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Old 11-22-05 | 11:25 AM
  #10  
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Sheldon Brown
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Joined: Jul 2002
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From: Newtonville, Massachusetts

Bikes: See: http://sheldonbrown.org/bicycles

Originally Posted by grolby
1. Take old toe strap

2. Put old toe strap around brake lever and handlebar

3. Tighten old toe strap.

4. Profit!

Voila! Instant parking brake!

It may not be the most elegant solution, but it certainly is the easiest. You can keep that toe strap around the handlebar, stem, seatpost or wherever else you can loop it without it falling off or getting in the way. There's really no good reason to mess a perfectly good brake set-up to come up with a mechanical solution, in my opinion.
That's my solution on many of my own bikes, works great. I just leave the toast wrap looped over the handlebar by default.

One thing I'd add: Assuming the O.P. is speaking of a recumbent bike, not a trike, it's better to put the "parking brake" on the front than the rear. That way even if the wheel flops sideways the bike is less likely to fall over.

Sheldon "Parking Brake" Brown
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