What way is your brakes

[Hawkwood]

I started riding racing bikes in the mid 70s, and used the left hand lever for the front brake then and still do. Posters have mentioned using the more dexterous hand for the front brake, well with down-tube gear levers you needed that dexterity to find the correct gear and tune it, hence you braked with the left hand while changing gear with the right.

 

[Bustedknuckle]

I went to a local bike shop to buy a complete new road bike. This is a first for me as I always have had secondhand road bikes. The bike I wanted was about €2300. I see that the brakes are the wrong way around. (I am from Australia) So I asked if they can switch the brakes so that the front brake is on the right lever. He says "Nein" (I am living in Salzburg now) He says the brakes are not made to be like that and it could be dangerous. MMmm
Yes I have the skills to do it myself but then I need to buy bar tape and well it is a new bike. I backed out of the shop without a new bike.

I am in the motorcycle industry so the front brake is on the right lever. Always!

WHY?? Do people have the brakes on the "other side" is beyond me.
When I look at a road bike front caliper the mounting point of the cable is on the right side so that the brake cable coming from the left side has a nicer routing. So maybe I have it wrong with wanting the front brake on the right lever.

What side does your country have the brakes from new mounted on? In Australia it is law if you sell a new bike the brake must be on the right lever. I don't know if that is the law here in Austria.

Some of the reasons Why they were right to front in the first place.

-Feed zone-grad bag with right and brake(rear) with left to not launch over handlebars

-Shifting, long , long ago, DT shifters, shift with right and brake with left, again, not the front to not launch over handlebars.

-I use right to front because when i say, grab a abottle, I use my right hand and if I need to brake, I want to use rear..to not launch over handlebars.

 

[Captain Serious]

Hmm, I dunno which featherweights are launching themselves over the front of the bike by putting on their front brakes, but maybe I'm generalizing from my 78kg buffness.

I use front left ever since I copied some pro bikes in Winning, over 20 years ago. Ha.

There's a very practical reason for having the left on the front: you can change to up several gears while braking heavily. Imagine a hot dog crit course; screaming fast straight coming into a the sharp corner; you can slam on the front anchors while changing up. So there.

Also, aesthetically, calipers are designed to have to cables sweeping nicely from left to front, and right to rear, rather that the daggy sharp turn when they're opposite.

 

[Hawkwood]

Hmm, I dunno which featherweights are launching themselves over the front of the bike by putting on their front brakes, but maybe I'm generalizing from my somewhat-buff 78kg-ness.

I use front left ever since I copied some pro bikes in Winning, over 20 years ago.

There's a very practical reason for having the left on the front: you can change to up several gears while braking heavily. Imagine a hot dog crit course; screaming fast straight coming into a the sharp corner; you can slam on the front anchors while changing up. So there.

Also, aesthetically, calipers are designed to have to cables sweeping nicely from left to front, and right to rear, rather that the daggy sharp turn when they're opposite.

+1
I've managed to go over the bars once and that was when riding a cyclo-cross course on a road bike, there was this very steep descent, far steeper than you'd ever get on a road, and I slammed on my Weinmann 500 brakes and over I went! On the road I've slammed on the front brake many times in an emergency stop, but have never got anywhere near going over the bars.

Sean Yates, a noted very fast descender, never used his rear brakes, and always got the team mechanic to set them so loose that they wouldn't engage the rim even if the lever was applied!

I use my rear brake to store brake-pads for the front one, they get no wear at all.

 

[hiero2]

. . .

And I never used the term 'BS.' The bovine excrement I had in mind was heifer snot.

Be very careful - what might seem like humor to you might seem like trying to smartass your way around the rules to me. I would suggest you simply respect this warning, and leave it at that.

As for the rest of that post? Well, from
http://www.informationisbeautiful.net/visualizations/rhetological-fallacies/

we can see you using:
appeal to ridicule
biased generalizing
red herring
sweeping generalizations
and straw man arguments, at least.

But, as clearly pointed out, since your post, by others in this thread, your counter is not well founded. Ditto your casual dismissal of other arguments/viewpoints.

 

[Boeing]

Someone more tec savvy than I may be able to find the two previous threads that covered (and researched) this.

If I remember correctly every explanation for the different arrangements proved bogus - including any claims about safety. In other words it's really just personal preference.

I could imagine the possibility that swapping cables might be a problem on some makes of bikes but not any that I have ever ridden or maintained (in over 40 years!).

(Oh AND the right way is to have the front brake on the left side - obviously!)

Someone more Tec savy indeed. So the reason ever manufacturer of every bike builds the same way here in the US because we all prefer it? Don't you ban people for tongue in cheek remarks like this?

What is your point? Bad thread? Bad user? Whatever bro

 

[dsut4392]

I once heard an argument that went along the lines of what side of the road your country drives on and your ability to hand signal a turn and be able to use the front brake.

That's the only argument I've heard that makes sense. Front brake on the side of the bars closest to the centre line of the road, because if you grab a fistful of brake while you have one hand off the bars indicating, if it's the front brake you're unlikely to stay upright (assuming average skills, and that you will actually indicate your intention to turn). That said, it's not in the road rules where I live, which only stipulate that the bicycle must have "at least one effective brake".

 

[winkybiker]

Some of the reasons Why they were right to front in the first place.

-Feed zone-grad bag with right and brake(rear) with left to not launch over handlebars

-Shifting, long , long ago, DT shifters, shift with right and brake with left, again, not the front to not launch over handlebars.

-I use right to front because when i say, grab a abottle, I use my right hand and if I need to brake, I want to use rear..to not launch over handlebars.

What is with all this fear of launching over the bars? It is a pretty extreme thing to happen. If you really feel that you are risk of this, I suggest you practice braking hard in a quiet car park. Get a feel for just how ridiculously hard you have to grab the front brake to do this. In 40 years of riding I've never launched myself over the bars by braking.

I like right front, because that's the one that does 95% of my braking, and I can control it much better with my dominant hand. The rear brake really does 2/10th of nothing. I use both together most of the time, but might drag my rear only if the traction is really sketchy (snow or sand on the road etc) so as not to risk skidding my front (which would likely crash me).

I never really worry about being launched. I'd much rather have the option of braking harder (front) than basically not at all (rear) when braking with one hand.

 

[Hugh Januss]

Right hand rear brake on my MTB and Rd bike, left hand rear brake on my cross bikes.

 

[Hugh Januss]

I am in the motorcycle industry so the front brake is on the right lever. Always!

http://www.motorcyclemuseum.org/halloffame/detail.aspx?RacerID=243

This guy runs his MTB right hand rear brake.

 

[Bustedknuckle]

What is with all this fear of launching over the bars? It is a pretty extreme thing to happen. If you really feel that you are risk of this, I suggest you practice braking hard in a quiet car park. Get a feel for just how ridiculously hard you have to grab the front brake to do this. In 40 years of riding I've never launched myself over the bars by braking.

I like right front, because that's the one that does 95% of my braking, and I can control it much better with my dominant hand. The rear brake really does 2/10th of nothing. I use both together most of the time, but might drag my rear only if the traction is really sketchy (snow or sand on the road etc) so as not to risk skidding my front (which would likely crash me).

I never really worry about being launched. I'd much rather have the option of braking harder (front) than basically not at all (rear) when braking with one hand.

Good for you. I just watched a video of a Motorola guy launch himself over the handlebars to try to stop from hitting a crash. There is a local guy in the hospital here now that had a road rage guy in a car pull ahead and stomp on his brakes and the cyclist launched himself, a pro, so it does happen.

 

[winkybiker]

Good for you. I just watched a video of a Motorola guy launch himself over the handlebars to try to stop from hitting a crash. There is a local guy in the hospital here now that had a road rage guy in a car pull ahead and stomp on his brakes and the cyclist launched himself, a pro, so it does happen.

Yep, it can happen. But I would still much rather control my most powerful brake with my dominant hand. Especially in the case of a panic stop.

 

[ElChingon]

Yep, it can happen. But I would still much rather control my most powerful brake with my dominant hand. Especially in the case of a panic stop.

I would think you'd want to control the most powerful brake with the hand with the most control not just power, which ever hand it may be (I'm not a left/right handed-ist). For the record I've seen people both with left and right handed front brake face plant, its called an accident for a reason.

 

[winkybiker]

I would think you'd want to control the most powerful brake with the hand with the most control not just power.....

Yep, my dominant right hand is the one I feel that I can control best. Also the one I want on the bars if I am doing something like signalling, fishing in my jersey or getting a drink. For me, front on the right is best for all reasons, (except cable routing, which is a slight compromise).

 

[deboat]

After backing out of the shop without out a new bike I went on a massive on-line shopping blitz. Built it and last night I went for the first ride and yes I installed the brakes the right way(right lever front brake).

I have read all the replys here to my original post and also had a good think about it. Now I am not pregidous to the way you like to swing and I was surprised that there was not more laws regarding this in differeant countries. Maybe Australia is over policing everything in that country. I was told that in Australia the front brake is on the right side for hand signals. So one earlier poster got that part right!
Preformance wise I think that it makes no differance what side you like to bat or pull. I am more comfortable with my front brake on the right side.

As regards crashing or going over the bars, note this , that it is very common when a motorcycle rider has a car drive out in front of them that the rider panics and graps to much front brake and crashes sometimes not ever hitting the car. Guess who is at fault. Having ABS on motorcyles has helped reduce this happening.
Maybe some cyclists need ABS!!!

 

[King Boonen]

Left rear, right OTB.

 

[Bustedknuckle]

Yep, it can happen. But I would still much rather control my most powerful brake with my dominant hand. Especially in the case of a panic stop.

OK, go right ahead. I would rather use right->front since I grab my bottle and scratch my ____ with my right hand, and prefer to brake the rear with my left..if I gotta use one brake so I don't....you know.

Pretty sure you can set it up any way you wish. There are only laws about this in certain middle eastern countries.