Serendipitous. I was following the brake mounting thread and at the same time came across an old article on Rene Vietto (who wore the yellow jersey many days in the the Tour but never at the end). The article was called: The Climber From Cannes and it was by Rene DeLatour. I found it in Chuck Schmidt's "Sporting Cyclist" compilation.
Apparently, Vietto was one of those rare racers who cared about equipment. He was a maniac for getting the right position, and the pictures show him riding with the 45 degree back angle, flexed arms and high bars Grant Peterson recommends. It was his idea (in 1939 or earlier) to carry a water bottle on the down tube instead of the bars.
He also had ideas about brake mounting:
"Neither did anyone copy his strange ideas on the placing of brakes. I have seen him with the front brake on the bolt behind the fork crown, and the back brake in front of the bridge! Once even I saw him with the back brake down by the bottom bracket, bolted to the chain stay support as on an old roadster bike."
"What's the advantage of that?" I asked.
"I don't know, but we'll soon find out."
Everything old is new again, I guess.
Mike Hagburg Balmy 20 degree Bismarck, ND
Derek Willburn wrote:
> In the book "Tour de France and its Heroes" by Graham
> Watson, there is a picture of Bernard Hinault doing a
> 1981 time trial with the front brake behind the fork
> crown. For aerodynamic reasons? He won the stage
> anyway.
>
> Derek Willburn
> Long Beach, CA
>
> --- Otis <otis@otisrecords.com> wrote:
> > <I'm sure Chuck is kidding here ... I've never seen
> > a brake mounted
> > to the rear of a fork crown, but I HAVE seen people
> > who mounted the
> > rear brake on the inside of the rear triangle.
> > Never have gotten
> > a plausible answer for that one ...
> >
> > Any ideas?>
> >
> > I have friend who's a frame builder who runs his
> > rear caliper on the inside
> > because he wants to show off the brake bridge he had
> > fabricated.
> >
> > Otis Williams
> > Grants Pass OR.
> >
> >
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