Welshnwobbly
Active Member
- Location
- Newport
THE brakes on my New Hudson ladies bike (PIC 4) appear to be Webb or Webb's caliper brakes.
Does anyone know what age this bike and these brakes are? Has anyone heard of Webb or Webb's?
The mistake I made was to not photograph them BEFORE I dismantled them, which means that I do not properly now know how they go back (DURGHH!!).
I have succeeded in putting new inner brake cable on both the brake shifts and placed them inside the original outer cable though it appears that the nipple at the end of the inner cable is obviously too thick for this lever (PIC 1) meaning I will probably have to saw some of it off (I've already done that with front set). Vintage brake levers clearly had vintage inner wire with a different fastening system to modern Shimano ones. There is a hole in the bolt which you thread the inner wire through then just tighten the nut so no real need for a nipple (pictured).
These are functional as both were working on my first ride though they are both very imprecise and lack power and no bite (don't ride fast or down steep hills!). The front set has a tendency to move forward when pressed for some reason but doesn't entirely stop the bike.
With no exploded diagram of how they fit together properly, it is difficult to put them back properly.
Can anyone help me with the back set (PIC 2) in terms of how they fit onto the bolt and in what order (I have probably lost some washers and bits) and how it then is screwed via nut and bolt onto the frame to get maximum braking power and functionality.
Those two leather straps came with it (Pic 3). I wonder if they were to secure a basket to the front?
Also that odd looking rectangular bar pictured also came attached and I also wonder if that was for some storage device attached to it?
Does anyone know what age this bike and these brakes are? Has anyone heard of Webb or Webb's?
The mistake I made was to not photograph them BEFORE I dismantled them, which means that I do not properly now know how they go back (DURGHH!!).
I have succeeded in putting new inner brake cable on both the brake shifts and placed them inside the original outer cable though it appears that the nipple at the end of the inner cable is obviously too thick for this lever (PIC 1) meaning I will probably have to saw some of it off (I've already done that with front set). Vintage brake levers clearly had vintage inner wire with a different fastening system to modern Shimano ones. There is a hole in the bolt which you thread the inner wire through then just tighten the nut so no real need for a nipple (pictured).
These are functional as both were working on my first ride though they are both very imprecise and lack power and no bite (don't ride fast or down steep hills!). The front set has a tendency to move forward when pressed for some reason but doesn't entirely stop the bike.
With no exploded diagram of how they fit together properly, it is difficult to put them back properly.
Can anyone help me with the back set (PIC 2) in terms of how they fit onto the bolt and in what order (I have probably lost some washers and bits) and how it then is screwed via nut and bolt onto the frame to get maximum braking power and functionality.
Those two leather straps came with it (Pic 3). I wonder if they were to secure a basket to the front?
Also that odd looking rectangular bar pictured also came attached and I also wonder if that was for some storage device attached to it?
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That brings back memories. Nice piece of research. It's a bit sexist to charge the ladies more, don't you think? No wonder they wanted to ride men's bikes.
