Originally Posted by
noglider
I noticed a difference between Weinmann center pulls and Dia Compe calipers that look identical. The Weinmanns have two windings (or really one and a half) on the springs, and Dia Compe have three (or really two and a half). You can see this from the sides or tops.
Another difference I noticed was in performance. On bikes equipped with Dia Compe brakes, the leverage was higher. You needed less hand pressure, but if the brake wasn't adjusted tight, the lever would reach the bar before applying full force. We used to say that they felt spongier. I think the difference was in the lever, not the caliper. Perhaps the pivot point in the lever was closer to the cable attachment point in the handle. I don't know for sure.
FWIW and strictly IME, I never could find any real difference in performance or even construction between the Dia Compe and Weinmann versions of these center pull brakes. I've looked for it, because it was pretty common for mechanics to say they were different BITD. Maybe there could be a slightly different hand feel because of the difference in springs that you mention. I think that is kind of trivial though. I find them virtually identical for all practical purposes - based on working on probably thousands of them.
Now, there is a big and real difference between the 610 and 750 versions of either brand. The long reach 750 type are noticeably more squooshy feeling and weaker, for fairly obvious reasons: the longer arms flex more and the MA is less. So if you compare a Weinmann 610 to a Dia Compe 750, yeah, the latter is going to lose. Mixed 610/750 sets were once common, as many here probably remember.
Another thing that makes a difference is the straddle wire length. New reissues only come with one length, but BITD you could get them in a wide variety of sizes. This definitely changes both the feel and the subjective braking strength. It's possible at various times one brand more commonly came with a different straddle length than the other.
For sure both companies used a variety of pads over the years. I might buy that Weinmanns came with better pads, at least some of the time, though I never noticed any big difference myself. Could be though. Might account for something.
I never noticed any differences in the red dot drop levers from either marque, but I never pulled apart a pair of each for inspection. I suppose it's possible something could be different. In my old shop, we used to keep just one little bin of those red dot pivots, and they would fit into both brands of lever no problem. I'd infer from this that everything else inside the levers was the same as well, but like I said I never did do a comparison take apart inspection, so who knows.