Chuck M 

This is a screen capture of a Batavus with some lower tiered Campagnolo components. The bike is cheap enough that I'm interested, I am just curious if the brakes are Campagnolo as well. I did a google image search for vintage Campagnolo brakes and didn't see anything right off. I figured they are pretty distinguishable and someone would know what they are quicker than I can scroll through the google results.

Thanks in advance

thook

altenburgers . do they have the non-aero levers with the anodized quick release tab?

Chuck M 

These?

nlerner

I agree that Altenburger is likely though the Weinmann Symmetric have a similar look:

thook

Chuck M YES!! that's them. i had a set a long time ago. they came on some altenburger centerpulls from mid 70's purple batavus. a 60 something centimeter frame, so way too huge for me, but i liked those levers. put them on a late 70's dawes galaxy for a friend. i even managed to make some gum cane creek hoods work nicely enough on them

thook

here they are on classic rendezvous...

Altenburger brake set

Chuck M 

Thanks for the quick identification. The bike is listed for $60, which I think is probably more than it is worth for a flipper. But I don't flip, I keep. The decals and paint are a little rougher than I'd like but I just seem to dig the bike.

verktyg 

Chuck M

During the bike boom fad in the early 70's those German made Altenburger Synchron Brakes were used on some entry level 10 speed bikes!

There were several flavors of those brakes. They were an early "dual pivot" design that wasn't well executed.

For starters they had nylon/plastics bushings that were critical to the design. If they broke or got lost, the brakes became non functional. They were never very functional to begin with.

https://velobase.com/ViewComponent.a...m=117&AbsPos=3

We saw them on a few bottom line Gitanes that we sold. Also the few bikes that came in with them for service were such low quality that we politely turned them away if the owners didn't want to spend $15 for a set of new Weinmann center pull calipers.

PASSING = Good Option

Somewhere there is a Kia or Hyundai anxiously awaiting the arrival of this bike! Transmogrification!



BTW nlerner the Weinmann Symmetric calipers were a better design for brakes that were almost dual pivot style but were never carried through.

verktyg

repechage

If I had more money for tooling way back, I would have made a hot rod version of the Altenberger design, the concept was there, the execution was lacking.

spot face the arms, brass bushings, maybe buy a Campag washer or two.

T-Mar

We saw these as substitutes on many lower end Raleigh, circa 1972-1973. I concur that the execution and subsequent perforamance left something to be desired. Fortunately, Shimano saw the promise and brought out a significantly improved dual pivot design in the early 1990s, though it virtually killed off the single pivot side-pull brake,

Chuck M 

I have a JC Penney 3 speed I accepted from someone because I didn't want to hurt her feelings. I need to take it to the recycling center but if I go for the Batavus, it would get me away from the television this winter and into the garage getting my hands dirty.

verktyg 

Not picky, gaspipe steel is gaspipe steel!



The Batavus is a low end Bike Boom Fad model that no matter how much you put into it, you'll still have a clunker. The old saying, you can't make a silk purse out of a sow's ear!

Anyway, I wouldn't put more than $100 USD into it.... Tires, tubes, brakes, cables and housings and your close to that figure.

For me, if I was looking for a Lazarus project, I'd look for a bike that would be much more pleasurable to ride like an old lower priced French or Brit bike.

Some folks enjoy rescuing lost causes????




verktyg bike snob extraordinaire

Chuck M 

I kind of do I guess. I know a guy that buys and fixes up Ford Falcons because they are somewhat easy to find and he enjoys working on them. Boomers are like that for me.

verktyg 

Look up there, in the tree....



verktyg

hokiefyd 

I'm sort of with you there. I often look to the underdogs in life. Everyone wants the good stuff, and for good reason. But the lower end stuff needs love, too!

My wife gives me a hard time because I buy the dented cans at the supermarket. They eat just the same...they do stack crooked, though!

elcraft

Weinmann Symetrics we’re supplied with my Raleigh Super Tourer. The rest of the components were otherwise “deluxified” versions, Maillard 700 Hubs, Huret Jubilee mechs,, TA or Stronglight Cranks, etc. They seem to work reasonably well when compared to garden variety Weinmann side pulls.