Originally Posted by
bikemig
I'm with you on this as well. The replacement parts for the mafacs make the most sense in a cost to performance basis. I picked up a 1970s era Libertas bike recently and I'm thinking of going with mafacs because they just look right on an old bike and work well.
Mafacs can be found at reasonable prices used. The compass bits run $125 which means that the total cost will be somewhere in the neighborhood of $150 plus depending on how much the racers cost. I doubt that OP wants old brakes on a new bike though. Still if the arms are polished, this would look spiffy!
https://www.renehersecycles.com/shop...erpull-brakes/
I like this 2016 (!) review of mafac brakes in cycling weekly:
https://www.cyclingweekly.com/news/l...-brakes-206323
Modern center pulls are just expensive (the dia compe 450s, paul, or compass) run $300 on up for a pair. The "cheapies" are the dia compe 610s at $170 the pair. That's about the same price as the mafac racers with the upgraded hardware.
Cost aside, a refurbished and polished set of mafac’s is literally going to look the same as the compass, because they are effectively identical. Performance will also be the same. I would consider it to be roughly speaking, a wash. So if you’re considering a new pair of brakes that looks identical to an old pair, what’s the difference? Can’t really go wrong with either choice, because performance will be equal.
Those gran compe’s are certainly pricey. I paid like $120 per brake! And I can’t possibly recommend them at that price because they perform no better than any other option. They do look good though, and are considerably lighter in weight than any other centerpull I’ve owned, if that matters. Extremely well made and probably the easiest to service, although the single piece spring is annoying. It can be converted to the typical two piece spring setup though and post mounted. I believe they only have 51 or 52mm of reach though. The Paul’s are also nice, but again, IMO,not worth the price overall as far as performance goes. But worth it in regards to American made, finely engineered and easily serviceable.