yes- bikes used for keirin are not permitted to be drilled for brakes - but riding without a brake on the road in japan is illegal - so there are brakes that mount to a steel plate that clamps to either the fork blades seatstays - ive seen several different types - front brakes usually have an arch over the tire - rears ive seen usually have 2 plates that sandwich the stays.
ive usually seen them with a midrange diacompe or shimano brake, but since the brake merely bolts to the plate, you could even remove it, and then bolt a period-appropriate brake to the plate :)
a friend of mine brings them back from japan occassionally. ill check to see if he might have any...
and yeah, theyre just the ticket if youve got an undrilled frame that you want a brake on, but dont want to drill... a little flex happens, especially with the front ones, but its nothing major - if im riding fixed on the road, i typically only use the brake as an emergency measure anyhow, so thats ok...
-joel
>I know from previous discussions that initially, cable-operated
>caliper brakes were not attached with centerbolts, but with clamps
>that went around the fork blades and seat stays. I dug back through
>and read posts about Bowden brakes, as well as similar items being
>used on many vintage French racing machines. I'm also familiar with
>the Resilion cantilever brakes that attached with clamps, rather
>than bosses, etc.
>
>From another discussion (either here or another list), I understand
>that the bikes used for Keirin racing in Japan cannot be drilled for
>brakes. Allegedly, there is a modern caliper sold that fits these
>bikes via clamps, the way the vintage Bowden, etc., calipers did.
>
>Does anyone have a source for these clamp-on brakes? Any pictures
>or a web link? I would think this would be the bee's knees for
>someone with a vintage, undrilled track machine they wanted to ride
>on the road.
>
>Thanks,
>Russ Fitzgerald,
>home with a nasty head cold in
>Greenwood, SC
>
>_______________________________________________
--
joel metz : magpie@messengers.org : http://www.blackbirdsf.org/
bike messengers worldwide : ifbma : http://www.messengers.org/
po box 191443 san francisco california 94119-1443 usa
==
i know what innocence looks like - and it wasn't there,
after she got that bicycle...