Hey Jake, U-brakes predominantly became the industry standard for most commonly produced vintage mtb's mainly between 1987-88, though they started appearing as soon as 1985. By 1989 most were gone. I'm open to being corrected should someone know better. This is what I've observed in my vintage mtb nerdery from years ago.
The original u-brake's don't age very well, but Dia-Compe's new/modern u-brake offerings provide all the adjustability of a modern canti-lever. Slightly more difficult to access yes, but otherwise if well adjusted, it should not require attention for quite some time, like most brakes. -Armand "puts-the-nicest-u-brakes-on-his-bikes" in Santa Monica, CA On Friday, July 19, 2024 at 1:53:24 PM UTC-7 Jacob Kersey wrote: > > Hi Armand, lovely bikes, thanks for sharing. Plenty of care and attention > to detail evident in those builds and the photos you linked. > > Curious if you (or any of the vintage MTB oldheads on the list) have any idea > why the larger model has a chainstay mounted U-brake vs the rear canti > posts on the smaller bike? Was this a factory-specced difference between > sizes? Random variation? Custom post fab job? Almost picked one of these up > locally a few weeks back, but my U-brake bias got in the way. > > best of luck with the sale, > -Jake "u-brake-it-u-don't-buy-it" in Oakland, CA > On Friday, July 19, 2024 at 12:54:22 PM UTC-7 kiziria...@gmail.com wrote: > >> What? Vintage 1980's Specialized Stumpjumpers? On the RBW Owner's bunch? >> If having the entirety of parts from my Platypus complete put on one of >> these bikes is not considered blasphemy, well then I'm in luck. :) >> >> A very special pair of bikes I have meticulously restored with lots of >> custom details, like a *only-one-in-the-world* Merz Magenta/Dinucci >> Green Mt. Zefal frame pump and custom "vintage mtb nerd" bar end plugs. The >> larger of the two is setup as a period correct MTB, with the smaller setup >> as a Rivendell! >> >> RBW Owner's bunch pricing is $2500 OBO for *both* bikes. I am open to >> selling individually and/or shipping at buyer's expense. Local pick-up in >> Santa Monica. View my feeBay listing here >> <https://www.ebay.com/itm/176478395383> for more photos and full >> details! >> >> [image: IMG_3184.JPG] >> >> Happy Riding, >> Armand >> >> -- 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 view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/rbw-owners-bunch/59242591-aa72-47e2-a71c-85c62eafc741n%40googlegroups.com.