Picked up this ugly one about a hour ago. JC Penny with a Disk Brake

[MarkKBike]

This is one ugly JC Penny 10 speed, and it sure is a heavy bike.

I'm not too interested in the frame, but it had parts I thought I could use. (Full Generator set with a head and Tail light, a shorter stem I think I can use on a bike that is a little too stretched out for me, a vintage rear view mirror, and a decent set of white wall tires, some steel framed pedals, and shimano derailleurs, and some miscellaneous fastener type items that will come in handy when needed).

Many of these pieces will be used on other bikes. It also has a rear stainless steel rotor shimano disk break that I thought was fairly unusual.

I pretty much bought this one just for the parts that I can use on some existing uncompleted builds.

Were these early shimano disk breaks ever used much?

If it didn't have good tires, the rear view mirror, and the generator set, I would have passed it up. But I got it for less than I would have payed to purchase those items. If I can either sell or fabricate that break system onto another bike as a novelty, that will just be a bonus.

It looks like it was a uncomfortable bike to ride with its tank like weight, and look at the drop between the saddle to break levers setup.

 

[K-Love]

That is a really strange brake. I’ve never seen one. It looks so out of place on a department store 10 speed.

 

[PCHiggin]

I had one of those,a trash night special. The brake worked ok. I gave it to neighborhood kid,he used it for a summer and it ended up back in the trash when his family moved.

 

[morton]

That rear disc assembly is heavvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvy, way more than a simple caliper, and on the one I had (trash day pickup) wasn't any better at stopping. Scrapped the frame and kept the brake as a curio but eventually gave it to someone who seemed interested in it.

 

[djpubba]

That disc brake would look good on a rat rod klunker build.

 

[MarkKBike]

Last night I removed all the accessories including the nearly 2 pound kick stand. I took every thing off it didn't need to function. The bike still weights 42 pounds. The rear disk brake works, I did a couple small loops around the furnace in my basement. The shift levers were made out of pot metal, one was broke when I bought it, and the other snapped off as soon as I tried to move it..

The front center pull brake is a shimano tourney, and the derailleur is a shimano eagle. If I sell these two parts on the auction site, my money spent will be recouped.

I plan to put a new rear shift lever on and try to get it out for a ride this evening before further disassembly to give that rear brake a better test, and see if I might want to use it on another bike. I'm thinking of trying to fit it onto a old Schwinn 10 speed frame I used for parts.

In the photo it looks like the brake screws into the frame, but this in not the case, there is a metal plate that attaches behind the dropout, and then a clamp that connects it to the frame. It should be easy to move onto any other bike. Even the cable housing stop mounts on this this plate that cant easily be seen in the photos.

I found some more information about the brake.

And it looks like they also made one for the front. "https://www.vitalmtb.com/forums/Mechanics-Corner,4/crazy-old-disc-brakes-i-saw-at-the-swap-meet,6117"

 

[Oilit]

That's got to be worth something just for the cool factor!

 

[3-speeder]

I like the line in the advertisement that says about the brake pads, "They are made of special material that lasts and lasts". Asbestos maybe? Hah. Wouldn't doubt it.

 

[Mr.RED]

this bike just looks heavy

 

[MarkKBike]

I did ultimately get the bike out for a short ride, and the break works fine. I have since stripped the bike down to just the bare frame, and have all the shimano parts sorted in my part bins. I just weighed the frame, and it weights about 10 pounds by itself without anything on it, even the fork and headset was removed. (This frame will probably be junked) . The generator set and mirror have already been moved to a vintage cruiser bike, and the tires will also be reused on one of my personal rides.

I still plan to move the disk break onto a old beat up Schwinn 10 speed once I'm able to build it back up into something that looks neat. The break assembly is heavier than you would expect, but should be a interesting novelty that will be fun to ride.

I bet the pads are asbestos like the previous poster mentioned, they look to be a similar material to car break pads, and still have lots of life on them.

Asbestos was used in a lot of friction applications, and was once advertised, I always wanted to pick up one of these Vintage German Dam Quick Spinning Reels, for the novelty factor, but it's purchase has still escaped me.

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