MAFAC Racer drop bolt?
#1
Senior Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: Aug 2007
Location: Evanston, IL
Posts: 5,093
Bikes: many
Mentioned: 63 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 1444 Post(s)
Liked 1,392 Times
in
760 Posts
MAFAC Racer drop bolt?
MAFAC Raids are expensive, Racers are not. Is there such a thing as a drop bolt for Racers?
#2
Senior Member
Join Date: Sep 2005
Location: Oakland, CA
Posts: 3,265
Bikes: '82 Univega Competizione, '72 Motobecane Grand Record, '83 Mercian KOM Touring, '85 Univega Alpina Uno, '76 Eisentraut Limited
Mentioned: 57 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 1088 Post(s)
Liked 1,205 Times
in
701 Posts
I haven't seen a drop bolt, but I have a single drop plate for Racers. It looks just like the standard mounting plate, but with an oblong bolt hole rather than a circular one. I have only ever found the one, a couple of years back on ebay. I'm holding out in case I ever find another. As far as I can tell, it looks to have been produced this way (vs. a home modification, which I suppose is also possible, though I would imagine that's risky). I'll post a pic later.
#3
Senior Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: Aug 2007
Location: Evanston, IL
Posts: 5,093
Bikes: many
Mentioned: 63 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 1444 Post(s)
Liked 1,392 Times
in
760 Posts
I'll have to make some measurements to see if that might give me enough downward movement for the 700c conversion on my Dawes. (I'm not married to Racers. It just seemed like the most likely to have a drop bolt.)
#4
Senior Member
Join Date: Sep 2005
Location: Oakland, CA
Posts: 3,265
Bikes: '82 Univega Competizione, '72 Motobecane Grand Record, '83 Mercian KOM Touring, '85 Univega Alpina Uno, '76 Eisentraut Limited
Mentioned: 57 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 1088 Post(s)
Liked 1,205 Times
in
701 Posts
Sounds interesting. It also sounds a bit like the Balilla center pull brakes on my Frejus TdF. A few pix:
I'll have to make some measurements to see if that might give me enough downward movement for the 700c conversion on my Dawes. (I'm not married to Racers. It just seemed like the most likely to have a drop bolt.)
I'll have to make some measurements to see if that might give me enough downward movement for the 700c conversion on my Dawes. (I'm not married to Racers. It just seemed like the most likely to have a drop bolt.)
#5
Senior Member
Join Date: Sep 2005
Location: Oakland, CA
Posts: 3,265
Bikes: '82 Univega Competizione, '72 Motobecane Grand Record, '83 Mercian KOM Touring, '85 Univega Alpina Uno, '76 Eisentraut Limited
Mentioned: 57 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 1088 Post(s)
Liked 1,205 Times
in
701 Posts
Here is mine:
#6
Senior Member
Join Date: Feb 2020
Posts: 2,820
Mentioned: 49 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 1106 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 1,328 Times
in
784 Posts
There are three different bridges for Racers, check first to see if you have the short ones (they can be marked "451").
Short gets you 63, long is 68, adjustable goes to 75.
Short gets you 63, long is 68, adjustable goes to 75.
Likes For oneclick:
#7
vintage motor
Join Date: Sep 2008
Location: Tepic, Nayarit, Mexico
Posts: 1,595
Bikes: 48 Automoto, 49 Stallard, 50 Rotrax, 62 Jack Taylor, 67 Atala, 68 Lejeune, 72-74-75 Motobecanes, 73 RIH, 71 Zieleman, 74 Raleigh, 78 Windsor, 83 Messina (Villata), 84 Brazzo (Losa), 85 Davidson, 90 Diamondback, 92 Kestrel
Mentioned: 6 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 164 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 102 Times
in
79 Posts
Skip,
I have 2 bikes I'm running 650B wheels on (one with Mafac Racer brakes), and I use home-made "drop plates", as described on Sheldon Brown's website. In my case they are small steel plates that lower the brakes by 15mm. I had them made last week and am just installing and trying them out, so I don't have pix yet. But they work great. The guy charged me 30 pesos (US$1.50) per plate, and you need 2 plates per brake unit/ 4 per bike. I intend to post a thread here with the details, because I think it's a cheap, versatile, and neat solution to a problem.
I have 2 bikes I'm running 650B wheels on (one with Mafac Racer brakes), and I use home-made "drop plates", as described on Sheldon Brown's website. In my case they are small steel plates that lower the brakes by 15mm. I had them made last week and am just installing and trying them out, so I don't have pix yet. But they work great. The guy charged me 30 pesos (US$1.50) per plate, and you need 2 plates per brake unit/ 4 per bike. I intend to post a thread here with the details, because I think it's a cheap, versatile, and neat solution to a problem.
Likes For kroozer:
#8
Senior Member
Join Date: Sep 2005
Location: Oakland, CA
Posts: 3,265
Bikes: '82 Univega Competizione, '72 Motobecane Grand Record, '83 Mercian KOM Touring, '85 Univega Alpina Uno, '76 Eisentraut Limited
Mentioned: 57 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 1088 Post(s)
Liked 1,205 Times
in
701 Posts
Skip,
I have 2 bikes I'm running 650B wheels on (one with Mafac Racer brakes), and I use home-made "drop plates", as described on Sheldon Brown's website. In my case they are small steel plates that lower the brakes by 15mm. I had them made last week and am just installing and trying them out, so I don't have pix yet. But they work great. The guy charged me 30 pesos (US$1.50) per plate, and you need 2 plates per brake unit/ 4 per bike. I intend to post a thread here with the details, because I think it's a cheap, versatile, and neat solution to a problem.
I have 2 bikes I'm running 650B wheels on (one with Mafac Racer brakes), and I use home-made "drop plates", as described on Sheldon Brown's website. In my case they are small steel plates that lower the brakes by 15mm. I had them made last week and am just installing and trying them out, so I don't have pix yet. But they work great. The guy charged me 30 pesos (US$1.50) per plate, and you need 2 plates per brake unit/ 4 per bike. I intend to post a thread here with the details, because I think it's a cheap, versatile, and neat solution to a problem.
#9
Senior Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: Aug 2007
Location: Evanston, IL
Posts: 5,093
Bikes: many
Mentioned: 63 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 1444 Post(s)
Liked 1,392 Times
in
760 Posts
https://sheldonbrown.com/home-drop.html
and the image:
Looks easy enough, given a bit of raw material.
#10
vintage motor
Join Date: Sep 2008
Location: Tepic, Nayarit, Mexico
Posts: 1,595
Bikes: 48 Automoto, 49 Stallard, 50 Rotrax, 62 Jack Taylor, 67 Atala, 68 Lejeune, 72-74-75 Motobecanes, 73 RIH, 71 Zieleman, 74 Raleigh, 78 Windsor, 83 Messina (Villata), 84 Brazzo (Losa), 85 Davidson, 90 Diamondback, 92 Kestrel
Mentioned: 6 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 164 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 102 Times
in
79 Posts
The plates on Sheldon's site are ridiculously long and I don't know what kind of bike they're for, but it's a good illustration of how versatile they are. With my drop plates, the lower hole is just low enough to clear the bottom of the fork crown and brake bridge. It's all I need for 700C-to-650B, and it's hardly even noticeable.
#11
Senior Member
Join Date: Feb 2020
Posts: 2,820
Mentioned: 49 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 1106 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 1,328 Times
in
784 Posts
The plates on Sheldon's site are ridiculously long and I don't know what kind of bike they're for, but it's a good illustration of how versatile they are. With my drop plates, the lower hole is just low enough to clear the bottom of the fork crown and brake bridge. It's all I need for 700C-to-650B, and it's hardly even noticeable.
#12
Senior Member
Join Date: Sep 2005
Location: Oakland, CA
Posts: 3,265
Bikes: '82 Univega Competizione, '72 Motobecane Grand Record, '83 Mercian KOM Touring, '85 Univega Alpina Uno, '76 Eisentraut Limited
Mentioned: 57 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 1088 Post(s)
Liked 1,205 Times
in
701 Posts
I googled "bicycle brake custom drop bolt," and several interesting images popped up, including this one. It's not my image. Maybe these are being produced or sold somewhere? Or worth reproducing?
Likes For noobinsf:
#13
Disraeli Gears
Here's what you want:
and here's the whole poster:
I can't remember where I found this online; maybe someone else has a pointer to it.
and here's the whole poster:
I can't remember where I found this online; maybe someone else has a pointer to it.
Likes For Charles Wahl: