EVOLUTION OF THE BRAKE.
The earliest form of brake was probably applied to the back wheel, and consisted of either a “spoon” or a roller, to be drawn against the tire and operated by a cord running back from the handlebar, which was in such cases not fixed in the head lugs, but capable of being rotated to wind up the cord. Other forms, semi-automatic in operation, soon followed. In one, two short arms carrying a roller between them were pivoted on the back fork just above the wheel axle; this brake was brought into contact with the tire by drawing upward with a cord, and in case the cord broke the brake dropped down by its own weight, and as the arms bearing the roller were shorter than the radius of the back wheel, the forward movement of the wheel immediately drew the roller into wedging contact with the tire, and the wheel dragged, thus producing maximum efficiency.
The ground or trailing brake was another class, a long, curved fork being attached, and being so worked by a cord as to bring a notched or roughened end into biting contact with the ground; this was not wholesome for the road surface, but it served fairly well for retarding, and if pressure enough were applied the back wheel (which bore only a small load) could even be lifted off the ground, the brake taking its place as carrier. The cord was made very thick and strong; yet as there was a chance of its snapping, other forms of brake were devised to meet that chance. In one, the cord was slackened instead of tightened, allowing the short arms to drop down in front of the back wheel, which forthwith ran up off the ground and directly upon a small flat shoe borne by these arms, so that the wheel stopped turning and rode on a “drag” instead. Another pattern made the brake arm long enough to go quite over the wheel; this was worked by drawing upward with the cord until the back extremity bore on the ground; if the cord broke, a spring pulled the arm in the other direction, and the forward end, carrying a shoe upon which the wheel ran up, dropped down before the wheel.
The front wheel brake was the common one, however. Sometimes it was in roller form, as sometimes now, and this was sometimes worked by a rack and pinion, the handlebar being rotated for the purpose. More generally the brake was a simple L-shaped lever with a spoon at its end, worked by a hand lever on the bar, as today. As old riders remember, the brake on the high wheel was very sensitive and hazardous, as an excess of pressure would lock the wheel in its bearings and send everything over headlong.
HAY & WILLITS BACK PEDALLING BRAKE.
HAY & WILLITS BACK PEDALLING BRAKE.