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Attic What IZIT #51 |
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The Attic -
Attic What IZIT
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 #51
 Back in the day this was one of Bikeman's favorite upgrades... Too bad this company doesn't make disc pads. The winning answer will include the Make, Model and Functionality of the item. Personal experience is worth big bonus points. The winner will receive a $10 Bikeman Gift Certificate.
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Many memories and personal experiences in this edition. It was good to hear that a handfull of you are still running these to this day. Here are the best and the rest.
WINNER - Ezra Waltermaurer: "That looks to be a Mathauser refillable brake shoe with integral "cooling" fins. I rode coast to coast on a set of these (with threaded posts on mediocre dia-comp sidepulls) with a heavy load and these brake shoes with their salmon colored shoes did a tremendous job of keeping my speed in check during the 24 mile descent after climbing up 26 miles of switchbacks over the Greybull Mountains in eastern Wyoming. I can't attest to whether the cooling fins kept my brakes/rims any cooler temperature-wise, but they certainly did look way cooler than your run-of-the-mill brake shoes of the day. In fact, if there was such a thing in 1989, these shoes were they only real bling I had on my trip. I have just stripped/blasted/powdercoated/rebuilt that "old ride" - and back on the finned mathausers went - with plenty of red rubber left in em' too."
RUNNER UP - Salem Mazzawy: "Hark, Might those be the late, great Scott Matthauser (I hope you don't deduct for spelling) finned brake pad holder (Magnesium, were they not?). I remember I was too cheap to spring for the fancy model, but did just fine with the aluminum holders. Amend that, DO fine--I'm still running those pads on my DiaCompe 986 equiped single speed. Give me Scott Matthausers and wide arm cantilevers with adjustable/tuneable straddle cables over V-brakes any day! And yes, I do have a small stockpile of these--with the way they wear, it just may last my lifetime."
RUNNER UP - Telford Crisco: "Those would be the original bling, super cool brake pads by Scott/Mathauser; in this case Mathauser finned canti- pads. What you have shown is a single finned pad holder (thought I better clarify that for the hair splitters). History: I got my first quality 10-speed back in 1976 (a Schwinn LeTour). Got stolen soon thereafter and upgraded to a Super LeTour 12.2. That was when I really started to get into bikes and the earth moved. I used to drool over the Mathauser pads in Bicycling Magazine. Campy SR was the shizzle, Sun Tour was the common man's best friend, and Shimano was still in it's infancy. There weren't a lot of accessories that cried pimp my ride. No titanium, a bit of aluminum here and there, some Regina ORO gold chains and five speed clusters, but no colored tid bits, carbon, or weight weenie jewelry. Back then I remember these in the bolt-on variant to fit center/side pull road brakes. Small balck and white add in the back of the magazine. When the mountain bike boom hit in the late eighties, the pads were made to fit canti- mounts as shown. Later, they also produced an economy model without the finned aluminum mounts. You can thank Mr. Scott. From the Bike Pro archive: "We should introduce you to Edward Scott. He has been in the bike industry for some time and is always interested in perfecting the bicycle braking system. Mr. Scott's early work was in the ski industry and his hollow aluminum ski poles and then later goggles became the standard that other makers of poles and goggles had to live up to. Mr. Scott sold this business, now called Scott USA. The business he founded is now a large player in the bicycle market as a maker of handlebars, importer of bikes with Scott USA decals, and more recently the acquirer of the Schwinn brand name, so they now import bicycles with Schwinn decals on them. Mr. Scott is one of the most soft spoken and inquisitive individuals we have run across in the bike industry." Anyway, mowed lawns and papers delivered I finally got a set of those finned wonders. Grown up and years later I was still putting Mathausers on my mountain and road stable. Beyond the sweet looks, these things really worked. Don't think there is any other pad that have ever come close. Unfortunately the pads are no longer made. Fortunately, the bike industry has come a long way and we have more bling than any of use really need."
RUNNER UP - Al Tinti: "That's a Scott Matthouser Superbrake brake shoe housing for canti brakes, circa 1990 or thereabouts. The housing was finned to disappate heat, and took red compound cartridge brake pads that slid into the housing similar to current cartridge "v brake" pads. Only problem was that they didn't provide any method of retaining the pads such as the cotter pins used in Shimano and Avid cartridge pads, so if you rolled backward with the brake on, they tended to pop out of their housing and get lost in the weeds! Nevertheless, it was the best braking available at the time."
RUNNER UP - Michael MFEMFE: "The Item is a Scott "Superbrake" brake pad holder. The one shown has no pad in it. It is forged aluminum with a hollow steel mounting stud (yes hollow). There are 4 small fins cast into the top of it. These function as a heat sink of sorts (as long as there is nothing empeding the airflow to the pad). The hollow mounting stud definitely saves substantial weight in proportion to the overall weight of the holder assemby. The brake pad itself has a recess on the backside of it that lined up with the stud mounting point. It would most likely be to allow venting (through the hollow stud)of the hot brake pad outgassing. Or in extreme conditions or for those with nothing better to do, the end of a small hose could be hooked up from the stud to a liquid freon bottle. Now that's "COOL"!"
RUNNER UP - Eddie Plantilla: "#51 is a venerable Scott/Matthauser SuperBrake cantilever brake shoe. Missing is the famous Salmon compound brake pad made by Kool-Stop. These babies were the ultimate upgrade for cantilever brakes, as they featured an aluminum pad holder for light weight with integrated cooling fins for heat dissipation, and were one of the earliest brake shoes that featured replaceable pads so you wouldn't lose your toe-in adjustment when it came time to replace the rubber. I just donated an '87 HardRock to our local bike recycler with a full set of four of these shoes. Way cool."
RUNNER UP - Harry: "Looks like a Scott (Or Scott-Mathauser) brake holder to me. The pads felt just as hard as the holders and looked like they would grind through your rims, but they were actually treated the rim pretty well. I had them on my Ritchey Ascent - complete with the chainstay-mounted Suntour Roller-cam brakes. What a bear it was to adjust those brakes, but once they were dialed in they did the trick. I remember the first time I grabbed a handful of front brake in the rain with those pads. I was expecting the old grab-and-pray routine, but nearly did an endo. As I recall those pads didn't give you a whole lot of modulation. Hmmm.... I may still have a set of those in MY attic!"
RUNNER UP - Dave Fritzke: "Oh, that is a Scott-Mathauser brake shoe holder. The pads were available seperately. They made a version for road bikes too. They were the best ever, I have a set on my old Paramuont with the Campy parts."
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