>chris ioakimedes
>Fairfax California
>Anyone on the list ever try Resilion cantilevers?
>Who invented the cantilever???
The Resilions weren't cantilevers in the way we use the word today. Hilary or Toni or somebody else, I also would be interested in a report on how they stop.
There were many fascinating brakes in the 1930s. I can speak only about the French ones: Lefol (the fender people) made one that had a caliper at the top, but which spread instead of pinced the brake. This was connected at the bottom on each side to a short lever arm that rotated around a brazed-on pivot on the fork (roughly were a centerpull pivot would be). At the bottom of the lever arm, the brake pad was pressed onto the rim. The lever basically translated the outward movement of the caliper into an inward movement of the brake pad. The advantage was that you could get huge clearance without lengthening the lever arm and thus reducing braking power. Neat design, it's on an Hurtu tandem that is featured in the upcoming issue of VBQ (off the press today).
Another, very popular design was the Jeay, which worked similar to recent roller-cam brakes. Also in this VBQ, on a Reyhand tandem.
All of these were made obsolete by cantilevers by 1945 or so.
One of the earliest cantilevers I know (BEFORE THE FLAMES START, I am well aware that somebody in the 1880s might have invented a cantilever brake that went nowhere) were the ones made by Barra in the mid-1930s. They look very modern even today, and popularized the design in France (with similar brakes by Narcisse, Herse, Derche and finally Mafac). I believe that the current (or better "recent") popularity of cantilevers can be traced to the Mafacs that equipped so many touring bikes in the 1960s and 70s. The first mountain bikes took their equipment from these touring bikes, until makers introduced "mountain bike-specific" components that were developments of the old French touring bike components.
There was also a very rare C.I.M. (Cycles Imbert-Marcadier) cantilever that used a cam to push the brake pad inward (similar to the Singer brakes), but had a plate with a groove (a snail cam) that guided the pad perfectly in its path. Very sophisticated, also in this VBQ on an amazing aluminum Marcadier tandem.
In France, cantilevers largely fell from fashion in the mid-1950s, because Mafac had introduced their superior "RACER" centerpulls (better heel clearance, less vulnerable in crashes, better modulation, more stopping power).
Barra, BTW, was one of the first makers of superlight randonneur bikes, first in steel and then in oversized aluminum. The story of Barra was chronicled by Raymond Henry in Cycle History 12, available from Cycle Publishing (formerly Van der Plas). No connection to the company, but they do have an ad in the next VBQ...
And if somebody invented a cantilever before the 1930s, I would love to hear about it. It's always fascinating to see how things were invented and didn't go anywhere because a) the time hadn't come yet or b) the inventor didn't have the marketing muscle to promote their invention. Without the technical trials, which allowed Barra to showcase his brake, the things _might_ never have become popular!
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Jan Heine, Seattle
Editor/Publisher
Vintage Bicycle Quarterly
http://www.mindspring.com/