Critique my Paul Racer Setup

[Pegoready]

Hello helpful mechanics of Paceline!

I have a custom Seven build for Paul Racers. It's the love of my life. The brakes felt great on my first build of the bike maybe 8 years ago. After my second set of cables/housing (about 2 years ago?) they just feel a bit mushy. I'm sure it has something to do with the length of cables, straddle height, spring tension, or something else.

I would describe the feel as too much modulation, like I'm using a lot of hand pressure to mush through the brake's power range. I want a more digital "on/off" feel with more power at the start.

Do these pictures show you anything obvious?

Thanks!

[Pegoready]

Cable/housing is the Jagwire kit and I have inline barrel adjusters for both the front + rear.

[AngryScientist]

Originally Posted by Pegoready

Do these pictures show you anything obvious?

cable length/routing aside, what jumps out at me, that is always surprisingly effective:

those rims are filthy and those pads look well clapped out.

i bet if you clean those rims (braking surfaces...) well with some denatured alcohol and either get new pads or scuff them up with sandpaper to remove the glaze you will feel a world of difference.

[donevwil]

A few things (I have Racer M's):

- Road grime on rims and pads as well as pad wear are not on your side.

- Your straddle cables have a lot of bow, especially the rear. These will add significantly to mushiness. Try to manipulate (bend) the cables so they are closer to a straight line from straddle hanger to brake arm, then re-attached to the arm to maintain the line.

- It appears your arms are well past vertical when the pads contact the rims (especially the front). Ideally you want right angles pad to arm and pad to rim. Maybe significant pad wear, but you might be able to accommodate this by putting the thicker spherical washer on the pad side (if it isn't already).

I use the same inline adjusters so they are not the issue. Housing run looks fine and stops sufficiently rigid.

[Blue Jays]

Scrub whole bicycle (especially wheels) until it is meticulously clean.
Clean the wheels with a non-scratching brush. Replace brake pads.
Consider trying a pair of Paul Moon Units to see if it improves things.

[elliott]

I really only use it with mechanic disc brakes but compressionless housing will improve lever feel.

[Ed-B]

All good advice so far, and I see a few more things you could try. I have several bikes with center pull brakes, and I've messed with these things quite a bit, myself.

That front cable hanger with the elbow is not helping. I tried those and thought there was cable drag. (They're junk, really.) I ran the cable up over the handlebar and down on the other side of the stem, and put a cable adjuster in the hanger. This is a much smoother route for the cable, but you'll need a longer casing and inner wire.

Your front straddle cable is long, and the rear appears to be curved and slack. You have some extra inner wire to play with in the front, so you could try shortening the straddle wire and lowering the cable yoke on the brake wire. When the system comes into tension the straddle wire angle should be less than 90 degrees to the caliper arm, getting to about 90 under full tension - a good right-angle pull.

With Campy Ergo levers there's not as much cable pull, and it all needs to be effective.

[palincss]

It doesn't take much misadjustment of the springs to totally ruin the feel of a Paul Racer. Have you looked at that?

[adampaiva]

I have Mafac Raids and set about figuring out how to get them set up for better braking power after using them for a while and just thinking they are ok. I would mostly agree with donevwil and recommend setting them up with straddle hanger low and straddle cable without that arc notable on your rear, and so that arms are at 90 degrees at rim contact. Adjust the pad position with the washers and the brake cable to then work.

I also found Swiss Stop green made for a good improvement but not certain if those are available for this type of pad arm.

G’luck! You should be able to get them feeling good and stoppy!

[doomridesout]

You might also check to make sure that with the cable straddle disconnected, that you get a good strong return to open when you move the arms with your hands. If you don't you might need to put more spring tension into the arms. Helps with vagueness, IMO.