A bicycle brake is used to slow down or stop a bicycle. There have been various types of brake used throughout history, and several are still in use today. The three main types are: rim brakes, disc brakes, and drum brakes.
Most bicycle brake systems consist of three main components: a mechanism for the rider to apply the brakes, such as brake levers or pedals; a mechanism for transmitting that signal, such as Bowden cables, hydraulic hoses, rods, or the bicycle chain; and the brake mechanism itself, a calliper or drum, to press two or more surfaces together in order to convert, via friction, kinetic energy of the bike and rider into thermal energy to be dissipated.
Read more about Bicycle Brake: History, Actuation Mechanisms, Braking Technique, Bicycles Without Brakes
Famous quotes containing the word bicycle:
“I well recall my horror when I heard for the first time, of a journalist who had laid in a pair of what were then called bicycle pants and taken to golf; it was as if I had encountered a studhorse with his hair done up in frizzes, and pink bowknots peeking out of them. It seemed, in some vague way, ignominious, and even a bit indelicate.”
—H.L. (Henry Lewis)