Centrepull brakes for mud clearance

General CX/MTB
1

(thought I’d put this up as a public service - i couldn’t find a huge amount of info on using these specifically for offroad so maybe this thread will attract some wisdom and help someone one day)

So, I’ve been riding my Steamroller offroad a lot this year - a bunch of TWBD rides, all the Dirty Deeds Cyclocross races and various Yarra Trails excursions for instance. I’ve been running 35mm knobbies and they just fit in the frame with only a little bit of wiggle room. Not much tire clearance + offroad adventures = this /////


IMG_0612 by king of fishes, on Flickr

What a drag!

So, that’s why CX bikes have big tire clearance and use cantilever brakes. But what if you don’t want to (or can’t) run cantis? There is another way! Go back to the future with centrepull brakes :


Gran Compe 610 Rear by king of fishes, on Flickr


Gran Compe 610 Front by king of fishes, on Flickr

Gran Compe 610 centrepull brakes. They mount just like a normal sidepull caliper - no canti braze-ons required - but they give you significantly more tire clearance than a sidepull. Plus they look rad.

Braking power is awesome (I run Kool Stop salmons) and they have a different feel than sidepulls - according to conventional wisdom they have “better modulation”. They certainly feel a lot smoother and the harder you pull them the harder they bite. Hm, sounds a bit obvious but, yeah, they definitely feel nicer than my old sidepulls. I hit the moderately rocky downhills of Hans Loop and Tikalara the other day and, though I was still dangerously out of control in places, it certainly wasn’t due to lack of braking power.

I bought them on the internest direct from Velo Orange but only because I didn’t realise that Commuter Cycles (DDCX sponsors!) stock them locally. Bah!

Anyway, I’ll probably check back in a while to bang on about them some more and say how they’re going.

Oh, and thanks for the idea Tom. I’ll go broke if I keep listening to you :wink:

2

Centrepulls! The brakes that time forgot. If you’re DIYing a cheap CX bike, an old Peugeot / Raleigh etc will have scads of clearance, pair this up with a set of MAFACs / Pauls / Weinmanns / Dia-Compes and you’re laughing. Huw @ Commuter raced a Peugeot with MAFACs in DDCX and WarbyCX.

You can now get smooth stud cartridge pads that have toe adjustment, this will improve the performance and squealing of MAFACs greatly. VO did it first, now TRP are doing it too, but they’re stupidly overpriced to save a couple of grams. Weinmanns and the Dia-Compe/Gran-Compes use threaded stud pads.

If you want to get serious-er, ask Tristram @ Commuter about brazing centrepull pivots onto your frame/fork. This is a great upgrade to their performance.

There are hundreds of Weinmann Vainqueur (610/750/999) brakes out there that cost almost nothing and only need a polish, bushing lube and a new pair of Salmon Koolstops to provide excellent braking.

[](http://www.velo-pages.com/main.php?g2_view=core.DownloadItem&g2_itemId=28963&g2_serialNumber=2)

The real hotness are the ball bearing pivot Dia Compe NGC450B and the art deco CLB 2 Course with a solid straddle wire that acted as a return spring , I still kick myself for not buying a pair that showed up on ebay.au a while back.

Dia Compe NGC450B:

CLB Course 2:

And if you have a pair of MAFAC Top 63’s, they’re useless and you should just mail them to me for disposal.

The only consideration is a cable stop and a barrel adjuster. Angry’s used a deep drop headset hanger, and there is also model with a built in adjuster too. For the rear Angry has the adjustable Surly hanger that ships with the Cross Check / Long Haul Trucker, but if you have a traditional seatpost clamp you can use the basic and cheap MAFAC / DC / etc hanger. For adjusters, there are inline ones from Jagwire (Abbotsford stock these), but better still for the rear are the ‘Mickey’ ones, that fit into your TT cable stops. Good luck getting these in Oz though (that said, Abbotsford & Commuter Cycles are now stocking QBP parts).

I’ll be using Dia Compe Mod 750s which have 62-78mm of reach in order to 650B-ify a 700C frame that already has fender clearance. A better option than the Tektro R556 dual pivot (55-73mm reach) which gets a bit flexy at the long end. I also have a nice pair of Dia Compe roller straddle hangers in the parts bin, just to bling it out a little.

3

Yeah … what he said :wink:

And if Blakey’s busy I’ll take 'em off your hands and pay postage. They’re crap and dangerous and so un-stylish too !!!

4

One more thing: Watch your pad adjustment. As the pads wear (quite fast with CX as Nikcee’s found out) the arm moves them in and up towards your sidewall, so readjust to avoid shredding your tyre.

5

Links please! Is this the new Kool Stop Mafac pads? Or something else?

6

i faced a similar issue yesterday afternoon putting a rear brake on my pub bike (what’s that officer - i have THREE brakes! and a honka hoota)

but as its a pub bike and expenditure must be limited i simply swapped the 32c rando for a 28c rubino and i had enough clearance to spin the wheel again.

the more i look at these brakes - the more i like them.

oh and koolstop salmons FTW…

7

i suspect he is talking about these
or these

8

Nik’s on the money. Don’t pay USD$70 when $10 gets you the exact same functionality. Commuter stock them.

Then fill with your compound of choice.

(BTW, For centrepulls without mud clearance, have a look at modern TT/Tri bikes.)

9

Whoa! That’s awesome, thanks Blakey. As you spotted, I still need to sort out a barrel adjuster for the front. Thanks for the tip on watching out for pad wear - hadn’t considered that.

The Gran Compes come with threaded stud cartridges that do have some adjustment in them (which is good because I noticed some squeal the other day). Is adjustability the only advantage of the smooth studded cartridges? Or is there something else that makes them better?

Those CLB’s are hot!

10

Smooth stud brakes are painful to deal with. The only advantage I’ve been able to think of is that the arms on centerpulls are slightly stiffer when you rotate the clamp for them. You could also mount the pads further in or out on the arms and vary the brake geometry by moving the straddle cable-brake arm location a little (more of a canti thing though). Until the toe-able pads were introduced toeing in was achieved by judicial application of a Very Big Lever on the arms themselves.

The CLBs are also self energising. (Pivots aren’t at 90º to the rim)

I have a pair of (NOS NIB!!) Jagwire inline barrel adjusters if you need some. JensonUSA decided that even though I sent them a part code and photo they’d send me these instead of the Mickey’s I wanted.

11

Ah, gotcha. I’ll stick with the stock cartridges then.

May yet take you up on the offer of that barrel adjuster - just need to get a minute to do some googling to see what my options are.

Cheers!

12

This thread has solved a major and possibly expensive issue for me, so thanks very much. now eyeing off mafac brake sets

13

Just ask Commuter, Tris seems to have a decent supply. (Also, I have a pair if you want them)

14

cool will be in touch. will trade you $$ and a home cooked italian meal

15

Bicorp have Jagwire in-line brake adjusters pt # JWILAB. Don’t buy them all because I need some! $15 - $20 retail/pr.

16

+1 to awesome thread. I was looking at putting a set of Gran Compe 610s on my Steamroller! I was keen on Paul Racers, until I found the Gran Compe for basically half the price with a mini-rack included!