georges1

Good Morning

I have on my Raleigh Campy Delta drakes a lot not only for their looks but for their performance too (in my case the brakes works very well even, though, I prefer my Shimano Dura Ace 7700 and 7800 on my other bikes), an interesting article is dedicated to them:
Campagnolo Delta brakes

Have a nice read

Very best regards and stay safe

Georges

P!N20

The Retrogrouch blog is an excellent resource and enjoyable read. It’s a shame he hasn’t posted in a couple of years.

El Chaba

One thing that is clear is that the guy who wrote the Retrogrouch blog post has never even been near a set of Delta brakes of any iteration.

easyupbug 

I recall enjoying the sale price I got for my early 3 link Deltas. As a mechanical design engineer and later years in maintenance I was horrified by dozens of discrete parts

jamesdak 

I saw my first set of a De Rosa when I was at an old local pro's house picking up my first Giordana bike from him. They were beautiful.

I have a set of the 3 pivots on my one Lemond and am certainly in the camp of "they work just fine" when set up properly.

I don't normally seek them out due to the high price they demand but I sure wouldn't mind another set or two to put on a couple of the bikes.

repechage

beat me to it. Too bad.

the Delta brake is interesting, nice to admire on someone else's bike. I was working at a shop when they finally arrived.
the one feature that provides a summation, 3.5mm Allen wrench required.

kind of like the Lamborghini Countach, no suspension bushings, all rose joints.
An Italian flight of fancy.

georges1

I have them on my Raleigh too

roadcrankr

Delta brakes look nice, until you remove that cosmetic face plate.
Then it resembles the Predator when he takes off his helmet, before trying to destroy Arnold.

smd4

Always thought Deltas were ugly and over complicated. Was there ever a less aerodynamic bike component?

Homebrew01

Mod Note To All. Please stay on topic. Several off topic posts have been deleted.

Chombi1 

Not to mention, it was one of the heaviest brakesets you can put on a bike in the 80's....Just mostly form with the slightest nod to function, even after so many times they tried to get it right.

jamesdak 

I wish the whole bike world would hate on the Delta's more so I could find another set or two for a reasonable price.

SurferRosa

They're sort of interesting ... in a hideous and alien sort of way.

El Chaba

Deltas maybe the most polarizing bicycle component ever made. Their signature line reads, “ I never owned or used a set, but they didn’t stop well”

chain_whipped

Or the paradox; they never slowed down Greg!

georges1

sadly the price on those has become unreasonable

smd4

georges1

are they made of plastic ?? Not as nicely finished as theDelta

El Chaba

…reminds me of a date I had back in college…..

georges1

The delta beats them in aesthetics and infunction

smd4

Which definitely isn’t saying much. Sorta like saying a lobster looks better than a crab.

chain_whipped

I doubt you're qualified to conclude 'infunction'.

The aesthetics will always be subjective.
Owned the third gen Campy Delta. I liked the looks, and they did work, but sub-par for performance. Tricky to modulate and then, wham.... clamped down. Wet and oily roads were sketchy under braking. Lastly, finicky initial set-up and unnecessary weight. Cover plate had some fastening issue on one caliper... I forget exactly the cause.

Also had the Weinmann 531, there were a few versions and I don't know exact model type or series. Swiss made but not to ones expectation of finely finished. Some had that unattractive rubber cover and in the later series I could see why it was needed. I had the version sans that rubber having the plastic cover triangle plate in black. If dirt and dust gets under the cover, these brakes would be a pain to always removing the main triangle part for cleaning (unlike Campy). That cover is required as the underside is part of a pivot bearing support. The rest is aluminum. On initial setup, you have to carefully snip the cable and then further grind off the remaining strands using a Dremel stone. Otherwise that cable will scrape the tight tolerance clearance to tire. No cable end is used. For having smaller pad surface, its a pretty impressive brake. Good modulation, and the amount of lever pull felt like the typical racer sidepull / aero levers. The surprise was the light weight. I would own a set again but they too are pricey collectible.

chain_whipped

Of the modern era, for the tri-bike crowd whom always have to stand out.

Robvolz 

I read an interesting article where the author compared them to Philipe Starck's "day of the triffid" looking tripod juicer. Both are rather attractive. Neither works all that great, yet both are beloved.

https://www.bicycling.com/bikes-gear...o-delta-brake/

Trakhak

Before the Weinmann delta brake was pictured in this thread, you didn't know it existed, correct?