Since I've seen some activity on this thread I thought I'd chime back in
with some notes regarding my... ...***ongoing experiences*** with the Rene
Herse brakes. But first: a disclaimer that in NO WAY whatsoever am I trying
to make this any kind of general disparagement of Rene Herse products. If
their brakes didn't work, they wouldn't be able to sell them. So,
obviously, other people are perfectly happy with them, and this is just MY
personal experience.
I wanted a very old-world style randonneuse bike, so settled on a custom
frame that would support the RH center-pull brakes. Which, between the
frame and the brakes, represented quite an investment. The bike turned out
looking absolutely gorgeous...
...but, man, those brakes were an absolute nightmare to set up. I'm not the
world's greatest or most astute mechanic, but after something like 30 years
of wrenching on bikes, and as someone who does technical work for a living,
I know what I'm doing. I spent hours and hours and HOURS trying to get
those brakes dialed-in, and honestly never got them to where I ideally
wanted them to be.
And then -- wow -- on my first "serious" ride on the bike, I did a couple
fairly long, fast, semi-technical-ish descents... ...and those were a
couple of my most terrifying experiences on a bike, ever. If I got up to
speeds above ~25mph, I was NOT able to slow myself in time to
comfortably/safely make it through some of the tighter turns. I was out
into oncoming lanes, and if there'd been more traffic I'd have been in real
danger. No matter how hard I strangled the brake levers, it wasn't enough
to control speed. The only way to make it down safely was to ride the
brakes, hard, the whole time, keeping speed to around 15mph. It was
harrowing, and my hands were aching.
Don't get me started, regarding the squeal. Hoo boy... That is a whole
other story. I've set-up PLENTY of center pull and cantilever brakes, and
know all the ins-and-outs of how to prevent squeal. I've never experienced
anything quite like the decibel level of the sound produced by these brakes.
My set-up, BTW, was using the RH brakes WITHOUT the stock pulley straddle.
Per my previous experiences, as described in the original post, I could
never get them to work in a way that satisfied me of the set-up being
reliably safe. I used a different, more standard style yoke.
Again, I don't think that it is *specifically* the brakes, themselves, that
represented the issue. I think it was a combination of factors -- IDK --
cable compression, frame flex, etc. Just something about the set-up which
didn't work.
I should mention that for me, when it comes to brakes, I('ve learned that
I) prefer drop-dead simplicity, and a VERY responsive feel. I like to feel
the brakes biting the instant I apply lever pressure, and I expect to feel
true stopping power with only moderate pressure, on a descent.
Ultimately I sent the frame back to the builder for modifications to make
it work for standard side-pull calipers. I use the Tekro R559 long-reach
brake, now, with compressionless housing. Never been happier. The
performance is absolutely flawless. They are an absolute breeze to set-up,
and even look pretty nice. All for well under 100 bucks for the set.
All this said: for anyone that loves the brakes, or that pulley-style
straddle, and you can get it to work -- my hat's off to you.
And I am still a fan of Rene Herse -- the tires, cranks, racks, other small
parts: I love and will continue to purchase.
On Sun, Mar 16, 2025 at 1:17 AM Peter Adler <[email protected]> wrote:
> The MAFAC carrier is the one Dia-Compe cloned.The DC one is wiser, and has
> a slightly shallower angle; but I think th reason MAFAC uses a smaller
> diameter cable is because the gap between front and back of the carrier is
> narrower, so a wider brake cable doesn't get all the way down into the
> bottom of the curve. MAFAC just used narrower cable all around, presumably
> because smaller not-North American he-manly riders weren't honking down on
> brake levers, so there was less risk of snapping a straddle cable (FWIW,
> although I have seen snapped straddle cables, I have never witnessed one
> snapping, nor have I ever heard a story from anyone claiming to have
> witnessed/experienced same).
>
> Those of us who have been (and are about to be again) habitual users of
> MAFAC Racer/RAID centerpulls and barcons should already know this One Neat
> Trick: The recess on the straddle cable bobbin (well, it LOOKS like a
> bobbin) that these brake models use* is the same size as a Campagnolo shift
> cable nipple. If you buy the superlong Jagwire tandem cables to get from
> your barcon to your rear derailleur, that cable comes with both
> Shimano/Suntour and Campagnolo nipples at the opposite ends. Cut off the
> Campagnolo end, run your shifter cable, and save the cut-off cable end to
> replace your MAFAC straddle cables with ones that aren't 50+ years old.
>
> I don't know about other locales, but the SF Bay Area is where old French
> bikes have come to retire and rust away for over 50 years. Around here,
> every shop that hasn't emptied out its trash recently and every community
> bike shop is overflowing with MAFAC bits. My guess is that this area is not
> unique; a lot of Bike Boom bikes from France/Belgium/Switzerland/UK came
> with MAFACs.
>
> About ten years ago, before Missing Link in downtown Berkeley closed its
> separate repair shop and consolidated in one storefront, they had a heap of
> discarded bike parts at the back of the shop taken off customers' bikes and
> not yet trashed. For liability reasons, none of the parts were for sale,
> but several of the repairmen indulgently permitted me to root around and
> look for interesting old bits. At one point, I went through and separated
> all the MAFAC centerpulls and associated accessories out of the pile; as I
> remember, I came away with 12-15 sets, and hauled them all away. On at
> least one other occasion, I've done the same thing at a local bike kitchen,
> as the youngs operating the place thought that centerpulls were grandpa
> brakes.
>
> So I have a stash, or at least I used to have one; I've given a lot of
> MAFAC bits away over the years, and built up MAFAC-equipped bikes for other
> people. If someone's desperate for MAFAC straddle cable hangers, drop me a
> line. Until I get tired of it or feel like I'm running low, I'll root
> through my stash and send a pair for...hell, I don't know; how about $5+a
> buck or two for shipping?
>
> * as do some other MAFAC centerpull models; the notable exception is the
> short-reach Competition, which uses a cable unlike all other MAFACs
>
> Peter "Recycling Cheapskate" Adler
> frantically trying to build up a 1969 Raleigh Competition beater out of
> his parts stash (including MAFACs with Spence Wolfe-style brake boosters),
> to replace the 1984 Trek 720 he left on a BART train two weeks ago
> (probably never to be seen again) as his pack mule in
> Berkeley, California/USA
>
> On Saturday, March 15, 2025 at 1:27:54 PM UTC-7 John Hawrylak, Woodstown
> NJ wrote:
>
> Scott stated: " Try the real MAFAC straddle carrier,..." Scott,
> sounds good, a few questions:
>
> Isn't the Mafac carrier just a sliding one, like the standard Dai Compe??
>
> Does the Mafac carrier "bend" more than Dia Compe and the larger angle
> allow use the 1.2mm cable??
>
> Is there a source for these, or just from old Mafac's???
>
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