In your opnions and I hope to get many what is the best old school brakes is it Nippon ,MX 1000 or 900 ,Odyssey Pitbull Acs Boa or 860 Etc Etc...
I have the hardest time setting brakes and am just trying to figure if I am starting w/ the right set
Next is what is the best way to adjust and set

For a front brake, Nippons are hard to beat. They work great, are pretty easy to adjust, and last forever. They have a low profile (distance from fork) as well.

Boas had more stopping power, but the pivot bolt would snap easily.

For rear caliper brakes, either a Nippon or a Pitbull.

rear-odyssey pitbull
front-acs boa

Agree with Raul, Nippons for front and pretty dominant...rear you have many choices depending on your bike. 990's, I've always loved and quite honestley easy to dial in (I usually hear different).

Based on being stunningly beautiful - MX1000's are the best.

For ease of use and adjustment Nippons all the way.

For a good small brake that stays out of your way when doing tricks. The FS880 is my choice.

I've always liked Nippons.....But original Pitbulls on the rear rock too.

Nippons or an 880 front and MX-xxxx rear work well if dialed in, clean rims, good pads, etc etc. Everyone knows my love of D-C MX's.

But the v-brakes on my newschool rider are so AWESOME I'm considering having posts brazed on an old school rider or two. I never knew brakes could grab like that.

please don't shun me ya'l!

You don't hear about these much but I absolutely love Peregrine FSX-111 brakes. Super beefy arms and a rear attach pivot bolt to keep your feet happy during tailwhips. I swapped out my Nippons for them back in the day and never switched back. Stop on a dime.

NIPPON

still my fave after 20 years...I'm running a ACS 860 on my rider right now, I'm going to swap it out when I get around to it. these brakes suck ! they flex waaay to much...any of the Dia Compes are great imo...

the dream team is definitely : nippon + ad990 . of course depending the pads (white dia-compe are a must ) and the setting. good stuff and a bad mechanic can't do the job.

the dream team is definitely : nippon + ad990

I agree!

On my rider, Nippon/AD990 (same as FS990 these days).

If we're talking about braking power it ofcourse pretty much depends on the combination of the lever, cable, caliper, brake pads and rims and possibly the detangler too. If you have brake pads that already suck it doesn't matter how superior the caliper is. There's nothing like FS Tuff pads and chrome rim. The dynamic duo. Squeeek!

As for more u-brakes, the Dia Compe 993/994 (the one looking like ACS "Gripper") u-brake is also one of my all time favorite because of super easy brake pad adjustment (compared to 990s which requires more concentration) cause it accepts regular threaded pads. Mine also came with quick-adjust spring tension adjuster which means i can adjust the brakes on the fly with just a single tool.
Pitbull.. sure has power but in my opinion it's too bulky and the roller mechanism collects dust/dirt so it requires a lot of maintenance to work perfectly.
ACS BOA.. as said above if the bolt snaps, you're in trouble. Has a good grip though.
Odyssey 2001 Class. For some reason this is the one that never worked like it was meant. I still can't figure out what's wrong with it. Is it the desing, the angles or both.
ACS Tangent 860. I have one in front on my method air and it works great and stays in tune.
Centerpulls, Weinmann, Shimano, Dia Compe etc... if the spring tension is equal on both arms and the caliper is mounted snuggly and centered carefully and you have straight rims, no problem. But if they aren't, pain in the *ss.
Dia Compe Bulldogs.. actually i can't figure out any actual difference in performance between Nippons and Bulldogs. They look a bit different but work the same. However Nippon is cooler.
Shimano Exage/BR series u-brakes.. Who's idea was it to create an u-brake WITHOUT the chance to adjust spring tension anyway?! Instead, you have fixed tension and only the tiniest allen bolt on the other arm for "fine tuning" and "centering". Give me a break (or brake, pun). And these brakes are considered collectors items these days.. Oh boy. More like headache i'd say.

And those darn quick release levers on caliper arms, i always disliked them. I used to chop them off and put either an Odyssey or Weinmann adjuster on instead. You all also remeber those integrated cable anchors/adjusters on top on Nippons etc? I also replaced them with just a nut and an anchor bolt because they were low profile and didn't chew up the wire like the "Nippon clamp" did especilly if you had to open & close it more than once. Those Nippon clamps worked better as Gyro cable shorteners in the early 90's.

Sorry, what was the question again? Oh yeah: Nippon & 990's is a classic combo, or Nippon/Nippon in case of no u-brake mounts.

-Timo

The problems I had with old school brakes was spring tension, missing hardware aligning brake arms. If it was spring tension then I would bend the spring upward or if it had to be replaced then I just find another one. If the brakes were missing hardware like not the correct washers/spacers that go between everything and also locking nuts. You need the correct spacing and washers to go in the right places or your brake arms will rub on one another and your tension and rebound will not be smooth,but sticky. Also not to forget about those thin washers,thick washer, and plastic washers and were they go. In between the washers they have to be cleaned and greased for your brakes to work smooth. Don't forget about the cables as well, nice new ones with it all greased up in the housing to keep it smooth. Brake levers not to forget to clean them up and keep all moving parts greased or lubbed.

Sometimes your alignment of your brakes move. At times this is because your brakes are not mounted tight enough, or you are using the incorrect mounting hardware. Don't over tighten those ones that have the U-shape mounting hardware. Back brakes that are not flat, but is mounted on tubing plate not a flat mount/brake bridge. You will end up crushing the tubing for your brakes.

Last not least is brake shoes.
Now a days I use Kool Stop Fat Pads, but for my old school restore projects I have pads that are old.
The oldest I have are those Kool Stop Finned pads and those are about 25 years old. I bought those on 1980 or 1981. They worked great back then, but they squeeked super loud on any rim, but back then I was running an anodized blue Araya. I tried everything to make it quite, but it only made the brakes not work. I stopped using them in 1983 because thats when I started to use Skyway wheels. So they stayed in my tool box for about 3-4 years then I tried spoke rims again and it did the same thing. Off they went and I went with Skyways again. 16 years later plus the 3 years I stopped using them a total of 19 years of not using them, add the years that I bought and used them 2-3 years brings it to about 22 years old. That was 2002 when I put them on my Black Chrome Pro Class project. All I did was clean them up and the squeek was gone! Till this day it is still on this bike and works just as good as it did 25-26 years ago, but even better without the squeek!

Brake alignment and a dried up rim/brake pads will make your brakes squeek.
My technic now is to sand down or file your brake pads and clean your brake pads and rim with Simple Green. If your brake pads and your rim Squeeks, then you have to check you brake pad alignment. If it still squeeks, what I do is just put a dab of Armer All on my finger, like a size of a tear drop on my finger. Then I lightly apply it on my rim on one side then I do the same for the other side. I clean the rim off with a clean paper towel and this gets rid of the squeek without getting rid of your stopping power. If it still squeeks then I repeat the same process again only difference is I apply the brakes with Armer All on the rim, but I don't spin the rim. Sometimes you have to add more Armer All, but you will know if you added to much if your brakes don't work or stop good. Then you will have to clean your rim again with Simple green and may have to start the process again. In all you will get the hang of it. No more soda on the rim technic.

[ September 16, 2006, 01:55 PM: Message edited by: bmx joe ]

for getting rid of squeeks, I always "toed in" the brake arms a bit, the front of the pad should touch the rim just before the rest of the pad makes contact...it's somthing I read in BMX plus 20 years ago, and it's always worked great. most of the newer pads are adjustable, so tweakin the arms isnt nesessary as you can adjust the toe w/ the pads.

[ September 16, 2006, 03:35 PM: Message edited by: Spicoli ]

Thats what I ment by the alignment "toed in".
Thanks Spicoli for bringing that up! If I remember a few company's had directions in back or inside of the package. Sometimes though toed in does not work for rolling backwards tricks. Then what touchs first becomes touching last with going backwards. MX1000,Dia Compe and other old school brake arms would flex, more so on backwards braking tricks.
So alignment would have to be flat at both ends of the pads,and pads would be aligned with rim, with a little play for flex and having full contact on rim. Other wise pads will flex over and hit/scrap your tire or it will go under the rim getting only about 3/4 contact of brake pads in both directions, making your brakes pads wear and work poorly. It will also wear out the sidewall of your tire. If your bike is just a display piece then it don't matter how your brakes work.

I always and still do have a bear of a time centering the brakes.

Even if I hold them to one side they always seem to rotate with tightening.

Any tips ?

NIPPON'S here the original pitbulls were really good too.

Mark

my feet always worked good...

K Dog get a flat head screwdriver and grind it out to make a V use that to tap the spring over as you tighten

K Dog
get a flat head screwdriver and grind it out to make a V use that to tap the spring over as you tighten

Nippons are definitely a favorite here. I like the Bulldogs as a best "bang for the buck" alternative. I see them go for really cheap on the 'Bay.

Good idea TNight, and I heard you the first time

I installed a set of Nippons this morning and while I always thought they were cool I guess I never realized just how great they were to set up.

The adjustability is amazing- centering, tension of the arms but still allowing them to open/close- just sweet.