Greetings!
I have a late 1958-1961 Snyder/Rollaway/Firestone that I am getting into comfortable rideable condition and I'm wondering how I would go about adding a front brake? I realize that traditionally, this style of bicycle has coaster brakes (and they do work), but with my abilities/skill level as a rider I don't feel all that comfortable riding without any handbrakes at all, especially around in the hilly and busy neighborhood I live in.
I've taken it to two reputable bike shops in my area and both have essentially told me it's inadvisable to add a front brake by drilling into the frame. Reviewing the bike myself as I have taken it apart to clean it up, they are very correct - the front fork pivots inside the frame with some sort of bearing, plus the vintage badge is also right there... so that is a whole can of worms I don't think I want to deal with. (I am a novice bike mechanic at best, so I ask for your patience about bike mechanics and fixing/assembling bikes as we move forwards here.)
However, I've done some searching and found
this part that I think would work on my front bicycle fork... if I can find it? I realize this is a Schwinn part (and hopefully this isn't going to cause any pain for the mix and match on brand and era here) and as I've scoured eBay for the past two days I can't find anything that's even close. I did find a few archived posts here at CABE for this request as well, and folks have pointed others towards
this website (originally in Japanese) which offers replica parts for the same style of front fork. I've sent a message to the seller in hopes they may answer (here's hoping they're willing to answer messages in English!), but the last restock looks like it was in October 2020...
So I need some problem solving help... should I spend my time looking for this part? Or should I try something else? I've attached some images of the front fork of my bike. I'm not certain this would be the right answer since from my searching it looks as though on the Schwinn bicycles this part was designed for, there is a tapped hole underneath but not on my Firestone. However I think it's the right direction? Any thoughts?
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