Miele Man

Also, if you look really close at an enlarged image, the tires do NOT appear to be even touching the ground.

Cheers

dweenk

When you buy a rod-braked roadster, you should have some idea of the limitations and benefits the product that you have purchased.

Limitations:
1. Rod brakes
2. Difficulty of replacing tubes and/or tires
3. Availability of parts - brake parts, tubes, tires, etc.
4. They weigh a ton

Benefits:
1. They glide like a Bentley
2. People take notice when you ride by
3. You stole all of the cool from the places you ride past

Salubrious

One quick tip- many people complain about poor braking performance, but adjustment is key. One adjustment that is often not known is the brake levers; they are made of soft steel and they bend over time. They have to be bent back into position on a regular basis! The technique to do this looks scary but its fairly easy. You grasp the pivot point on the handlebar so it can't be damaged broken off when you do the 'adjustment' and with the other hand band that brake level down so you've got plenty of travel.

If this isn't done the bike can get quite scary! But if you pay attention to this the bike will brake as well as any machine with side pull brakes.

I sold by 1957 BSA Golden Deluxe a couple years ago and thought I was free of these things but a 1949 Royal Enfield came my way cheap so I still have a rod brake machine. The real pain the rear with these is not the braking power so much as the need for the wheels to really be perfectly round so the braking is even. The point here is I'm walking my talk- but I do also recommend the proper Kool Stop pads as they really help.

ldmataya 

I have them on my Umberto Dei grocery and cafe bike. The comments are all pretty accurate. I have nice pads that are adjusted well, but I just ride this on the flats. The rear mechanism has multiple rods and fulcrums so you would think it would lose leverage but it really doesn't - as long as there is no play in the pivots. I actually had to manufacture a missing fulcrum when I obtained this bike.

One thing this style of brake tells you instantly is if your rims are not perfectly round with absolutely no hop. You can feel half a millimeter with your fingers on the lever.

crank_addict

Have the same rims but in aluminum, made in Argentina.


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Classy! Especially like the styling chaincase and front mudguard

JIMBO53

I had a 1955 Chevy with drum brakes all around. They don't stop a well as disc brakes (duh!) but if you take into consideration a longer braking distance, they'll do OK. Same thing with rod brakes-if you keep them adjusted and with decent pads and pay attention to your braking distance, they will get the job done. Even in a panic stop, well adjusted rod brakes are pretty good, but not a good as proper caliper brakes-its just mechanical physics.

mtb_addict

I think I unvealed a serious concern with rod brake. In a youtube video, the mechanic pointed that a out-of-adjustment rod brake is quite dangerous in a way I never expect.

He said if the pad is too far inward, it could snag on the valve of the tire, and potential rip the tube out.

It this is the front tube getting ripped out, this is a disaster of epic proportion...like locking up the front way and you become superman. I imagine no manufacturer would want to be liable to that.

mtb_addict

You guys say rod brakes make it difficult to remove wheel, but the video (11:00) below shows it is quite easy...you just squeeze and then pull the brakes apart to allow the wheel to slide out.

palincss

How good are they? Poor under the best of circumstances, entirely useless in the rain.

Salubrious

I've not found this to be the case at all. Any bike using steel rims has stopping problems in the rain. The rod brakes machines share that issue, but they are no worse than any other bike in that regard if the brakes are set up correctly. Usually they aren't and so can be quite scary!

browngw 

Rod brakes work just okay for pottering around. They should have a warning, "Not to be ridden in anger". I enjoy the feeling of antiquity when riding Sir Wayes A. Tonne. Cables last forever, which is likely the only reason for doing it in the first place.

ThermionicScott 

Yes. The fact that rod brakes require knowledgeable setup to avoid disaster and achieve even mediocre braking, is why I and others are convinced this is a bad idea... please don't pursue this.

Salubrious

IIRC Roughly 50% of all bicycles in the world are rod brake machines. Most of them are in service in 'third world' countries and made mostly in China and India. Its arguable that they were the first mountain bikes as many of them have seen service over the last century on single track and the like doing mail service and other utilitarian duties. But here in the US they are poorly understood and most of them that I see its obvious that the owners haven't set them up right- which can make them quite scary. Once I learned that the brake levers bend so easily I found that the braking was really pretty decent. But they were designed at a time when it was expected that mechanical things were going to see routine and competent service... and those days are long gone. Now everything has to hold up much better with the expectation that proper service is not going to be commonly administered.

To me the biggest weakness with rod brakes is that the concentricity of the wheels has to be good and kept that way. But if that is good the braking power is really quite good if the brakes are also maintained. That bit I mentioned earlier about the brake levers is pretty important in that! The more out of round the wheels are, the more play you have to have in the brakes.

Salamandrine 

While that is true, it's pretty easy to avoid this in practice. Still it's clearly good advice to be aware of this issue and watch out for it.

To be fair, if a caliper brake is badly adjusted, it can rub the tire and cause a blow out. Also a disaster, and this does happen. The moral of the story is to keep your brakes properly adjusted.

Salubrious

Rod Brake machines are the vast majority of bikes made world wide today. Apparently manufacturers aren't that concerned.

thorstein

Beautifully set up Tourist! Could you give the details of the headlight, rear rack, and panniers?

I think some people get it, and some don't. Whenever I go for a spin on the Tourist I have a blast, but there is a definite mindset to it. I often take it for a spin around a local lake, but I also go on longer trips on nearby bike paths. A favorite ride was taking it to the woods about a half mile from my house. The guy on the fat bike I rode by gave me a pretty odd look!

In the two years I've had mine I've never had an issue with braking even having it up to 30mph going downhill. Proper set up, just like any brake.

noglider 

The rods are not the flaw of these brakes which we should call stirrup brakes. The flaw is with the stirrup, because it pulls up on the rim (away from the axle). The pads don't work against each other as they do with caliper brakes.

Rod-actuated drum brakes work well and offer a maintenance interval advantage over cable-actuated drum brakes. But rod-actuated drum brakes are rare.

You could modify caliper brakes to work with rods, but I've never seen it.

browngw 

Thanks for the kind words. The rear rack was on the bike when I got it. Originally chrome, it was so rusty it could only be cleaned and painted I thought about painting it red, but settled on black. I assume it was dealer installed when sold in Hamilton ON in 1979. The headlamp is a Lucas unit a friend picked up for me at a flea market. A similar era taillight is installed on the rack. Both have been converted to LED and are powered by a homemade battery pack nestled in the newer Brooks B68. The panniers were a lucky find at MEC Sporting Goods Store. They are heavy canvas and store branded. There were matching tool and saddle bags as well. To bad they were discontinued as they were all priced below $70.
My next project is to replicate a Raleigh style battery holder on the seat tube. Since the photo I removed the bar mounted bottle holder and changed the mirror. Lots of room for a bottle in the panniers.

As found and purchased.

Rack was in poor shape

After vinegar soak , sanding and painting

Lucas lamp.

Salamandrine 

I feel like someone should point out that rod brakes were a huge improvement over spoon brakes, which preceded them. They would have been super duper brakes in comparison! Technology marches on.

Personally I prefer hub brakes on roadsters. Does Gazelle still do a roadster? Had one briefly back in the 80s and it was great fun.