- Location
- Inside my skull
Eh so the car was coming across and you braked late is what you are saying?
Not Had Interrupter Levers For Over 25 Years. Today, I Tried To Use Them.
- Thread starter Lovacott
- Start date
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ColinJ
Puzzle game procrastinator!
- Location
- Todmorden - Yorks/Lancs border
Yes, what were those all about! They certainly looked sporty, but did they actually do anything useful?
Profpointy
Legendary Member
The modern "cross stops" are bloody good though
D
Deleted member 1258
Guest
No, you just ended up with a brown streak up your back
OP
OP
Lovacott
Über Member
I went for the brake but it wasn't where I thought it was.
cougie uk
Guru
If you like Billy Connolly there's a two part documentary on the iPlayer. He shows you his Flying Scot bike. Centre Pull brakes and racing mudguards. In excellent nick too.
Cymro74
Well-Known Member
- Location
- Vale of Glamorgan
My old falcon racer had them in 80s. Hard to imagine going back now that I'm used to spending most time holding the hoods for braking. My hands have to be a bit stronger now to brake on hoods.
IanSmithCSE
Guru
- Location
- Worcester, Worcestershire
Good morning,
The idea, although not a good one, was to stop rain getting onto the brake blocks and soaking in over a longer ride.
Bye
Ian
Once upon a time and way before they appeared on Raleighs etc as cost cutting/looks good measures Racing Half Guards existed to provide a degree of protection to the brakes.
The idea, although not a good one, was to stop rain getting onto the brake blocks and soaking in over a longer ride.
Bye
Ian
OP
OP
Lovacott
Über Member
I remember them. They kept your bum dry (ish).
I never had any problem with rim brakes in the wet. I just knew that I needed to apply a bit more pressure on rainy days.
If it was wet, I rode on the drops to make sure I had full hand power on the brake levers.
On dry and windless days, I'd sit upright with my hands either side of the stem and use the pull up brakes for routine braking with the main levers reserved for emergency use only.
DaveReading
Don't suffer fools gladly (must try harder!)
- Location
- Reading, obvs
I tried that, but found that I wasn't very good at foreseeing emergencies.
contadino
Veteran
- Location
- Chesterfield
Are you talking about sports mudguards or suicide levers?
Considering how useless Weinmann brake pads were in the wet in the 80s, with those suicide bars it's remarkable some of us are still alive.
A few years ago I crossed the Alps on a bike with 80s brakes (605s?) with Clarks brake pads. That had a few hairy moments and it was dry.
I’ve restored a couple of bikes with Weinmann safety levers, they don’t work very well on the old single pivot slide pull brakes, but on centre pulls, once the levers are stripped and rebuilt and the brakes are adjusted so there is very little play in the lever, they can be very effective
D
Deleted member 1258
Guest
I'm talking short mudguards, back in the eighties I used to take the suicide levers off my bikes if I could. Our LBS, Pollards on the Binley road, used to sell an outer cable that was meant for mopeds, but would fit pedal cycle brakes, used to sell it by the yard, and we'd upgrade our brakes with that, it was a lot less squishy than standard cycle bike cable.
These days you can fit soft compound MTB brake pads and they work much better with chrome rims.
overmind
My other bike is a Pinarello
- Location
- Reading, Berkshire
I liked suicide levers. Granted, they were not as efficient as the drop brakes but they were good enough.
If the brakes were adjusted correctly I found they were sufficient for most situations.
I remember several times when the brakes were a bit worn having to pull the levers up higher than the handlebars to get the bike to stop.
I used to like the fact I could just coast along with my hands on the top of the handlebars. Hoods back then were not as comfortable. There was no rubber cover over the brake and the space between the brake and the hood was not as generous.
Edit: I think on those Weinmann brakes shown above there were gaps in the metal where the brake attached to the handlebar. If you held it for too long it hurt your hands.
If the brakes were adjusted correctly I found they were sufficient for most situations.
I remember several times when the brakes were a bit worn having to pull the levers up higher than the handlebars to get the bike to stop.
I used to like the fact I could just coast along with my hands on the top of the handlebars. Hoods back then were not as comfortable. There was no rubber cover over the brake and the space between the brake and the hood was not as generous.
Edit: I think on those Weinmann brakes shown above there were gaps in the metal where the brake attached to the handlebar. If you held it for too long it hurt your hands.
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