On Sun, 16 Jan 2005 11:25:12 -0800, Mark Janeba
wrote:

Mark Janeba wrote:

!Jones wrote:

Mafac straddle cables:

In the days of old (like about 1980 or so), were the barrel ends of
brake cables a different size than they are today?

The reason I ask is because I'm setting up some Mafac cantilever
brakes from that era and the barrel ends are not seating. The notch
in the cantilever arm that receives the cable end is significantly
smaller than my modern QBP cable end.

It does not look like a viable option to leave the cable end anything
less than firmly seated in it's notch. Is there an elegant solution?


If I understand you correctly, you're talking about the straddle cable
that connects to both cantilever arms. These are derailleur cables.

One end is bolted to the arm; for the other you need a
doohickey[1]threaded on the end of the cable to engage the cantilever
arms. See photo: http://home.comcast.net/~mandmlj/MafacStraddle.jpg
(Photo from a 1980 Mafac tandem cantilever brake arm)

Notice how the "doohickey" keeps the cantilever arms from spreading and
letting the cable slip through.

I'm guessing that you're using a more modern straddle that has a *large*
lug on one end.

Hope this helps,

Mark Janeba

Add footnote:
[1] I'm not too eloquent today. What the heck *is* this thing called?

-MJ

Dear Mark,

It's a retaining or stop fitting. If threaded to screw onto
the end of a Honda rear brake rod, it can be called a
retaining or stop nut.

Doohickey and dingus, however, are the preferred technical
terms for simpler parts that fit onto more complicated
thingamabobs or gizmos.

Thesauristically,

Carl Fogel