Wrong-way brake levers

A Muzi wrote:
This bike just rolled in my door:
http://www.yellowjersey.org/daily.html

Bill Sornson wrote:
It's missing a LOT of parts!

Pedals and gear cable were the final bits. Done.
--
Andrew Muzi
www.yellowjersey.org
Open every day since 1 April, 1971

In article ,
A Muzi wrote:

wrote:
Why do so many of the brake levers on these French porteur bikes face
forward instead of backward?

Style? Internal cable routing? Some mechanical advantage?

Is it just a French thing? They look like a different design, not just
a backwards mount.

Page with lots of them:
http://www.blackbirdsf.org/courierracing/velos.html

Examples:
http://www.blackbirdsf.org/courierra..._grandluxe.jpg

http://www.blackbirdsf.org/courierra...alparisien.jpg

http://www.blackbirdsf.org/courierra...1950_shift.jpg
http://www.blackbirdsf.org/courierra...inger_1950.jpg
http://www.blackbirdsf.org/courierra...inger_1960.jpg
http://www.blackbirdsf.org/bikes/ima...motobecane.jpg
http://www.blackbirdsf.org/courierra...orteur_052.jpg
http://www.blackbirdsf.org/courierra...orteur_056.jpg

A Muzi wrote:
Fashion. It's a current product:
http://www.e-cycle.co.jp/goods/detai...36&genre=1

wrote:
Thanks--so they're fashionable brake levers found on French utility
bikes, still available from Japan--that's just plain weird.
There are examples in "The Data Book" from France in 1950 and 1951
on pages 115 and 149.

This bike just rolled in my door:
http://www.yellowjersey.org/daily.html

Most practical townie. Only one change: drop bars.
Love the fork, mud guards and rack.

Is it in for maintenance?

--
Michael Press

wrote:
Why do so many of the brake levers on these French porteur bikes face
forward instead of backward?

Style?

of course

Internal cable routing?

yes

Some mechanical advantage?

the stronger fingers have more leverage


Is it just a French thing?

[looks up] Pedersen used them too


--
/Marten

info(apestaartje)m-gineering(punt)nl

wrote:

Curious, I looked into Flying Pigeon:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flying_Pigeon

Ominously, clicking on the first external link produces a virus
warning from AVG.


Yes, you want to be very carefull with asian birdflu!
--
/Marten

info(apestaartje)m-gineering(punt)nl

On Mar 27, 11:51*pm, A Muzi wrote:
A Muzi wrote:
This bike just rolled in my door:
http://www.yellowjersey.org/daily.html
Bill Sornson wrote:
It's missing a LOT of parts!

Pedals and gear cable were the final bits. Done.
--
Andrew Muziwww.yellowjersey.org
Open every day since 1 April, 1971

2 questions, if you don't mind. What size are those tires and what
kind of fenders are those?

M-gineering wrote:
wrote:

Why do so many of the brake levers on these French porteur bikes face
forward instead of backward?

Style?
of course

Internal cable routing?
yes

Some mechanical advantage?
the stronger fingers have more leverage

Is it just a French thing?

[looks up] Pedersen used them too



Another slight advantage, aside from better leverage from the stronger
fingers, would be reduced chance of a puncture wound in a crash. Just
don't ride too close to a child swinging a musette bag in a grand tour.

Dave Lehnen

On Mar 28, 11:30 am, Dave Lehnen wrote:
M-gineering wrote:
wrote:

Why do so many of the brake levers on these French porteur bikes face
forward instead of backward?

Style?
of course

Internal cable routing?
yes

Some mechanical advantage?
the stronger fingers have more leverage

Is it just a French thing?

[looks up] Pedersen used them too

Another slight advantage, aside from better leverage from the stronger
fingers, would be reduced chance of a puncture wound in a crash. Just
don't ride too close to a child swinging a musette bag in a grand tour.

Dave Lehnen

Nashbar had a city bike in the mid-80s with reverse levers, claiming
they'd be less likely to snag on stuff and wouldn't engage by bumping
something you passed too close to. Like a pedestrian.

On Fri, 28 Mar 2008 08:04:24 +0100, M-gineering
wrote:

wrote:
Why do so many of the brake levers on these French porteur bikes face
forward instead of backward?

Style?

of course

Internal cable routing?

yes

Some mechanical advantage?

the stronger fingers have more leverage


Is it just a French thing?

[looks up] Pedersen used them too

Dear Marten,

You're right--I never noticed the levers on the early Pedersens:
http://www.dursley-pedersen.net/orig...lebar_grip.jpg
http://www.dursley-pedersen.net/orig...lindemann9.jpg
http://www.dursley-pedersen.net/orig..._img/dp3sm.jpg

http://www.dursley-pedersen.net/orig...y1906a_big.jpg

Something else must have distracted me when I looked at them. :-)

Cheers,

Carl Fogel

On Fri, 28 Mar 2008 12:56:13 -0700, Mike Elliott
wrote:

On 3/28/2008 1:21 PM wrote:


You're right--I never noticed the levers on the early Pedersens:
http://www.dursley-pedersen.net/orig...lebar_grip.jpg
http://www.dursley-pedersen.net/orig...lindemann9.jpg
http://www.dursley-pedersen.net/orig..._img/dp3sm.jpg

http://www.dursley-pedersen.net/orig...y1906a_big.jpg

Something else must have distracted me when I looked at them. :-)


Looks all kinda bouncy.

Dear Mike,

Please, outside the trampoline world we prefer to say "smoothly
compliant" or "anti-vibratory."

In fact, Pedersen designed his unusual bicycle around his kinda bouncy
seat:

"I resolved to make a cycle frame which would carry the seat without
the necessity of having a special seat frame at all. In ordinary
'safety' I found the frames were so far from perfection that I had to
abandon that system entirely, with the exception of the two tubes
running from the bottom bracket to the rear wheel spindle."
http://www.dursley-pedersen.net/dp_history.html

Cheers,

Carl Fogel

A Muzi wrote:
This bike just rolled in my door:
http://www.yellowjersey.org/daily.html

Bill Sornson wrote:
It's missing a LOT of parts!

A Muzi wrote:
Pedals and gear cable were the final bits. Done.

wrote:
2 questions, if you don't mind. What size are those tires and what
kind of fenders are those?

He built his wheels on a Sturmey AW with regular tubular rims and the
mudguards are Honjo aluminum.
--
Andrew Muzi
www.yellowjersey.org
Open every day since 1 April, 1971