Brakes on old MAINO city bike



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Sergio SERVADIO

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Just in case you could help.

To please a friend I am rebuilding an old MAINO city bike. The brakes are of the rigid-transmission
type with the rear brake attached to the horizontal triangle just next to the BB housing, connecting
rods running around below the housing. Close to finishing the rebuild, I ran into a problem I have
not been able to solve.

The rear brake has a return spring that I must reinstall, but which I can't figure out where it
should go.

Does someone have any idea or, better yet, a picture to show it?

Thanks

Sergio Pisa
 
Sergio SERVADIO scritta:

> To please a friend I am rebuilding an old MAINO city bike. The brakes are of the rigid-
> transmission type with the rear brake attached to the horizontal triangle just next to the BB
> housing, connecting rods running around below the housing. Close to finishing the rebuild, I ran
> into a problem I have not been able to solve.
>
> The rear brake has a return spring that I must reinstall, but which I can't figure out where it
> should go.
>
> Does someone have any idea or, better yet, a picture to show it?

Most rod brake bikes have the return spring mounted at the lever, near the middle of the handlebars.
It's a torsion/coil spring that fits around the inboard end of the hand lever.

On end of this spring hooks around the inner support eyelet on the handlebar, the other end attaches
to the plate the vertical pull rod attaches to. At least that's how the Raleigh ones work.

Sheldon "Don't Expect To Actually Be Able To Stop, Just Slow Down A Little" Brown +----------------------------------------
+
| Lottery: the closest thing we have | to a tax on stupidity. |
+----------------------------------------+ Harris Cyclery, West Newton, Massachusetts Phone 617-244-
9772 FAX 617-244-1041 http://harriscyclery.com Hard-to-find parts shipped Worldwide
http://captainbike.com http://sheldonbrown.com
 
Sergio SERVADIO <[email protected]> wrote in message news:<[email protected]>...
> Just in case you could help.
>
> To please a friend I am rebuilding an old MAINO city bike. The brakes are of the rigid-
> transmission type with the rear brake attached to the horizontal triangle just next to the BB
> housing, connecting rods running around below the housing. Close to finishing the rebuild, I ran
> into a problem I have not been able to solve.
>
> The rear brake has a return spring that I must reinstall, but which I can't figure out where it
> should go.
>
> Does someone have any idea or, better yet, a picture to show it?
>
> Thanks
>
> Sergio Pisa

Dear Sergio,

If you can't figure out where a spring goes, sometimes the explanation is that it hooked onto a
metal post that broke off.

I hope that this isn't the answer.

Carl Fogel
 
Sergio SERVADIO wrote:

> Just in case you could help.
>
> To please a friend I am rebuilding an old MAINO city bike. The brakes are of the rigid-
> transmission type with the rear brake attached to the horizontal triangle just next to the BB
> housing, connecting rods running around below the housing. Close to finishing the rebuild, I ran
> into a problem I have not been able to solve.
>
> The rear brake has a return spring that I must reinstall, but which I can't figure out where it
> should go.
>
> Does someone have any idea or, better yet, a picture to show it?

The traditional style has an oblique rod extending below the brake pad. The brake guide bolted to
the chainstays is the suport for that rod and a drop of oil is all that's needed to get it to return
once more. http://www.yellowjersey.org/EASTMAN.HTML has some pictures.

These braking systems often need a bit of bending to get the clamp shaped just right both for
positioning the pad on the rim and achieving good brake return.

I have seen a few other designs which used an actual spring, such as the Bianchi Regina. That style
has a brazed-on spring mount on the frame. If yours has a spring, do you have a picture?

--
Andrew Muzi www.yellowjersey.org Open every day since 1 April, 1971
 
On 12 Dec 2003, Carl Fogel wrote:
> Dear Sergio, If you can't figure out where a spring goes, sometimes the explanation is that it
> hooked onto a metal post that broke off. I hope that this isn't the answer.

Dear Carl, thank you for your hint which made me nervous, to say the least.

The frameset has been repainted and there is no visible trace of a riff-off. Myself, I had nourished
a suspicion similar to yours: that one end of the spring coil might have to hook into a hole of the
BB housing. Again, through the fresh paint there is no visible trace of such a hole.

I guess that, everything alse failing, I'll be inventing my own return spring, out of scratch.

And, no Sheldon, the return spring is not at the handle bar, but surely down below. I set out on
search to locate and to spy similarly built bikes, but to no avail. I only found a couple of Umberto
Dei bikes, with different mechanisms.

Thanks to you both, Sheldon&Carl, anyhow.

Sergio Pisa
 
> The traditional style has an oblique rod extending below the brake pad. The brake guide bolted to
> the chainstays is the suport for that rod and a drop of oil is all that's needed to get it to
> return once more. http://www.yellowjersey.org/EASTMAN.HTML has some pictures.

Thank you Andrew. I'll examine that again, tonight. Then, if at loss, I'll consider taking pictures
for you to look at, directly.

Sergio Pisa
 
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