Alex Singer Brakes

Legendary French bike maker Alex Singer not only made frames, but components as well at his shop in Levallois-perret, just to the northwest of Paris. Singer was born in Budapest, Hungary, in 1905. He competed on the road, first in Hungary and then in France, where he immigrated to in 1923. In 1938, he opened his shop and specialized in tandems and randonneur bicycles. Cycles Alex Singer is still running today. The founder’s grandnephew Olivier Csuka is now at the helm.

Singer’s brakes – shown on a 1946 Velo de Ville, part of the Mariposa Bicycles collection – might seem like simple cantilever brakes at first glance. The brake pads, however, don’t move on pivots. Instead, the brake cables rotate cams, which advance the pads in a linear trajectory toward the rim. The brakes offer plenty of power and are quite light. They’re an elegant component for scrubbing speed.— MP