New bike question

[sokyroadie]

I am getting close in the queue for a Ti Medium reach frame - I have a new Whisky Med reach fork and was planning on either TRP RG957 or Velo Orange Medium reach calipers (black). I have the TRP brakes on another Medium reach Seven and they are fine. Should I consider the Paul Medium reach Racers or go with the VO brakes (easier to find). I was originally going to use the Black TRP brakes from the Seven, but decided to keep the Seven also.

The Paul's would need to be the center mount - decisions decisions

TIA

No way do I want or need a disc road bike

[Peter P.]

Get the sidepulls. No need to install cable hangers, as with centerpull brakes and plenty of stopping power.

I'd sooner buy a set of old Universal centerpull brakes, or Weinman. Paul's are just plain ugly to me.

Also, I don't know whether the Paul's have a pull ratio that requires a specific brake lever, but you have several choices with dual pivot levers. I prefer the hood shape of Cane Creek levers.

[lafish]

Personally, I think the Pauls look cool, but I have the Velo Orange Gran Cru on one of my bike and I like them quite a lot. Good stopping power, good modulation, plenty of clearance. And no muss no fuss to install.

[mhespenheide]

Just an opinion, but the Racer Medium don't really gain you anything over modern medium-reach sidepulls while they add the complexity of needing to add another cable stop. And that gets you faffing about with extra bits on the headset if you want them on your very nice Whisky fork.

Now, if you want to go all-in and mount Racers directly to your frame? Commission a custom steel fork and do the same up front? Go for it. But if you're matching the tire clearance of the Whisky, I'd personally go with the RG957 or the older Shimano BR-600 if you want silver and can hunt them down. Again, my opinion, but the RG957 are 95-97% as good as any modern sidepull.

[mhespenheide]

Originally Posted by Peter P.

I'd sooner buy a set of old Universal centerpull brakes, or Weinman. Paul's are just plain ugly to me.

Dia-Compe have some beautiful models, or Mafac if you want to re-polish them and score vintage points. Or Paul Racers in polished silver if you want modern -- the "full" Racers are much prettier than the more squarish Racer M's.

[Louis]

Originally Posted by sokyroadie

No way do I want or need a disc road bike

Don't deny it - these days anyone who's thinking about rim brakes always wonders "how wide can I go with the tires?" and from there it's short jump to discs. (shudder)

[hokoman]

Originally Posted by Louis

Don't deny it - these days anyone who's thinking about rim brakes always wonders "how wide can I go with the tires?" and from there it's short jump to discs. (shudder)

Mid reach clears 38 tires comfortably, why would a road bike need anything wider?

[Louis]

I was kidding.

[hokoman]

Originally Posted by Louis

I was kidding.

I missed the winking emoji! Too early in the morning for me here!