Bicycle brake handle convention

Factual Questions
1

I have access to several bicycles, two American and two bought locally in Japan. The American ones have the front brake connected to the left brake handle, while the Japanese bikes are the other way around. Is there any particular reason for this difference?

It seems that the Japanese way has the advantage of letting me use the stronger hand (right) on the more important brake (front). But the advantage of the American way is that I can apply the front brake and shift down at the same time. We ride on the different side of the road, but I don’t see how that relates to the brake arrangement.

2

I don’t know why you think the front brake is more important than the rear. I only really crank down on the front when I am going downhill(in unison with the rear). Otherwise I use it lightly when I am coming to the end of a full stop.

I don’t understand why you would want to apply the brake and shift down at the same time, unless you were going up a very steep hill, like on a dirt bike.

My assumptions are that the bike was put together wrong :smiley: or that the Japanese are wierd and do things wierd :D.

3

Isn’t the rear break more important? You lose a little control when you use the front one. And if you use the front one alone for a sudden stop while going very fast down hill it can be bad. And if you use just the back one you can do that cool sliding sound.

4

I guess it was too much of a generalization to say which brake is more important. I tend to use the front brake more though. I think the issue is weight transfer - there isn’t much weight on the rear when you are braking hard, and it’s easy to lock it up.

I try to downshift before coming to a stop so I’d be in a low gear when I start again. You can’t shift while stopped, unless you have hub gears.

And no, my Japanese bikes are not set up incorrectly. I just went outside and inspected half a dozen bicycles parked on the street - they’re all set up that way.

5

I have an ‘American type’ brake arrangment but I prefer using the rear brake because it’s safer.The front brake is too sudden and powerful and I haven’t dared try it at high speeds.The inertia of the human body can be risky.

6

The only time you should ever really use the rear brake is when you are on icy or slippery surfaces or if you have a front blowout. The front brake is usually adequate and if you are braking hard enough, your rear wheel will lose traction and that brake w ill cease to slow the bike anyway.

The reason he shifts down while he is slowing is that it is easier to get going again from a stop in a low gear than a higher gear.

I’ve been racing for 3 years and it seems to me that you are doing everything right. Yes, your bikes are set up correctly. It all gets back to which side of the road we drive on. Japanese, Brits and Australians drive on the left and so we need to make hand signals with the right hand when making a cross-traffic turn. The (now obsolete) idea was that the free hand should be able to reach the back brake whilst signalling. Likewise for Americans and those from the Continent. It seems to me that the stronger hand should operate the front brake which suits me fine as a right-hander in a RH drive country where the front brake goes on the right. However, I wouldn’t go with the stock set-up in Europe or America (I can only dream) as it suits me better my way.

7

As a fairly keen cyclist myself, I’d be interested if you could go into more detail about the above. I certainly find that on a steep trail the rear brake is far safer to use - if I clamp the front to quick on a surface where it has good bite, I’m likely to flip the whole bike over. Am I missing something?

8

When racing you can use the back brake to slow you in a corner without upetting the handling too much, using the front brake can make the bike run wide.

I put my front brake on my strongest hand, my left, no matter how it came when originally assembled.

Those V-brakes on mountain bikes work better when the front brake is on the left because you get a better cable route.

Its not just the power of the brake that is important, its the way the brake can conrtol varying amounts of brake effort, the modulation or ‘feel’ that counts. I’ve come across brakes that are incredibly powerful but utlimately unsuited for competition since they are either on or off with little in between.

In a hard stop you should apply the back brake very slightly earlier than the front, this cause the front tyre to spread a little which will then offer more grip, it’s not a bad idea to try and move your body backwards over the saddle to reduce the chances of flipping over.

9

Thank you! That makes sense. I guess we Japanese are supposed to be using the right hand for all hand signals, and Americans should be using the left hand.

I usually use the right hand to signal a right turn and left hand for left turn… I’m not confident that most drivers remember a raised right hand is a signal for left turn.

10

Well… kinda. It’s not as necessary to signal on a left hand turn since you aren’t turning across traffic. You are probably safer by maintaing full control with both hands on the bar in these instances. Right hand turns on the other hand (for you, me and the Brits that is), are danger times for cyclists and the extra indication for possibly inattentive motorists is important.

As for braking in a turn; it is never a good idea. Try and brake before you go into the turn and accelerate out. Braking acts to straighten the bike out and fights against a turn you are trying to perform. Having said that, if you need to brake, you need to brake so disregard anything I have to say at those times (as I’m sure some will)

Control of the brakes is something a lot of beginner cyclists tend to overlook. Most beginners tend to go overboard and grasp the brake in a deathgrip at the last moment. As casdave says, feel is an important aspect and is something you should really become comfortable with for your particular bike. In fact, he and Gary both make some good points but I feel they could be less relevent in scr4’s case. First, I have a feeling he rides a road bike. At he very least, he is riding on road conditions (concerned about traffic) If it is a road bike then because of the crouchier position he adopts his centre of gravity will be lower and that will make it MUCH more difficult to do this dreaded flip that beginners are so terrified of. Second, in betraying my roots as a roadie and ignorance of mountain bikes, I never thought of giving the front tyre more bite. This is less of an issue for a road bike or any tyre used on the road because the increased pressures will mean a smaller gain in ‘bite’ when using this technique. With respect though, I remain dubious about this because any braking will result in the front tyre spreading. I can’t see how it could differ due to which brake is used apart from the fact that the rear brake is less effective and will possibly therefore cause the tyre to spread less.

11

The reason that using the back brake first is that it allows the suspension time to compress and stiffen up before the front brake comes on, if you do it the other way around there is every chance that the forks will bottom out, this is not good for grip as the sudden shock when it hits the bottom of the travel may break grip completely.

Even on road bikes without suspension it gives the forks the time to flex and stiffen.

When you put the rear brake on first the bike tries to rotate around the rear axle, putting weight down over the front, using the front brake transfers weight to the front, true enough, but the rotation is over the front axle hence the increased risk of flipping.

I personally don’t like my front brake to be all that powerful for road racing 'cause if it grabs unexpectedly the rider behind may well take you out, it doesn’t happen much with an experienced bunch but novices to road racing temd not to predict what is happening and react too slowly and the end up overdoing things.

When racing in a bunch I use the brakes to give me space rather than change speed, a very short quick grab may get you say six inches of room which might then be enough to get from behind a wheel overlap in a sprint without much loss of momentum.

One thing that beginners do a lot and is more likely to lead to disaster is when they apply the brakes hard their arms stiffen up, and this results in a greatly reduced ability to steer under braking, usually a cyclist does not need to come to a full halt but just needs to buy enough time to find a gap to aim for and swerve out of trouble.

It takes a lots of time to learn how to brake hard and yet keep your arms loose.

12

I’m sorry Casdave, but you are wrong. Yes, I know my bush beating skills need work but… There is simply not enough travel in the forks of a road bike to allow what you described. I can see what you are getting at but it doesn’t work that way.

When you apply brakes whether they be front, rear or both, the bike tries to rotate over the front axle. (Actually, it tries to rotate over the front tyre’s point of contact with the ground but that is immaterial here). This is because any deceleration shifts the mass of the rider and bike to the forward point of contact for the bike which is the front tyre. The only reason it is any easier to tip the bike with the front brake is because it is more effective. With the rear brake, the bike just keeps on travelling forward which is the last thing you want at the time. It’s the same as with older cars. When (more effective) disc brakes came in, if only one axle was to get them, it was the front axle. The back got the older fashioned drum brakes because it is the front where you want your most effective braking forces at work.

I personally like my brakes to be as powerful as possible so that power can be there for when I need it. To prevent what you described, I’ve spent years developing the touch and feel you were talking about before. The argument you gave sounds like the argument I’ve heard against ABS brakes; They’re g ood but TOO good because if the guy behind doesn’t have ABS (or if the rider doesn’t have skill) then you’ll still get hit. Other people’s poor equipment or skill is never a reason to have poorer equipment on your own vehicle or bike. As you train and be c ome accustomed to riding in a bunch, you should learn how to take knocks and shoves. It’s part of our club’s training to have 2 guys double team another with broadsides and hip and shoulder knocks. You have to learn how to deal with aggressive and inept r iders alike. When you do, it is an incredible trip when you can feel completely at ease and assured in a large pack that has some push and shove involved. I’m not saying you become immune to being taken out but it is less of a concern.

As far as keep ing your arms loose even while braking, you’re right on the money. I learnt that for myself and only corrected for it after fairly nasty fall. It was small comfort to pass on that lesson to another guy a couple of months on…

13

I rented a GIANT bike in France for a week. It was set up the European way, just opposite how we set ours up, so even an ‘American’ bike had it’s brakes set up the ‘European’ way in France. And when mountain biking, I ALWAYS apply the rear brake first, I ain’t no Superman and don’t want to try.

14

OK then try this, lock your back brake as hard as you like, will it flip the bike, nope, it locks the rear wheel and it slides.It cannot flip because the point of greatest friction with the road is behind the behind the point of greatest mass.The only way you can go over the top of the bars is if under that braking load you fail to brace yourself enough whereby the bike stops but you keep on going.

This latter happened to me when I was riding fixed wheel once and a length of barbed wire somehow managed to get between sprocket and chain.

The bike tries to rotate around the back axle but cannot because there is a point of contact in from of the brake, its almost like having hyper-extended trail, which I’ll explain in a moment.

Yes the weight does transfer toward the front but this is decelaration not rotation around the front wheel(there is a rotation around the back axle but the directions of forces are such as to be near enough in line in this case) which is why suspension forks will dip but they also stiffen as the springs take up, this together with front tyre spread, allows greater brake effort to be applied to the front. Talk to any motorcycle instructor and they will tell you that failure to use the back brake first in an emergency stop will result in failure of a motorcycle test.

I’d dig out the UK highway code book on this which specifically states why the rear brake should be applied first but that means rummaging around cupboards and things to find it.

The effects of trail and rake makes a large differance to the way a bicycle handles under braking.

The first point of call is the adhesion of the tyre, the greater the contact area the greater is the potential grip, by applying the rear brake first the weight transfer will spread the front tyre, even if you are talking about 16mm sew-ups it will spread significantly enough to increase the contact area.

Next is the rake, this makes the steering more skittish as it steepens and also usually transmits more shock through the forks, which can make handling an adventure on bumpy roads.

Trail is the differance between a line drawn down through the steering head to the floor and the vertical drop down from the front axle.

The greater the trail the slower steering a machine is but braking flexes forks, wether suspension or solid and this tends to reduce trail.You would be surprised at just how much solid forks do flex.

Trail is what keeps a bike stable, a good example to look at is a shoppng trolley when wheels get bent away from their intended position after bashing curbstones. What happens is that the steering angle is set backwards and moves closer to the vertical wheel axle drop, result is that is flaps around.

If the steering head is very steep and the trail very short along with the short wheelbase you find on time-trial cycles you have more chance of being flipped over, but if you increase trail so that the axle is well in front of the steering head the rotational effect has a greater inertia to overcome before you go over the top.

Think of it like a flywheel, increase the diameter and its moment of inertia increases and it takes more force to achieve a given rate of rotation.

You can go too far with trail and rake though, because you get to a point where the adhesion of the tyre is overcome and it slides, this is not a good thing.

The clever part is being able to feel when the tyre is on its limits without going beyond them as you transfer your weight backwards.

15

Ok I only ride motorcycles but I’m guessing the physics have to be the same.

You lock up the real wheel on a bike you HAVE to ride the slide out. if you release the brake you WILL high side. Does this not happen on a bicycle? I’m guessing it would have to. (note: you can and do let go of the real wheel lock up on dirt/gravel.)

no way, no MC instructor I’ve ever had told me this. no can I think of any MC book that says this either. Ok for a TEST then maybe, but in no other situation can I think of any reason to go for the rear brake first.

huh? I’ve never seen this either, there is no transfer to the front by using the rear brake.

In the majority of books and instructors I’ve had and read always strees using the front brake more than the rear for motorcycles. Yes you can flip by locking up the front brake, though it is much more difficult to do and you can release the brake and nothing will happen.

I can think of only one situation where using the rear brake is better than the front and that’s dirt riding. Even Keith Code suggests using nothing but front brake for MC road racers.

I will see if I can find something on braking for MCs as I’m sure it must be very simmilar to bicycles.

16

Not necessarily but the risk of highsiding is greatly increased, if you have the bike leaning over over then some say that it’s better to keep the back wheel spinning and try to rear-wheel steer out of it by giving it some gas(I hope I never have to do this on the road), if the bike is running upright straight and true you usually get it back without too much drama.
The point being discussed is not highsiding which you might have interpreted as flipping the machine but rather stopping so hard that the bike cartwheels over the front axle.

Put your back brake on moderately hard, do your forks compress ? (but far less so than if it were the front brake) If so that is weight transfer-due to decelaration-however it is not due to rotation around the front axle which is the point I was making in response to this,

It is nearly always better to use the back brake to scrub off speed if you should happen to go into a corner too fast as this does not upset the handling of the machine nearly as much as using the front. Use the front brake in such circumstances and you will run wide as the bike sits up.
Of course I would not advocate going into corners too hot but it happens.

According to the instructors running the course I was on they say that you should apply the back brake a fraction sooner than the front but over 80% of your stopping power comes from the front, but this changes to some degree on very heavy long wheelbase bikes.

Keith Code knows what he is talking about but many raccers use the back brake to control the dynamics of the bike rather than speed, if you are leaning over into a hairpin using the back brake can help the bike turn in faster or maybe I should say that it works for me on the tight moorland roads where you get nasty tight little hairpins on steeps sections and bad adverse cambers.

17

When mtn biking down hill I will use the rear reak to keep my speed controlable - when I want to stop I’d use both.

18

I’ve seen letters and articles from riders who started out on motorcycles (MX, mostly) before moving to mountain bikes. Apparently the brake lever situation on most bikes is different from most motorcycles. Some of the throttle-twisters prefer to reverse the brakes on their bicycles to mirror their experience on motorcycles.

19

I happened to be reading through “tuning up for motorcycles” last night. It’s the training manual for motorcycle riders in British Columbia, available online at http://www.icbc.ca

It says, with regards to motorbikes, front brakes provide more stopping power. However, if it’s necessary to use the brakes in an emergency turn, it’s better to apply the rear brake in order to maintain steering control.

As for bicycles, I think a lot of it comes down to your individual bike and riding conditions.
If I’m riding a road bike (with dropped handlebars) on level terrain it really doesn’t matter which brake I apply first.
If I’m riding a mountain bike, or a hybrid (with straight bars) I always apply the rear brake first. My centre of gravity is very high when sitting upright, and it’s far too easy to flip over the bars if I only apply the front brake. Or (as happened to me a month ago in Munich) have the rear of the bike rise up and wrap around my thigh.

Flat terrain, heavy bike, crouched over-- you’re okay to use the front.
Hills, light bike, use the rear.

My current bicycle has gripshifts-- and let me tell ya, that got me into a bad habit when it came to driving a 50 cc motorcycle. Like scr4 I was in the habit of downshifting while braking-- but try this same movement on a motorcycle, and you end up opening the throttle while trying to brake!

20

make that http://www.icbc.com

Mods, can you fix that? Thanks.