A lot of people think my bike has a drum brake in the rear but it is really a generator and three speed hub... this one dates to 1964 but these too have been made for much longer than this.

Drum brakes don't generate power.




Why are they still used ?

Drum brakes are less affected by weather than a disc brake and usually get fitted to city bikes and roadster type bicycles that are not ridden at the same speeds... fast stops usually require that both brakes are engaged and drum brakes were also used on tandems as a rear drag brake to regulate speed on descents.

Look at a lot of Dutch roadsters and you will see that most are fitted with drum brakes.