Dick Rath
Look Ma, No Hands!
Seeking a complete front wheel hand brake as might be found on single tube safety bicycles produced prior to 1910. These brake types were often referred to as "spoon brakes" as their function, as activated with rods connecting the hand lever to vertical rod that attached to "sort of" spoon shaped plate that compressed on the bike's front tire. More commonly found on ladies models but on mens as well. The development and availability of rear wheel coaster brakes around the turn of the century signaled the end of the front tire compression brake. Many, if not most, of the bicycles on the road when the coaster brakes became available were converted to this new simpler and safer method for slowing and stoping a moving bicycle. Sadly, the removed front tire compression system were either sent to the scrap heap or tossed in used parts bins never to be seen again. Bikes that were not converted ended-up either hanging in old barns or attics undergoing the aging process and waiting to be found by one of today's Cabe Members to salivate over....... which leads me to ask here if any of our members might have stumbled on one of these systems ( either partial or complete ) that they would be willing to part with.....for a price-of course. I'm restoring an 1897 ladies bike that more than likely had her factory-installed front brake ripped off and replaced with one of those new fangled coaster brakes. I'd be anxious to hear from anyone that's in posession of such a thing and possibly willing to part with it. Dick ( Time Machines, Ltd.)
