The spoon brake or plunger brake was probably the first type of bicycle brake and precedes the pneumatic tyre.Bicycling Science (2nd ed.), pp.153–154 Spoon brakes were used on penny farthings with solid rubber tyres in the 1800s and continued to be used after the introduction of the pneumatic-tyred safety bicycle. The spoon brake consists of a pad (often leather) or metal shoe (possibly rubber faced), which is pressed onto the top of the front tyre. These were almost always rod-operated by a right-hand lever. In developing countries, a foot-operated form of the spoon brake sometimes is retrofitted to old rod brake roadsters. It consists of a spring-loaded flap attached to the back of the fork crown. This is depressed against the front tyre by the rider's foot.
