ABSTRACT

The Penny-farthing riders started to take their feet off the pedals to go faster downhill, unable to catch their feet back onto the pedals to slow down, a few crashes and then the spoon brake was introduced. This is literally a spoon-shaped piece of metal that presses against the tyre tread—remembering that tyres were solid. The Bowden cable, which is widely used for bicycle brakes and gears, was invented in about 1896s by Ernest Mannington Bowden. The concept being that the inner cable pulled against the outer to operate a mechanism. The early Bowden cables were inner metal strands inside an outer wound metal. Mechanical brakes are designed to get the best mechanical advantage, that is, convert the pull on the brake lever to the highest possible force on the blocks or pads.