An old take on the drop bar/ brake lever position

I was watching an old French movie on video last night that included scenes
of a dropped bar bicycle from the late 1950's. The brake levers on the bike
were new to me and they made me think of the dropped bar/flat bar braking
discussion a couple of weeks ago (which I stayed out of... I'm happy with
the 5 positions that I use on my drop bars with 1980's Shimano aero brake
levers and find the flat bars with built in extensions a lot less
comfortable on my mountain bike.) Some of you who didn't like the braking
on drop bars may or may not like this old setup.

The bars were standard drops. The brake levers attached below the tops of
the bars near the stem, looking a lot like the extra levers that some people
put on cyclocross bikes except that they were longer. The ends of the
levers extended to the sides and then forwards a couple centimeters,
following the forward bend of the handlebars. The body of the levers were
angled down maybe a little more than the 45 degrees down from horizontal of
my mountain bike. The braking positions were from the tops (palm down
position) and the upper bends (palms roughly facing each other) positions -
2 of the 5 positions that I commonly ride in on my road bike and different
from the 2 positions that I have braking available from on my more modern
(if you consider 1980's modern) bike. Like a track bike, there are no brake
hoods to use and no braking from the hooks or lower flats. They looked
pretty sturdy and had plenty of clearance to them to avoid bottoming out
unlike the "suicide" lever extensions on old "10-speeds" (which I frequently
used on my first road bike and didn't mind, though I knew their
limitations).

"Andrew Lee" whatsupandrewathotmaildotcom wrote:

I was watching an old French movie on video last night that included
scenes of a dropped bar bicycle from the late 1950's.

Some of you who didn't like the braking on drop bars may or may not
like this old setup.

The bars were standard drops. The brake levers attached below the
tops of the bars near the stem, looking a lot like the extra levers that
some people put on cyclocross bikes except that they were longer.
The ends of the levers extended to the sides and then forwards a
couple centimeters, following the forward bend of the handlebars.
The body of the levers were angled down maybe a little more than
the 45 degrees down from horizontal of my mountain bike. The
braking positions were from the tops (palm down position) and the
upper bends (palms roughly facing each other) positions - 2 of the
5 positions that I commonly ride in on my road bike and different
from the 2 positions that I have braking available from on my more
modern (if you consider 1980's modern) bike. Like a track bike,
there are no brake hoods to use and no braking from the hooks or
lower flats. They looked pretty sturdy and had plenty of clearance
to them to avoid bottoming out unlike the "suicide" lever extensions
on old "10-speeds" (which I frequently used on my first road bike
and didn't mind, though I knew their limitations).

I've heard these referred to as 'guidonet' or 'guidonette' levers - and I'm
not sure which is correct. There's a picture of a 1953 René Herse so
equipped at:

http://www.cyclart.com/photos/Recent...ter/rh_all.jpg

I've seen models from Mafac and CLB, and my impression is that they were
more commonly used on touring bikes. There's an old Randonnée bike parked
on my block that has a set.

In terms of practicality, I imagine they'd be similar in use to the Tektro
cyclocross levers I use (which are just long enough to be operated from the
upper bend of a 46cm bar) except for the loss of the hood position and
ability to brake from the drops (as you note).

James Thomson

Andrew Lee wrote:

I was watching an old French movie on video last night that included scenes
of a dropped bar bicycle from the late 1950's. The brake levers on the bike
were new to me and they made me think of the dropped bar/flat bar braking
discussion a couple of weeks ago (which I stayed out of... I'm happy with
the 5 positions that I use on my drop bars with 1980's Shimano aero brake
levers and find the flat bars with built in extensions a lot less
comfortable on my mountain bike.) Some of you who didn't like the braking
on drop bars may or may not like this old setup.

The bars were standard drops. The brake levers attached below the tops of
the bars near the stem, looking a lot like the extra levers that some people
put on cyclocross bikes except that they were longer. The ends of the
levers extended to the sides and then forwards a couple centimeters,
following the forward bend of the handlebars. The body of the levers were
angled down maybe a little more than the 45 degrees down from horizontal of
my mountain bike. The braking positions were from the tops (palm down
position) and the upper bends (palms roughly facing each other) positions -
2 of the 5 positions that I commonly ride in on my road bike and different
from the 2 positions that I have braking available from on my more modern
(if you consider 1980's modern) bike. Like a track bike, there are no brake
hoods to use and no braking from the hooks or lower flats. They looked
pretty sturdy and had plenty of clearance to them to avoid bottoming out
unlike the "suicide" lever extensions on old "10-speeds" (which I frequently
used on my first road bike and didn't mind, though I knew their
limitations).


You are describing a guidonnet lever. Mafac or CLB,
probably. We have those. They were very popular on ladies'
style road bikes through the early '80s and then passed from
fashion once more.

--
Andrew Muzi
www.yellowjersey.org
Open every day since 1 April, 1971

"James Thomson" wrote in message ...

I've heard these referred to as 'guidonet' or 'guidonette' levers - and I'm
not sure which is correct. There's a picture of a 1953 René Herse so
equipped at:

http://www.cyclart.com/photos/Recent...ter/rh_all.jpg

I've seen models from Mafac and CLB, and my impression is that they were
more commonly used on touring bikes. There's an old Randonnée bike parked
on my block that has a set.


I've seen a couple sets of these over the years, most recently some
Mafacs in the used parts area at the local Citybikes Co-op (Portland).
I was tempted to buy them (weird bike parts nut that I am), but the
levers appeared to be well-aged plastic and didn't look all that
substantial to begin with.

I think the biggest downside to them is that you're forced to brake
from the tops- if you're on the drops (screaming downhill) you're SOL.
I'd rather use the Tektro levers nowadays.

Jeff

"James Thomson" wrote in message ...
I've heard these referred to as 'guidonet' or 'guidonette' levers - and I'm
not sure which is correct. There's a picture of a 1953 René Herse so
equipped at:
http://www.cyclart.com/photos/Recent...ter/rh_all.jpg
I've seen models from Mafac and CLB, and my impression is that they were
more commonly used on touring bikes. There's an old Randonnée bike parked
on my block that has a set.

Jeff Wills wrote:
I've seen a couple sets of these over the years, most recently some
Mafacs in the used parts area at the local Citybikes Co-op (Portland).
I was tempted to buy them (weird bike parts nut that I am), but the
levers appeared to be well-aged plastic and didn't look all that
substantial to begin with.
I think the biggest downside to them is that you're forced to brake
from the tops- if you're on the drops (screaming downhill) you're SOL.
I'd rather use the Tektro levers nowadays.


The Mafac model is Delrin cover ( usually white but there
were black as well) over an aluminum lever. Small cracks
are not significant - they won't crumble in your hand -
although the little ball at the end might walk away if you
bashed it.

Theory aside they are actually quite positive and
comfortable. OK, not for everyone but that's a matter of
taste, not quality.

CLB, who had a hard time doing much else right, made the
best guidonnet lever, IMHO.

--
Andrew Muzi
www.yellowjersey.org
Open every day since 1 April, 1971