Something absurd?

GaryGkn
GaryGkn Posts: 1,199
edited February 2008 in Road general
Found this you will have to follow the link to see the pic but it reallis absurd and it looks like the owner only has a rear brake?

Look for the bike with the yellow frame.

http://bikesnobnyc.blogspot.com/2007_11_01_archive.html

'Slightly more tenable but still absurd is this placement, forwarded to me by a reader. It would appear that in the process of installing the lever the owner was suddenly smitten by some kind of paralytic dementia and instead diverted it to the top tube. I suppose there could be some kernel of logic buried in here somewhere--perhaps its placement comes in handy for stunt riding, or perhaps the clamp helps secure the top-tube pad from theft. Still, though, I remain recalcitrant and continue to insist that it's better to have both hands on the bars during a panic stop.'

Comments

  • meagain
    meagain Posts: 2,331
    Seriously dumb IMHO. Whether top tube or stem mounted! I THINK that (unlike UK) in some US States ONE brake is legal and that the fixed counts as that one brake i.e. nil rim brakes is OK (in law if not in sense of staying alive!).
    d.j.
    "Cancel my subscription to the resurrection."
  • I liked the Cannondale with the stem lever too :)

    I wouldn't want to ride like that either but a single rear brake was often an option on lightweight cycles in the 1930's - check this photo:

    http://www.classiclightweights.co.uk/dtwitchett2.jpg
  • meagain
    meagain Posts: 2,331
    I liked the Cannondale with the stem lever too :)

    I wouldn't want to ride like that either but a single rear brake was often an option on lightweight cycles in the 1930's - check this photo:

    http://www.classiclightweights.co.uk/dtwitchett2.jpg

    Yes, but then he does look quite a dangerous character! Two brakes perhaps introduced as part of the major road safety (sic!!) legislation of the mid-30s (like driving licences and the white safety flash on 'grds - usually attributed to the black-out but in fact pre-1939).
    d.j.
    "Cancel my subscription to the resurrection."
  • GaryGkn
    GaryGkn Posts: 1,199
    Is it true that 70% of your braking power is the front brake? In that case a light weight with just a rear brake would be less able than one with just a front?
  • meagain
    meagain Posts: 2,331
    GaryGkn wrote:
    Is it true that 70% of your braking power is the front brake? In that case a light weight with just a rear brake would be less able than one with just a front?

    Apparently so! And yes!
    d.j.
    "Cancel my subscription to the resurrection."