Weinmann Brakes

From the 50s to the 80s, the go-to firm for affordable brake systems came from that cycle-component powerhouse of, erm, Switzerland

- Kevin Raymond

Founded in the 1930s, making rims, mudguards, chainsets and accessories, in the late 1940s Weinmann took advantage of the post-war glut of aluminium to make a range of side-pull caliper brakes to suit everything from close-clearance racing bikes to balloon-tyred randonneurs. Later, they added centre-pull brakes, and between the two types they dominated the original equipment market for decades, especially in Britain and the US, although also in France once the all-conquering Mafac centre-pulls became yesterday’s news in the 1980s.