My oldest is a 1931 Elswick but it is not as nice as the Rudge to ride and is single speed so not ideal around here. It does have drum brakes though so stops brilliantly, even in pouring rain.
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Reynard
Guru
- Location
- Cambridgeshire, UK
I can confirm it was delicious.
I do like a slice of good cheesecake.
Mad Doug Biker
Banned from every bar in the Galaxy
- Location
- Craggy Island
Mine has rod brakes, so wish me luck! 😄
Mad Doug Biker
Banned from every bar in the Galaxy
- Location
- Craggy Island
Attachments
With careful adjustment, I find they work perfectly well in the dry but are utterly useless in the rain.
Mad Doug Biker
Banned from every bar in the Galaxy
- Location
- Craggy Island
I am scared as I see the blocks curve in so much that that are almost touching the spokes.
Bad show if I come off, what?
They brake the inner rim! 😱
Reynard
Guru
- Location
- Cambridgeshire, UK
My Hercules has rod brakes. Been there, done that... 
They can be adjusted out but it may be you have the wrong brake blocks. There are a few designs over the years and different manufacturers used different ones too. Most modern pads are the wide ones but some bikes used a narrower block which is harder to find these days.
Mad Doug Biker
Banned from every bar in the Galaxy
- Location
- Craggy Island
My Hercules has rod brakes. Been there, done that...
... And? How bad/awful was it?
Mad Doug Biker
Banned from every bar in the Galaxy
- Location
- Craggy Island
I am merely looking at the shape of what I have to be added, but also, I am looking at pictures of other restored examples and it looks... Hmmm, interesting!
With rod brakes, make sure the rods are perfectly straight and adjust or shim out any play in the linkage. Ensure the leading edge of the pad hits the rim first and leave a big gap between the brake lever and the bars to allow more movement and leverage before it bottoms out on the bars. Apply a drip of oil to each pivot point and on the guides on the frame where the stirrups slide.
Wheel condition is much more critical for rod brakes too than it is for calliper or canti brakes. Any dents or flat spots will cause judder and possibly risk locking the wheel if it's bad enough. Loose spokes would mean pulling the rim towards you rather than applying forthe brakes forcefully.
Rod brakes can be very time-consuming to get right but once they're adjusted correctly, they won't need touched again for many years which is probably why the design survived. Raleigh listed those bikes in their catalogue until the mid to late 1980s.
Wheel condition is much more critical for rod brakes too than it is for calliper or canti brakes. Any dents or flat spots will cause judder and possibly risk locking the wheel if it's bad enough. Loose spokes would mean pulling the rim towards you rather than applying forthe brakes forcefully.
Rod brakes can be very time-consuming to get right but once they're adjusted correctly, they won't need touched again for many years which is probably why the design survived. Raleigh listed those bikes in their catalogue until the mid to late 1980s.
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Mad Doug Biker
Banned from every bar in the Galaxy
- Location
- Craggy Island
This is a 1926 Humber (either an 'Olympia' or a 'Popular')
Reynard
Guru
- Location
- Cambridgeshire, UK
Given I haven't ridden the damn thing since I was 15, it's a bit hard to say
It was a post jumble sale skip rescue, and I rode it a lot. Probably no better or no worse than any of the other skip rescues my dad brought home. There was also a trike in that skip, which I now regret I didn't take, but there simply wasn't room enough in the car...
