Pre 1950s rides of LFGSS: old bikes, vintage rats, classic lightweights

Edit - sorry I wrote this in a rush when I should have been putting the kids to bed. Corrected now ...

Oh but the feeling of painstakingly cleaning your period brake shoes ...

So the white (284) blocks are in nib GB Coureur and are 41mm long, around 10mm at the pinch point that slides (ahem is pulled with aneurism inducing force) into the shoe.

The 285 are in a set of the earlier “Hiduminium” callipers and are 46mm long with a similar profile. The later 1980s Fibrax leaflet a few places on the web specifies 285 for GB brakes. So there’s a fair chance these are not original anyway - it’s a front calliper, and the rear has definitely been swapped- for the no number black pair (in the last pic). To the point of the others above, I hadn’t even noticed I had a mis-matched set front and back till I checked! For what it’s worth the rear are even 5mm shorter at 41mm.

I’ve measured the salmon Koolstop I have In Mafacs on my 70s rider and they are 46mm and 10mm at the pinch point. So if you have the 46mm GB shoes they should fit. I quite like the salmon :)

FYI the group shot are the 282 which I guess are ‘correct’. Although I don’t think they’d stop a coasting mouse. Interestingly they are also angled.