On Thursday, January 30, 2020 at 2:18:31 PM UTC-8, Tim McNamara wrote:
On Wed, 29 Jan 2020 17:30:02 -0800 (PST), Tom Kunich
wrote:
I've been looking only at the advertisements for direct mount brakes.

Looking at them it appears a bit strange to me. The cables appear to
come in at a 90 degree angle to the frame and while I can see the
cable guide, I can't see where the inner cable is affixed. I suppose
that it is obvious if you have a set in your hands but it isn't at all
obvious in the pictures of them I've seen.

The pictures I have seen show the cable entering the brake exactly like
a sidepull brake, but the pivots are reminiscent of Mafac Racers with
brazed-on posts.

https://www.cyclingweekly.com/news/l...-future-193731

I have Mafacs with braze-on posts on my randonneuse and they work
excellently with very good modulation and power; the Racers are paired
with modern Campy Record brake levers and it is a good combination for
me. The centerpulls offer excellent clearance for fenders and
moderately fat tires (700 x 31). The design also allows the brake pads
to have some clearance from the rims in case the wheel gets slightly out
of true.

I've not tried the direct mount brakes, but they do remove the straddle
wire from the equation. That ought to improve efficiency, if greater
flexibility wasn't created in the brake arms.

I was looking at the one's mounted on various bikes that hadn't the cable mounted yet and they looked really strange. So I today looked at the advertised versions and they look like normal brakes to me except they are mounted at the sides which reduce the flexing which causes brake shudder.