Rod brake pads
 

Can somebody please tel me if anybody is manufacturing decent pads for rod-brakes, for use with the V-shaped rims on old roadsters. Fibrax have stopped making them and our local dealer says he can only get cheap Indian makes now, which you can break with your fingers.

Unless the Chinese are getting too affluent, I believe they still ride Flying Pigeon bikes with rod brakes. Perhaps they export some decent pads.

Riding a bike with rod brakes takes more courage than I have.

JohnE is correct. China still has them. I bought a handfull last time I was there, but sold them to another rod-brake enthusiast who needed them. The Chinese brakes aren't too bad. The brake pads themselves are of some kind of laminant. Heck they might be made from cut-up old tires. Anyway, they work.

If you have any friends in China or who are going to China, they can easily get you rod-brake pads at any bike shop.