Caliper Brakes

Not all three speed English bicycles used rod brakes. Many of them used caliper brakes. The majority of three speed bicycles that used caliper brakes used either of two brands of brakes, Raleigh or Phillips. They were both side pull brakes. That type of bicycle brake has just about ceased to be found on new bicycles. The reasons given are that they tend to hang against the rim on one side, are hard to adjust, and apply pressure unequally to the sides of the rim. While it is true that some of today's bicycle brakes are much more efficient, those Raleigh and Phillips brakes were at least sufficient in dry conditions even for the novice bicyclist. In the rain or after having run through a puddle, use of these brakes required some wisdom and caution. The few feet of braking that was needed under dry conditions sometimes became hundreds of feet in wet conditions. This was as much because of the use of chrome plated steel rims as it was because of the brake design. Today there are brake shoes made by Fibrax of England that are made for wet stopping use on chrome plated steel rims and they work quite well.

When you have a chance to ride a bicycle that uses either of these caliper brakes you will notice that they work quite well if they have been maintained well and are properly adjusted. They will not hang to one side of the rim, they will be easy to adjust, and they will apply nearly the same force to both sides of the rim. How could this be considering the common opinions of side pull brakes? It's the quality of design and manufacture. It is the inferior, cheap side pull brakes that do not work well. These were not inferior, cheap brakes. True, they were simple, but the design was right.

Below are two examples of these brakes. The one on the left is a Raleigh brake and the one on the right is a Phillips brake. The Raleigh doesn't have a cable adjusting barrel because it is the self adjusting variety and all the cable adjustment, automatic and manual, is in the lever. If it were the non self adjusting model it too would have an adjusting barrel on the caliper. Notice the length of the cable adjusting barrel on the Phillips brake on the right. The cable adjusting barrel on a non adjusting Raleigh brake would also be that long. Long cable adjusting barrels allow a great amount of cable adjustment without tools.
Raleigh compared to Phillips Brakes     
These samples are both more than 30 years old yet the chrome looks better than most new parts. That's because it is better than most new parts. There was a slight blue tint to the chrome plated bicycle parts of this vintage that were made in England. In later years, early 1970's on, the chroming wasn't as attractive and durable as before but it was still very good.

There are differences between these brakes, besides the Raleigh being self adjusting and the Phillips not being self adjusting, that can be seen if you look closely. The brake shoe mountings are slightly different. The Raleigh has the caliper arm  holding the brake shoe mount from the center while the Phillips has its caliper arm holding the brake shoe mount from the top. Theoretically this would make the Raleigh a stronger brake with less flex. But look closely again. The caliper arms are narrower on the Raleigh than they are on the Phillips. From the side, though you can't see it from this view, the caliper arm thickness front to back is approximately equal. Being that the Raleigh brake calipers are narrower side to side and the same thickness front to back would mean that the Raleigh brakes use less steel in the  caliper arms. That may be why they make up for it in the brake shoe mounts being thicker and the caliper arms holding the brake shoe mounts at the center instead of the top. In use the amount of flex in either of these brakes is so little as to be effectively non existent.

The Raleigh brake calipers have more curves and the Phillips calipers are more of a simple horseshoe shape. Which is better? I haven't found any appreciable difference in the way they work.


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