• Picked up an old Peugeot racer and now trying to get it up and running. It has Weimann brakes. Photo below shows the rear but am having problems with the front

    Peugeot Super Competition on Flickr - Photo Sharing!

    The brakes work to slow the bike but don't 'return' to their original position which means that you end up having to readjust them by hand which doesn't help if you wanting to spend some time out on the open roads. Anyone had any experience with similar brakes - any help gratefully received

  • yes, they are shit.

    not much you can do with them, the return spring is responsible for pulling them back apart, and it's probably gone a bit, being old. you can dismantle and clean the thing, maybe some light oil on the pivot (but not so much it leaks out and goes on the rim!)

    the truth of the matter is they ain't much cop compared to modern dual pivots which you can pick up for £10.

  • i've had nothing but bother with weinemann side AND centre pulls.

    they are shit, i always swap them for a new dual pivot.

    in my experience you have to offset them in the first instance to have any chance of surviving.

  • What a classic racer! Nice one. Take the caliper apart, clean all parts and assemble again making sure all contact parts esp center of arms, washers in between, and bolt are properly lubed. The grit builds up in the caliper bolt and prevents center of arms from moving freely. Alternatively get a modern caliper: definetely much better braking performance than those weinmanns...
    Before replacing anything, do your research at Sheldon Brown page on classic french bikes as some parts (headset, stem, chainrings, etc) are no longer ISO (aka modern standard).
    I had a similar motobecane converted and had to get rid of lovely cranks (PCD obsolete). If fitting a new quill stem, beware than french forks steerer inner diammeter is a tad smaller than ISO one: the stem will come in applying some brute force, but will not come out: sand the bit that goes into the steerer before installling it.
    Hope this helps.

  • if you're bike behaves itself, i might let it be friends with my bike, which has a dia compe front caliper that works, but is not in this picture.

    http://www.flickr.com/photos/peejay76/sets/72157604343390778/

  • thanks for all your help gentlemen...as for the offer of the bike being friends, (un)fortunately its currently the wrong side of the English Channel and is likely to stay that way given current clutter at home

  • oh well, i offered, fuck you.

  • I have the exact same problem with the same brake on my Peugeot. So I just try not to use it.

  • lol @ pj

  • You can often bend the return springs so as to increase their 'push'. Vee brakes good for this.
    This may help. Of course, make sure it's adjusted correctly before bodging it.

  • Runtime - using the above advice from edd 13 & hippy i managed to get my ancient GB Coureur Plus brakes working a treat.
    One side wouldn't "return" either and they are a v similar design to weinmanns.
    I cleaned everything (again) and greased what needed it and also stretched the return springs a bit.
    Now they work!
    Thanks for the advice guys.

  • You are quite welcome.

    I love a happy ending, except for the extra cost.

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Weimann Brakes - problems getting them to 'return'

Posted by Avatar for Gustav @Gustav

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