Hello All
Bowden brakes seem to appear just before the turn of the century, The
first type of cable brake , usually fitted to the back wheel was just a
simple horseshoe shape. It was really a case of the right thing at the
right time . It ment that a cycle with the standard set up of the time
with a fixed wheel, could easily be upgraded to have a freewheel. There
were coasters available but this was a lot cheeper option and easy to
fit.
By the early part of the 1900s some of the big British makers, such as
Lea -Francis
were offering this as a optional extra. Bigger versions were also fitted
to motorcycles
and my 1905 French Werner has two fitted- both on the back wheel !!
Calipers were made probably (?) from the 20s onwards and usually
fitted to lightweights They are quite common (made under leicence)on
French bikes and production may have just survived the war years
Cheers for now Pete Paine Watford