Originally Posted by
FastJake
The Paul Racer is NOT a bolt-on replacement for a MAFAC Raid for two important reasons: 1. The Paul Racer fits on larger cantilever studs (obviously in a different position than with cantis) so it will not fit on a centerpull stud, and 2. the Paul Racer is unlikely to have the correct reach. It is 57-72mm versus 66-80mm for a Raid. Further reading:
I am not sure about U-brakes but there are so many options it might be hard to figure out.
With that said, you are lucky to have braze-on Raids on your bike. They are considered one of the best brakes ever made for wide tires. In my opinion it would be quite a shame to cut off the braze-ons only to replace them with an inferior brake.
Pivots with excessive slop will ruin any brake. Please don't dismiss the Raids until you've tried them in good/refurbished condition.
thanks very much for the info. i didnt want to spend as much as the paul racers anyway and i had spotted from the photos that the wide tyres and mudguards would have problems with clearance.
thanks for the tips on the pivot bushings and hardware. i would be willing to try this as i can allways sell the raids as a resored set and hopefully get my money back if it doesnt work out.
its interesting to see that rene herse have opted for slightly thicker arms on their updated copy. i share their opinion that the slimness has come at the price of some significant flex.
as you said though it is a shocking price to have to pay for 4 brass bushings and a bag of washers.
have you any experience with the new diacompe gran compe centrepulls or the upgraded velo orange version? are these compatible with the raid studs? they would still work out cheaper than the raid hardware and would be a lot less work and again have thicker arms.
also just wanted to assure you that i i wasnt thinking of hacking up any nice pieces of bike history. the bike is custom frame that my late father had built about 10 years ago. its a sort of early prototype of the now very popular Gravel /Advebture Touring bike genre. its similar to an early french randonneur but with higher trail. eyelets for a proper rear rack and 130mm rear hub spacing. its built up with a mix of 90s XT mountainbike components and velo orange touring parts and the mafac raid brakes. its used as my daily cargo / school run (with weehoo trailer) as well as for some long wild camping tours. its never ridden unloaded so braking has allways been an issue.