Bicycle brake shoe having slit surfaces

A brake shoe for a bicycle brake, said brake shoe for making press contact with a rim of a bicycle wheel to apply a braking force against rotation of the wheel, said brake shoe comprising:

• a shoe body disposed adjacent said rim and elongated in a rotation direction of said rim, said shoe body having a braking surface opposite to a braked surface of said rim, and
• a holder holding said shoe body and mounting said shoe body to said brake, said shoe body having a plurality of slits, each slit extending in a direction transverse to a longitudinal dimension of said braking surface and extending from said braking surface toward a position at which said shoe body is held by said holder, each slit comprising adjacent slit surfaces, each slit being approximately zero in width when no braking action is being applied by said brake shoe against said rim, said adjacent slit surfaces of said slits contacting each other when braking action is being applied by said brake shoe against said rim, said brake shoe comprising elastically deformable surface portions between said slits, said surface portions having edge parts which rise as a result of elastic deformation in response to rotation of said rim relative to said brake shoe when said braking action is being applied.