need to stop
Third, I used 80's Shimano levers rather than Weinmann.

 

[Glug]

I've been using 60's Mafac Racer center pulls recently, working fine with Kool Stop salmon pads.
Mainly used from the hoods and I can stop from there using 2 fingers each side.
Might help that I'm using 80's Weinmann AG drilled levers and modern cables.

Sheldon Brown:
"Mafac calipers provide as good braking performance as anything made today, once the rest of the braking system has been brought up to date."

From https://www.sheldonbrown.com/harris/mafac.html