I'm selecting brakes for a project, and I have a couple of choices. I thought readers might be interested in what I have.
Both sets of brakes are wide-profile cantilevers from Shimano. One set is from the early '80s Deore group (some might remember that as the "deer head" set), designated as MC-70. They were one of the top choices for touring and mountain bikes from '83 through about '86. Understand that mountain bikes were still in their infancy, touring bikes were all the rage, and there wasn't nearly as much difference between mountain and touring bike components at the time.
The other set is from the next generation Deore group -- the MT-60 group, which featured Shimano's first indexing mountain bike derailleur. To be more exact, mine are marked MT-62, though the main difference was in the shifters (changed from 6-speed to 7-speed indexing) while the brakes are pretty much the same as far as I can tell.
Looking at the older vs. newer brakes (yes,
old vs. new is all relative when they're all in the neighborhood of 30 years old), you can see some similarities and some differences:
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| On the top are Shimano MT-62 cantilevers from the later '80s. Just below them are a pair of MC-70 cantis from about 1983. |
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| The MC-70 brakes were great looking, with more visually interesting details than the newer brakes. Notice the "shadow lines" that are forged into the arms. I'm not sure how they compare in weight, but they look lighter, and slightly more "right" for a classic road bike. The old brake pads have a lot of surface area, but the brakes would likely be improved greatly with a set of modern compound shoes. That's true of most older brakes in my opinion. Being a 33-yr. old used set of brakes, the chromed hardware has some rust. On the outer surfaces, they can be cleaned up pretty easily, but down inside the allen-head sockets, it's unlikely I'll be able to do a lot to improve them. |
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The MT-60/62 brakes are similar in overall dimensions and geometry to the MC-70 pieces, and the toe-in adjustment mechanism is almost identical (that's the serrated black ring just behind the brake shoe post). But they have a smoother, more "streamlined" look than the older model. They're still very nice, though - and not too "mountain-bikey" for a good road bike. This particular example has the advantage of being virtually new old stock, so cosmetically they are about perfect.
Two details make the newer brakes functionally an improvement over the previous generation: The "SLR" (Shimano Linear Response) feature balanced lighter spring tension in the brakes with spring-loaded levers for smooth braking action (Dia Compe did the exact same thing and called it BRS, or "Balanced Response System"). And the newer brakes also include a means to adjust spring tension for easier centering -- something that most modern cantilever brakes have today, but is not present on the MC-70s. |
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| That's a handy feature that makes centering the brakes much easier. Unfortunately, it is missing from the earlier generation brakes. |
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| An interesting side note. When Campagnolo entered the mountain bike market in the late '80s, their top-of-the-line cantilever brakes appeared to be closely modeled after the Shimano MT-60 series brakes. Coincidence? Probably not, but Valentino Campagnolo would likely attempt to castrate me for suggesting it. The brakes were offered as part of their top mountain groups, as well as a short-lived tandem component group. One difference in the Campy version was that the Campys had spring tension adjusters on both the left and right units -- a nice touch, but not exactly necessary. |
Ultimately, I've decided to go with the newer MT-62 brakes, which I'll be pairing up with a nice set of Dia Compe road levers. I slightly prefer the styling of the older MC-70 brakes, but the "like-new" cosmetics of the newer set, along with easier setup that comes from adjustable spring tension makes them hard to beat.
More to come. . .
