Did Campagnolo Ever Make Centerpull Brakes?
#1
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Did Campagnolo Ever Make Centerpull Brakes?
I’ve never seen a vintage bike equipped with any, but I am far from the most knowledgeable person about this. I’ve just not ran across a set so I am curious...
#2
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No, they didn't. Making sidepull brakes cool again was kind of their thing.
There are two arguable exceptions to this: the Centaur U brake from their old MTB group, and of course the infamous Delta brakes.
There are two arguable exceptions to this: the Centaur U brake from their old MTB group, and of course the infamous Delta brakes.
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Way back the rumor mill was Zeus designed the 2000 center pull brake of theirs based on intel from Campagnolo...
Campagnolo made recently a center pull brake primarily for time trial use... if I had money to toss around, I would buy a pair.
Campagnolo made recently a center pull brake primarily for time trial use... if I had money to toss around, I would buy a pair.
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#8
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This brought a memory to mind. A fellow racer at the first Boul Mich Bike Rally(1974) in Chicago won a set of Campy brakes as a prime((sprint lap) prize in the Intermediate catagory. Thats was kids 12-14 years old. Even in '74 Campy brakes weren't that common. And to win them as a sprint prize was crazy.
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They won't. From what I've seen I they can barely accommodate a 25mm tire depending on the rim width. They are meant for modern aerodynamic skinny tire TT bikes.
#10
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So many moons ago that no-one, even at the factory, seems to be able to put a definitive date on it, they did make a brake that has some things in common with a centre-pull, in that it had two pivots and a straddle - but the straddle was two solid arms, with a central pivot, pivotted to the two brake arms, rather than cable. There is a solitary piece in the old reception hall at the factory. I don't even know if it was ever a production item - it may have been a prototype for something that was never commercialised in that form ...
I'll try and remember to ask next time I am there. The only person likely to know, though, is Valentino Campagnolo, Tullio's son ... and although he's in the factory most days, he's not a man you just casually drop in for a chat with!
The way that brake works is in contrast to how the Delta works, which strictly speaking is not a centre-pull but a type of para-pull, where the vertical compression of a diamond-shaped set of four linkages pushes two horizontally-opposing pivot points outward. The brake arms are pivoted to these horizontal points of the daimond and below the diamond such that the brake blocks, at the far end to the pivot, are forced towards one another ...
I'll try and remember to ask next time I am there. The only person likely to know, though, is Valentino Campagnolo, Tullio's son ... and although he's in the factory most days, he's not a man you just casually drop in for a chat with!
The way that brake works is in contrast to how the Delta works, which strictly speaking is not a centre-pull but a type of para-pull, where the vertical compression of a diamond-shaped set of four linkages pushes two horizontally-opposing pivot points outward. The brake arms are pivoted to these horizontal points of the daimond and below the diamond such that the brake blocks, at the far end to the pivot, are forced towards one another ...
Last edited by gfk_velo; 02-01-19 at 05:14 PM. Reason: spelling
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There is a current production centrepull - a recently released cantilever.
A machine made with them is available for viewing at Alex Singer.
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There is a current production centrepull - a recently released cantilever.
A machine made with them is available for viewing at Alex Singer.
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This brought a memory to mind. A fellow racer at the first Boul Mich Bike Rally(1974) in Chicago won a set of Campy brakes as a prime((sprint lap) prize in the Intermediate catagory. Thats was kids 12-14 years old. Even in '74 Campy brakes weren't that common. And to win them as a sprint prize was crazy.
In SoCal from time to time there were "ringer" prizes, the racer designated to win the prize was told... no real publicizing of it, this was back in the day of the "corinthian" racers, Cash was verboten.
But you could Sell that prize for cash...
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#14
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The central pull also used rigid linkages and as others have noted, was made for Campag by TRP.
Strictly speaking, a cantilver brake is not a centre-pull, it's why they have two different names ...
A canti is pivoted about a fixed point / boss on the frame or fork, where a centre-pull has both the auxilliary pivots attached to the frame via a single mounting, above and centred over, the auxilliary pivots.
I think the OP was asking about the latter, rather than the former?
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Strictly speaking, a cantilver brake is not a centre-pull, it's why they have two different names ...
A canti is pivoted about a fixed point / boss on the frame or fork, where a centre-pull has both the auxilliary pivots attached to the frame via a single mounting, above and centred over, the auxilliary pivots.
I think the OP was asking about the latter, rather than the former?
A canti is pivoted about a fixed point / boss on the frame or fork, where a centre-pull has both the auxilliary pivots attached to the frame via a single mounting, above and centred over, the auxilliary pivots.
I think the OP was asking about the latter, rather than the former?
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Recently saw these offered on the Bay as a "Motobecane Campagnolo" Brakeset. Somebody had told seller they were made by Campagnolo(but cable saddles are Dia-Compe)
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I would consider Delta brakes center-pull.
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Campy OR, Euclid and I think there was one more.
#19
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Yes , as said above The Euclid MTB group, It was a U brake center pull .. massive but of course done precisely
![](https://bicycletimesmag.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/Trials-bike-2_2.jpg)