Many many customers have asked us to make a French thread headset. Well, they just arrived and the first one was installed on my very own Motobecane. They are an alloy ball bearing headset finished in polished silver. The stack height is 41mm and weight is 113g. We even had tooling made to produce the proper French-style washers with the flat on the inside. Interestingly, that washer was more trouble to get made than the rest of the headset.
In keeping with the retro-theme, we now have the classic Dia Compe front cable stops with quick release. They are chrome plated, just like the old ones and not as light as a modern alloy stop, but that quick release sure is handy.
Dia Compe has also re-introduced their lovely non-aero Gran Compe brake levers. You may remember that "Gran Compe" was the designation for their top of the line components, like VO's Grand Cru or Shimano's Dura Ace. The levers have a smooth silver anodized finish and check out the neat adjusters with O--rings.
Finally we have the VO brake pads in a new color, brick red. The compound is the same as the original and it still doesn't squeal. It also brakes as well as any pads we've used, especially in wet conditions. We changed the color only to differentiate them from the many black pads out there. This will be a running change, as we run out of black the red will become available.
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21 comments:
Thank you, thank you, thank you! The timing on this is amazing. I just bought a 1974 Peugeot UX-10 this past weekend and its headset is shot.
Makes me wish I still had my old Motobecane.
Wow, I never would have hoarded (well, not as much) if I knew these Dia-Compe brake bits would be reMFG'd.
Thank you for stocking them, Chris!
Finally... barrel adjusters on the tops! Fat tires are now more welcome.
Any chance that Dia Compe will have the Brake Hoods for that lever, and, and, and! will they ever have replacement pads for the NGC 450 Gran Compe center pulls?
I have climbed in a dumpster to retrieve a low end bike just to take off one of those quick release brake adjuster things. (and the one for the back also)
When the Gran Compe adjuster O rings perish from sunlight as they eventually do,a quick trip to the plumbing supply section can replace them very easily and inexpensively. It worked very well for mine. As for hoods - not so easy.
I have a set of those levers, I think--will you be selling hoods separately?
M Burdge
i ride those lever (the originals) on my XO-1 and my Witcomb fixie, and they work fantastically with: high profile cantis, dual pivot road calipers, and single pivot calipers (which they were designed for) They have a very progressive feel, the hoods feel just right, and they have less slop than many new road levers that cost loads more. so. there is my unsolicited endorsement.
Hooray, red pads!!
After using the matthausers all these years, black looks wrong. Plus they match my Hetres ;-)
Ah, if only Dia Compe would re-release the Gran Compe centerpulls, but with an improved pad adjustment mechanism...
Pete, There will be a new high end Dia Compe center-pull that is very impressive and we will stock it, complete details in a month or two.
Are the hoods different on the GC levers than other DiaCompe levers? It looks the same, so shouldn't the Cane Creek replacement hoods work OK?
We'll have the hoods in a few months.
The GC hoods are the same as the Dia Compe hoods. they are interchangable.
Your new fenders look fantastic! I think they look a lot more like the original French hammered fenders.
Chris, that's some interesting news on the GC centerpulls. All that's old is new again! How much longer before U brakes and rollercams show up on mountain bikes?
Yay non-aero levers! And tasty looking ones too. Sometimes I think I'm the only one who thinks exposed cables just look better. Dunno why... maybe it was my friend's Eddie Merckx in the 80's. Nothin' against aero's... I'm just sayin.
I have cane creek hoods on my old cheapie Dia-compe levers... I would think they would work for the Gran Compe's too but what do I know?
Like a couple other people said, please sell these hoods! That way I won't feel so guilty about running NOS Dia-Compe brake levers on my bike with the original hoods.
Hoods are on order- they will take some time to ship from Taiwan/
Dare we hope for a 26 TPI Raleigh headset?
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