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🇯🇵 SHIMANO DURA-ACE AX 7300 🚴‍♂️

PART 1 — THE BRAKES OF THE FUTURE 💧

💬 These AX brakes: a masterpiece of engineering and design, or just an aerodynamic gimmick?…

The story begins in 1980. Cologne, Germany.

At IFMA (Internationale Fahrrad- und Motorrad-Ausstellung), the major international bicycle and motorcycle show, Shimano unveils a masterpiece: a futuristic groupset unlike anything else.

Its name: Dura-Ace AX, series 7300.

The objective is clear: to make aerodynamics a central element in component design, aiming to reduce air resistance by 20%.

Shimano takes the project so seriously that the company invests in building its own wind tunnel, allowing it to independently study and develop its new aerodynamic shapes.

And among the most spectacular components in the groupset are the brakes.

⚙️ THE BRAKE CALIPERS — BR-7300

Love them or hate them, they leave no one indifferent, and 46 years after they were made, their design still looks remarkably modern.

The BR-7300 calipers abandon the traditional side-pull design in favor of a center-pull system, with rounded, streamlined shapes designed to present as little resistance to the wind as possible.

Their operation is equally unusual: Shimano uses a Roller-Cam type system.

The brake cable runs down through the center of the caliper. When you apply the brakes, the cable pulls a central triangular plate fitted with small rollers. These rollers push the upper ends of the brake arms apart, which in turn forces the brake pads against the rim.

Everything seems to have been designed around the same idea: cutting through the air. But this pursuit came with compromises.

Adjustment required more attention, and the BR-7300s did not become famous for their braking power.

Historically, however, the BR-7300s are also interesting for another reason.

They appeared four years before the legendary Campagnolo C-Record Delta brakes.

With this model, the Japanese brand became the first to mass-market this revolutionary architecture.

🌬️ THE AERO BRAKE LEVERS — BL-7300

With its brake levers, Shimano tackled something we now take completely for granted: internally routed brake cables.

At the time, brake housing generally emerged above the hoods, creating the famous “rabbit ears” in front of the handlebars.

With the BL-7300, they disappear.

The cable and housing run along the handlebars, concealed beneath the handlebar tape.

This became known as “aero” routing.

The BL-7300s are considered the first aero brake levers, or at the very least among the major pioneers that would popularize this design.

An idea that seems obvious today.

In 1980, much less so…

Forty-six years later, however, their main enemy is no longer the wind.

It’s time.

The original blue rubber hoods often age very badly: the rubber hardens, dries out and eventually cracks or deteriorates.

Original examples in excellent condition have therefore become difficult to find.

Fortunately for restorers, near-identical reproduction hoods are available today, although they can quickly become rather expensive for two pieces of rubber.

💧 AN EXPERIMENT THAT DIDN’T CONVINCE EVERYONE

The Dura-Ace AX was bold.

Perhaps even too bold.

Shimano acknowledged that, despite the surprise generated by its unveiling, the AX series ultimately failed to meet users’ expectations, and its career was relatively short.

Looking back, Shimano describes this commercial failure as a valuable lesson in the company’s history.

As a result, by 1984 Shimano was heading in a different direction with Dura-Ace 7400 and its future SIS indexing system.

But AX had demonstrated something:

Aerodynamics could now influence the shape of even the smallest component on a racing bicycle.

And the brakes were only the beginning…

➡️ TO BE CONTINUED — PART 2: THE DERAILLEURS.


Peace & Ride.

🚴‍♂️ THE MODOLO SPEEDY
“LA VIE CLAIRE” BRAKE SET

In the 1980s, Modolo didn’t just make brakes: the Italian brand also produced a range of other bicycle components.

But to complement the distinctive visual identity of the La Vie Claire team, Modolo produced a special brake set that has since become quite sought-after among collectors:

👉 the Modolo Speedy “La Vie Claire”.

It was a special edition of the Speedy, a brake already well established in Modolo’s range by the early 1980s.

What made this particular version stand out, however, wasn’t its mechanics… but its look. 😉

🎨 THE INFLUENCE OF PIET MONDRIAN

The brake calipers and levers featured a white finish decorated with small geometric patterns in red, yellow and blue — making the La Vie Claire identity instantly recognizable.

Like the team jersey and LOOK’s visual identity, the graphics drew inspiration from the work of Dutch painter Piet Mondrian.

It was a particularly bold aesthetic choice for bicycle components in the mid-1980s.

And nearly forty years later, that distinctive design is precisely what makes these brakes so recognizable and desirable among vintage bicycle collectors.

⚙️ THE SPEEDY RANGE

Technically, these brakes remained very much part of the Modolo Speedy family.

At the time, the Speedy range offered a more affordable alternative to Modolo’s prestigious top-end models, such as the Professional and Master Pro, used by Laurent Fignon on his 1983 Gitane Team Pro.

The Italian manufacturer offered its brakes in a variety of finishes and colours.

💡 AND SOME VERY INNOVATIVE BRAKE PADS

As early as 1983, the company introduced its famous D-0015 pads, made from a sintered material.

Modolo claimed they provided superior braking performance, particularly in wet conditions.

It was something of a revolution at a time when many riders were still using traditional rubber brake pads.

However, many users complained that these pads caused significant rim wear.

Modolo even linked the launch of its D-0015 pads — containing neither rubber nor asbestos — to Greg LeMond’s victory at the 1983 World Championships in Altenrhein.

A rather fitting detail when you consider that LeMond would later join Bernard Tapie’s La Vie Claire team.

And to lure the American away, Tapie made an extraordinary offer: $1 million over three years.

At the time, it was unheard of in professional cycling.

🏆 BUT BE CAREFUL: THESE WEREN’T THE BRAKES ON LEMOND’S KG86

The Modolo Speedy “La Vie Claire” brakes perfectly captured the team’s visual identity, but they were not the brakes fitted to the famous LOOK KG86 on which Greg LeMond won the 1986 Tour de France.

LeMond’s KG86 was equipped with Campagnolo C-Record components, together with the now-iconic LOOK PP75 clipless pedals.

In other words, the Modolo Speedy “La Vie Claire” has become above all a wonderful reminder of the distinctive aesthetic identity and powerful marketing universe built around the La Vie Claire team.

Peace & Ride.

🇮🇹 Modolo Master Pro.
The World’s Finest Brake.

$250 brakes… back in 1983! 👀
That’s around $840 today when adjusted for inflation.

The “Formula 1 of brakes,” as Modolo called it!

« Modolo believes that there is only one way to build the world’s finest bicycle brakesets.

The Modolo World Champion Master Pro is fashioned of an impressive list of some of the world’s most exotic, and costly, materials.

Caliper arches are hot forged of incredibly tough Ergal alloy. Fibre alignment is insured and a 7075 hardness rating is achieved.

Pivot bolts are machined from titanium. To maintain strict aerospace tolerances, the contact surfaces and threading are machined a second time. Pivot washers are machined bronze, 24k gold plated and quite nearly impervious to oxidation and wear.

Brake shoes are uniquely sinterized D-0015, a composite that provides firm and consistent stopping power, wet or dry.

Yet the finest materials alone could not justify the Master Pro, not to mention their $250.00 price tag. To appreciate the craftsmanship, control and power you need only try them once. You’ll never want a brake that is anything less.

Fine Modolo brakesets are available in all price ranges.
Master Pro, Professional, Equipe and Speedy are trademarks of Modolo Adamo & C./Treviso.

modolo
The Winning Italian Technology.

Modolo products are distributed throughout the USA by professional bicycle dealers. »

*Technical details indicated by the arrows

On the pivot washers: “Machined bronze pivot washers, 24k gold finish.”

On the center shaft: “Titanium center shaft. Dual diameter, two-stage machined.”

On the cable fixing bolt: “Titanium articulating cable fixing bolt.”

On the calipers: “Ergal/7075 forged alloy calipers.”

On the caliper treatment: “Hard oxide anodizing for scratch and wear resistance.”

On the brake shoes: “Sinterized compound wet/dry brake shoes.”

On the levers: “Modolo Master Pro levers use exclusive alloy barrel/bronze bushing assembly for precise action.”

On the lever finish: “Levers finished and detailed front and back.”

On the lever: “Hard oxide surface treatment.”

On the hoods: “Anatomically shaped grips individually contoured for left and right hands.”

On the hoods: “Internally caverned hood design softens shocks for comfort and control.(Modolo patent)”

On the cables: “Modolo cables are internally coated with molybdenum bisulfide.”

KogaMiyata fullpro CBL DuraAce
Rahmenhöhe 56cm
Top Original Zustand
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