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My Introduction to Hand Brakes on a Bike
As a child, I likely got my own first bike at about age 6 or 7. I am fairly sure it was a 24" Schwinn standard bike. By standard, at this time, it meant a single speed (so no derailleur in the back or the front) and one braked by pushing backwards on the pedals. This was standard for many years for many people.
This is what the basic Schwinn model used to look like. However, this is a new version of the old. You can tell since this has a bike bottle cage and the downtube has the extra thickness. Also, this would have been identified as a girl's bike since the top tube is low instead of being straight across.
I did a lot of riding around the farm yard, between our yard and grandpa's, biking down the farm lane, and biking on the gravel road that took us to town. I learned how to ride one-handed and also no-handed (maybe a fall or two in the learning process). I also learned how to slam on the brakes and skid on the gravel. I also watched my oldest male cousin sit on the handlebars of a bike and then reached the pedals and pedalled "backwards" to propel himself forward. He was pretty good at it, and he was able to see where he was going. I didn't try that for a while. I developed a lot of confidence in my bike riding ability.
One time we visited the home of this oldest male cousin, where he and his two younger sisters lived (though I think he was off in SE Asia at this time serving in clandestine operations.) This was in the summertime and in 1966 (±2). Their home was on a lake, and there were steep hills on both sides of the house. On the lakeside, downhill (on steps) to the lake, and on the front side, a paved driveway up to their garage that sat just off the road that circumscribed the lake.
Other times that we were there, I never noticed that there were bikes in the garage, or that the garage was closed up. I asked the youngest sister if I could ride one of the bikes. She said, "Fine, as long as you know how." I had known how for several years now, so what could go wrong? I rode up and down the road for a bit, and then I decided to bike down the steep driveway. The asphalt curved and then turned into grass after a bit, but the natural trajectory was fairly close to their large swing set, which we also liked to play on. As I came down the driveway, I became increasingly aware of how steep it was and how fast my speed was increasing. So, naturally, I started stepping back on the pedals to brake. However, this weird bike allowed one to completely backpedal one or more revolutions. That was such a distraction since I was at a loss for what to do, and I found myself aiming right for the swing set. I inadvertently found an alternative means of stopping this bike: Find an immovable object and apply Newton's First Law of Motion (paraphrased).
Yes, I was hurt and bleeding, but no, the bike was not hurt. I asked my cousin why her brakes didn't work. I don't actually recall her answer, but if I were in her shoes, I might have said something like, "I thought you said you knew how to ride it?" or "Didn't you notice the hand brakes on the handlebars?" Bottom line: my arrogance got me into trouble. I then asked her to explain things. She had what was sometimes called an English three-speed that had an internal gear changer in the back hub, hand brakes, and it was free-wheeling. Moral of the story: ask how to use something rather than just assume that you can figure it out. In particular, the male gender needs to get better at this.
This is what an older English three-speed bicycle would like. Note brake grips on the handlebars.
Published on 2026-06-08.
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