Originally Posted by
HTupolev
Yes they did. The technology to make lightweight, stiff rim brakes that can handle large (up to around 2") tires has been available since at least the 1930s. The gravel cyclists of that era put a ton of emphasis on figuring it out. Properly-set-up old-school wide-profile cantis work quite well, as do the dual-pivot centerpull calipers of the 1950s. The leverage isn't as high as on modern sidepulls, but that's not a critical issue in most reasonable setups of the era (since people weren't trying to manage technical terrain on the hoods), nor would it have been technologically difficult to solve (i.e. make the arms slightly longer).
I think it's fair to state that "typical" rim brakes made it difficult to accept larger tires like 32mm. There are decent 57mm brakes out there that open up enough to use large tires, but they're not common. Most people just use whatever comes on the bike, 105, Ultegra, SRAM, etc...and then find that they have a very difficult time getting a 32mm tire on the bike. It can be done, but needs some thought.