Due to a compatibility problem, my old school single pivot Campy brakes won’t work with the Ouzo pro Integrated fork on my bike. I’m planning on going with Mavic SSC or Dura Ace 7800. Feedback would be appreciated. Looking to purchase in the next day or two.
Thanks.
I love the Mavic brakes. I don’t have the current SSC brakes, but I did have some from back in the Lemond era. Mavic makes great components; the only thing that made me mad was both price and scarcity.
Will they work better than, say,the 7800? Probably not, but I would wager that you would be one of the very few with a pair at the transition area.
I would also consider the Zero Gravity brakes. They look like something that could be very cool. I have not tried them, yet.
I have the SSC brakes, and have had Campy Record. the performance isn’t all that different, really. the new DAs would probably be the equal of the Records (or better; it’s been said that the 7700 DA brakes were weaker than modern Campy and 8s DA). I got my SSCs relatively cheap from ebay.
I think the only problem I saw with the SSC brakes is the lack of a quick release. This eliminated them from the running in my mind. I don’t know why they did that…it seems the 3g savings or something wouldn’t ever be noticed by any rider. Check the thread where I asked about good front brakes about 2-3 weeks ago, a lot of good responses.
Thanks for the responses everyone. I don’t know anything about the Zero Gravity brakes other than they are light,look cool and are hard to get.
I’ll probably go with the Mavic.
Hey j-son,
I have the Mavic brakes on my current Cannondale IM2000 with a Dura-Ace kit. They are OK, but no better than OK. I would rather have Dura-Ace. I took the Mavic ones becasue we ordered them for the store and consumers did not seem interested in them. So, I put them on my bike. They work OK but have no quick release which is a pain with FSA aero brake levers. Since there is no quick release on the brake lever and none on the brake caliper, there is no quick release at all, a minor inconvenience.
I was told by our Mavic outside sales rep that the calipers were designed to work predominantly with Campagnolo. That makes sense since the Campag Ergopower lever has a quick release in the lever.
In general, given the choice between the two, I would go ahead and recommend Shimano.
Can you tell me why your older Campy brake will not work on the new fork? You might need to get a different bolt if that is the problem.
Tom – Thanks for the wise advice. I opted for the Dura Ace brakes.
Russel T – The brakes are early 90s vintage single pivot Campy calipers. The fork is an Easton Ouzo Pro integrated and the frame is an Eddy Merckx Team Sc. The brakes work fine on the rear. On the front, the break shoes bottom out on the inside of the fork legs. I’ve spaced it as much as possible, and have used the longest anchor bolts I could find, along with the shortest brake shoes … and it still bottoms out.
I managed to get it to ‘work’ for a while, but the brakes shoes are now completely shot and the caliper won’t stay centered. I could probably force it to work and ‘customize’ a pair of brake shoes… but I want brakes that work right.
So, if you are running Campy, why not look at “modern” campy brakes? I run them on both of my bikes, and they are fine. Well, Ok, that’s not totally the case. I am running Campy on my tri bike for now, but will probably be moving to Dura Ace or Cane Creek 200sl’s so I can get the quick releases.
Kool Stop Thin Line Brake Pads Designed for tight brake clearance systems Easy tire removal M-6 threaded post with washer assembly for four multiple spacing adjustments (3, 4, 5, 6 mm) Also available in cantilever (post) style Patented angled tip to plow mud and rain away from rims Colors: Black, red, silver, blue, yellow and salmon Short section of pad towards the front of the bike. Mud plow facing rear of the bike
I absolutely LOVE the Campy Record aero brake levers and Campy brakes. Infact, I am going to post my dream setup for a road bike in just a bit.
I’m running Dura Ace 9 speed. When I got the frame, I had the brakes laying around, so I chintzed out went with what I had instead of buying something new. Campy brakes don’t have quick releases. I didn’t realize the Mavic lacked them as well until Tom pointed it out.
Thanks for the recommendation. Tried these and they didn’t work as well as I wanted. they were, though, the best of what I tried.