Originally Posted by
bulgie
That's not a myth or mere FUD, it has happened lots. It made the paper in Seattle, front page I think, one time quite some years ago. A rider had both brake pads shoot out and died from having no brakes when she needed them.
The brake I showed the pic of is a rear, and those holders are facing the correct way.
Many if not all makers eventually went to styles that didn't have that potential flaw, but I still like the old style because I find them easy to replace the rubber, and I know how to install them correctly. The kind just like those old Weinmanns, except the sheetmetal is folded up on all four sides, are a bit annoying to replace the rubber on. Weinmann started selling retail-carded replacement shoes (rubber plus metal holder and nut/bolt), then Matthauser and them everyone, which bugs me. Why throw away the metal parts just 'cuz the rubber wears down? I know it's a small thing, and I understand why they did it, but it's not for me. And you kids get off my lawn!
Mark B
I put in my time as a bike mechanic in the old days using a vice to squeeze new pads into holders. But now, the idea of selling replacement pads for bike novices to install without guidance brings to mind the late Jobst Brandt's grim humor on the topic of manufacturers sticking with an iffy design, quote, "until the death toll becomes prohibitive." If I were a CPSC advisor back then, mandating closed brake pad holders would have been a no-brainer.
Your lament reminds me of the time that, during a visit to the New York Bike Show in around 1982 or so, I overheard our shop's somewhat eccentric head mechanic earnestly advising a rep at the Sturmey Archer booth that the company needed to begin selling cards of replacement links for indicator chains.