Bicycle Mechanics - Curious about Weinmann brake lever on Carlton

See the pictures:

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/4370787/Boot_0740.jpg

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/4370787/Car_0741.JPG

I picked up a really nice Raleigh Grand prix yesterday that was plastered with little decals that say it was made by Carlton in Worksop, England. The rubber boots on the brake levers have Carlton on them as well.

As you can see in the picture, there is a little metal bonnet slider of some sort attached to the brake lever at the top where it enters the boot. It is hinged but does not move very much.

What is this ??? I am curious.

Any help appreciated.

QR to allow the tyre to clear the brake pads when removing the wheel.

Yup. It needs to be under a little tension to work properly, and it doesn't relax the cables very much at all. But it does work if you're using a narrower tire.

The Weinmann QR system you are describing were installed on probably millions of Euro bikes in the 70's and early 80's (I think my 1983/4 Peugeot PH10S might have had it too...can't remember). It was a clever idea that worked OK most of the time on mid to lower model bikes, but It pretty much dissapeared with the "turkey leg levers" after the mid 80's. Better brakesets with more sophisticated cam type QR systems were coming out of the far east that eventually supplanted Weinamnn's lower market niche in the bike industry. and killed off these old tech designs for good.

Chombi

Thanks, guys !!

If I'd known how much history there was to these things I would have paid more attention back in the 1970s !!

Mike