I have a new old bike for commuting. Really like it except for one thing. The brakes are terrible. The brake levers are spongy and there doesn’t seem to be much bite. I have adjusted them as best I can but wondering if I can upgrade or is it just something I’ve got to live with.

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Thanks in advance

For standard caliper brakes, you need an old school ‘canti’ brake lever; or one which has the same cable pull ratio as caliper levers.

Something like this:

http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/shimano-tiagra-r550-brake-lever-flat-bars-only/rp-prod34695

And personally, I’d upgrade the calipers to a dual-pivot design, which are a lot more powerful and reliable. Yu may need a deep drop version for mudguard clearance. Maybe somethng like this:

http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/tektro-r539-road-brakeset/rp-prod72628

great thanks for that. Anything , umm, a little cheaper? I see that the levers are flat bars only to.. mine are bull bars

Look for second hand stuff. The crucial thing to look for is the ‘drop’, or the distance between the pivot and the centre of the brake pads. Most road calipers are 49mm approx, wheras those Weinmanns are 53-71mm. So you’re looking for modern 57mm drop calipers, which aren’t as easy to find. ‘Dual pivot’ designs are more powerful than the single pivot side-pull designs.

fantastic thanks!

like this ?

Exactly like that. They should work a treat, but another issue is the mounting holes in the frame; more recent frames have holes suitable for the fixings of modern brake sets, whilst older frames may have simple holes.

This explaines thngs better:

http://sheldonbrown.com/images/bolttypes500.jpg