What kind of brake is this?
 

What kind of front brake is on this bike? It looks like it applies pressure against the tire?
http://s701.photobucket.com/albums/w...t=DSC02006.jpg

Generator for the front light.

Generator. Gosh I feel old

I am asking about the brake. I know that's a generator, but look at the brake. It enters from the top of the fender. I am old too.

obsolete.

I'm not sure what it's technically called, but I would be afraid of using it (yeah, it's a personal problem) ;).

looks like it doesn't have a name for a reason. Any bump, wobble, stick, rock, leaf, snow, water, bags, or small animals that entered the wheel or got near the fender would damage the brake and reduce its power/usefulness.

It's called a "spoon brake". It was used on the Swiss military bicycles well into the 20th century, presumably because of their reliability. MPC Biker's point would apply equally to any kind of rim brake as well.

If I had a bike that came with one I would certainly use it, hopefully in addition to a better rear brake.

I hate it when small animals enter the wheel. Oh waitaminute, I've never had a small animal enter the wheel.

Nevermind.

spoon brake

The fork brake never worked out--too many punctures!

Neal

Ohhhhhh, now I see it!!! Never seen anything like that before!!

Highly sophisticated braking system that rendered using one's hand on the front wheel to stop the bike obsolete. Tire manufacturers everywhere hailed it as the greatest invention since broken glass.

It's certainly the first time I have ever seen anything like that. The bike is on San Diego craigslist $175. Says the bike is from the forties. Guess I am not that old.

I've seen spoon brakes on bikes with wooden rims since a caliper brake won't do. Not sure what's up with that CL bike.

Neal

I hate it when small animals enter the wheel. Oh waitaminute, I've never had a small animal enter the wheel.

Nevermind.[/QUOTE]
I have. It sucks!

If that ever happened to me I'd have to get some custom 128 spoke wheels made up, well at least a front, maybe run disc in the rear. ;)

exactly how do you confuse a generator with that brake?

http://i701.photobucket.com/albums/w...2/DSC02006.jpg

When you don't see the brake ;)

-Kurt

Now, THAT is a Miele! Never have I seen any Miele that looked like that one.

I love that fender badge.

it is very cool isn't it. do we get to see more of this bike?

The light is great when you are going up hill at night!

OP, said: It looks like it applies pressure against the tire?

I used to have a bike with a knife brake. That sucker stopped on a dime! But I sold it when I started to realize how expensive it was to be replacing the front tire every day.

The spoon brakes I've seen on penny-farthings were curved metal (i.e. spoon shaped) and produce fairly modest braking force unless you pull firmly on the lever. The one on this Miele looks more like what I had on the bike I rode to school in the early '60s which had a flat rubber pad that pressed against the tire. It produced quite substantial and inconsistent braking force under even light application. My experience with it was that the use of this front brake was to be reserved for only dire emergency situations since it could easily lock the front wheel and cause a flip. My bike also had a rear coaster brake so fortunately there was rarely a need for this front hand brake to be used.