Do most of you have the rear brakes setup for the left hand? I have rear brakes on the right side lever and it feels weird...is this a personal preference thing? Maybe I have to get used to it
Many in the US particularly run right hand for the rear brake, but motorcycles usually are setup the other way (and many euro cyclists run the same). Always kind of struck me as odd since bicycles don't have a foot brake for the rear, so why follow that standard? Believe the US govt has some sort of consumer product safety commission rule about the left hand/front brake thing, but haven't read it for myself. Do whatever you like but warn your friends if you loan your bike out and stray from local customs...
sheldon brown explains it on his web site. He may have been full of it on this one, but it makes sense:
in countries where they drive on the right side of the road, brakes are right-rear, left-front since all hand traffic signals use your left hand. This is based on the mistaken belief that your rear brake is the primary, so you would use your primary brake and signal at the same time. In countries where they drive on the left, brakes are reversed.
IOW, it's personal preference since 1: your front brake is in fact primary. 2: you aren't likely to be using hand signals off road and 3: if you where riding on the road, I'm not convinced most drivers would know what those hand signals meant anyway (since they date back to before cars had turn signals, and 99.999% of drivers aren't even aware their cars are equipped with turn signals anyway).
and it was more or less thought out in terms of safety as well. If you think about it, what happens when you are signaling for a turn, your left or right hand (depending on what country you live in) is off the bar making some rediculous motion. If your other hand is on the front brake and some idiot pulls out in front of you or cuts you off, your reaction is to grab a handfull of brake, "panic stop". The result of couse is the high probablility of an endo, even on those old bikes it was a possibility. By the time your signal hand got back down to the bar to even things out you'd have already been on your way to a face plant in the cobble stones. The average rider just doesn't have the presence of mind to modulate a front brake only panic stop like that, and many skilled riders find it difficult. It can be done for sure, I'm sure some of us here have, I have before. But then not everyone is a mountain biker, and I'll go out on a limb here and say that the average MTBr (BMX and Urban riders included) has much better bike handling skills than the average Joe Dokes on his townie.
Anyway, correct or incorrect that was the reasoning behind brake lever placement back then. It's just carried over to modern bikes. Of course now and especially for off road bikes front and rear lever placement is pretty much personal preference. I know a few riders with strong Motocross backrounds that have their brakes set up Moto style. We've even have a few customers that come into the shop request a moto set up on their new bikes, and we oblige them no problem. Myself, I've never been into motor cycles, and grew up with the left front/right rear set up and have no problem with it.
On a Bicycle:
With the front brake being the most effective, and on the left, allows shifting with the right while braking.
On a Moto:
With the front brake, the most effective here too, and the throttle on right, clutching/shifting can be done with the left while braking. (although many don't clutch to shift).
Moto rear brakes are for parking lots and pit stops only.
Tilos
I also subscribe to Sheldon's reasoning regarding brake lever placement.
Since the front brake is the one that actually stops you faster on a high speed run (the rear just makes the bike skid), mount the lever on the side of your most skilled hand.
So, if you are right-handed, mount front brake lever on the right, rear on the left.
Do it the other way around if you are left-handed (or you live in the US).
On a Bicycle:
With the front brake being the most effective, and on the left, allows shifting with the right while braking.
On a Moto:
With the front brake, the most effective here too, and the throttle on right, clutching/shifting can be done with the left while braking. (although many don't clutch to shift).
Moto rear brakes are for parking lots and pit stops only.
Tilos
I originally switched to right-front when I first switched to a front disc brake, for a pretty stupid reason: cleaner cable routing.
But I stuck with it for all of the reasons already listed, and then some (I'm right-handed).
Another reason: Face it, if you're going to be doing something unrelated to controlling the bike — picking your nose, grabbing your bottle or water hose, shooing a fly, tugging at your helmet strap, itching your crack — you'll probably be using your dominant hand. And if that hand is off the bar and you make a panic grab, it'll be your rear brake locking up, not an endo.
It's hard to say "try it and see if you like it" because it's like saying "try homelessness" to most riders. It's a whole new way of life. But if you're swayed by any of the reasoning, then maybe give it a shot, but expect it to take a while if you're used to a traditional setup.
Oh, and if you switch, tell your friends before they ride your bike... if you plan on keeping them as friends. If you want some comedy relief (and possibly a large medical bill), then don't.
I use my rear brake all the time for many different porpuses, from Making nice rear slides under power (help to start the drift) or just using the brake to kick the rear so i can park perpendicular to the sidewalk or just to scare my friends with 600pound pig squilling sideways two feet in front of them.
But more than anything to settle the bike into a turn since rear brakes compresses the suspension and the bike becomes far more stable.
Then again I learn how to ride bicycles way before moto's so i still ride with my rear brake on the right and somehow I never confuse them.
Along with braking and slowing comes the need to shift.
Is shifting while braking (right side frt. brake)...or braking while shifting, difficult?
Twist Grip or Thumbies?
Sorry, more MOTO analogy:
Most MOTO riders I know keep 1 or 2 fingers on the front brake lever at all times.
This does not impede on throttle control and allows instant braking.
With this "natural" hand position carrying over to MTB, I often grab the rear brake.
The more I ride the moto, the more I'm tempted to switch the MTB to right side front brake.
If I change, how often will I face plant before I adapt?
wow ... did not realise that bikes in Singapore has the same "standard" lever set up as America! Lived there for a long time but never on a bicycle ... never believed in pedaling power before ... was a strong advocate of mechanical power ... the piston type ...
in UK, we too drive on the left side of the road but with right lever for the front brake ...
as almost everyone else has mentioned ... each his own ... whatever you are comfortable with ...
Along with braking and slowing comes the need to shift.
Is shifting while braking (right side frt. brake)...or braking while shifting, difficult?
Twist Grip or Thumbies?
Sorry, more MOTO analogy:
Most MOTO riders I know keep 1 or 2 fingers on the front brake lever at all times.
This does not impede on throttle control and allows instant braking.
With this "natural" hand position carrying over to MTB, I often grab the rear brake.
The more I ride the moto, the more I'm tempted to switch the MTB to right side front brake.
If I change, how often will I face plant before I adapt?
Depends on whose and what shifters your using and how you orient it on the bar. Traditionally SRAM trigger shifters were the best for combined (brake and shift at the same time)use but I think Shimano has caught on and set up their triggers as thumb actuated as well. Twist shifters are crap IMO. I don't use them, some like them, I don't. The grips are your primary control point, the last thing I want them to do is twist around (yeah, I'm not a moto guy obviously). Give it a shot, I've ran it both ways and keep coming back to left hand - front brake personally.
I race motocross for 13 yrs, and tried to switch the front brake to the right and just couldn't get the feel for it. As for putting the front brake on the side with the most control, I think both sides were equal for me just because of using the clutch racing motocross. I also think it is easier to down shift with the brake on the left.
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