Re: Re:
Frankly , I really don't know why these levers did not succeed. They are actually quite comfortable without any hood.
Would rather say quite more than the ubiquitous Mafacs of the same era.
I suspect , the manufacturer was only a small one.
In the cycling magazines from the era, I have never seen an ad so possibly distribution and marketing were scarce !
It manfactured some cantilever brakes too but these are brakes are uber rare !
On this count , Mafac with its cantilevers and all sorts of levers got the upper hand in the "competition" ( Mafac actually was started by a bike manufacturer called Bourdel. But the brakes manufacturing production certainly took the upper hand over the bike production).
Mafac is not the inventor of the canti's but surfed the wave ( cantis appeared arround 1936) the most efficiently after WW2
This Frexel make is actually a bit more well known for its reverse levers that actually were mounted on quite a few "city bikes" from the well known builder Herse. They may have been quite expensive.
They have the same philosophy of brake housing along the bar :idea:
http://www.reneherse.com/RHporteur.html
I have a Hurtu sporting them too
[/quote]
About Shimano with the aero levers in the 80's ( and pedals without full axle) , it may have been influenced but I find the time gap rather large.
Maybe patent protection could have played a role
I wonder where the Shimano patents can be seen :?:
But frankly, I believe both Frexel and Sanzax were probably "dead" quite sooner than the 80's so legacy may be farfetched. - I need to look at this patent trail :idea:
Old Ned":2j0lkel6 said:firedfromthecircus":2j0lkel6 said:cloonaghpat":2j0lkel6 said:
I am in complete agreement. Fascinating stuff.
Me too! I was fascinated by the brake levers, thanks for the explanation. Were they the inspiration for the Shimano etc. versions of the 80's? And the pedals with no axles. Didn't Shimano have a similar design for one of their 'Aero' groupsets?
Super bike all round.
Frankly , I really don't know why these levers did not succeed. They are actually quite comfortable without any hood.
Would rather say quite more than the ubiquitous Mafacs of the same era.
I suspect , the manufacturer was only a small one.
In the cycling magazines from the era, I have never seen an ad so possibly distribution and marketing were scarce !
It manfactured some cantilever brakes too but these are brakes are uber rare !
On this count , Mafac with its cantilevers and all sorts of levers got the upper hand in the "competition" ( Mafac actually was started by a bike manufacturer called Bourdel. But the brakes manufacturing production certainly took the upper hand over the bike production).
Mafac is not the inventor of the canti's but surfed the wave ( cantis appeared arround 1936) the most efficiently after WW2
This Frexel make is actually a bit more well known for its reverse levers that actually were mounted on quite a few "city bikes" from the well known builder Herse. They may have been quite expensive.
They have the same philosophy of brake housing along the bar :idea:
http://www.reneherse.com/RHporteur.html
I have a Hurtu sporting them too
[/quote]About Shimano with the aero levers in the 80's ( and pedals without full axle) , it may have been influenced but I find the time gap rather large.
Maybe patent protection could have played a role
I wonder where the Shimano patents can be seen :?:
But frankly, I believe both Frexel and Sanzax were probably "dead" quite sooner than the 80's so legacy may be farfetched. - I need to look at this patent trail :idea:
