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how many fingers do you use for braking?

11K views 42 replies 40 participants last post by  rooney2oons 
#1 ·
hey fellow Clydes!

as i sat upon my ummm throne reading back issues of MBA i saw an article on how you should position your brakes. ideal set up is to use just the index finger on the end of your brake levers

really? :skep:

i grew up on canti's even before Vbrakes came in. levers were built for 4 finger braking. even then you wished you had more fingers.

with the arrival of V brakes and later on mechanical discs, levers were then built for two finger squeezing. sadly when doing downhills i still ended up in the bushes during sweeping turns. hehehe.

aanyway here's my question- since we are stopping more mass and inertia, are your bikes adjusted for 1 finger braking or do you stick with 2?

personally im perfectly happy with two fingers.
 
#8 ·
On the top pic, im not sure how you use those breaks efficiently with the levers being so far away from the grips??
But nice bike, love the flat black mate, just how i like em:thumbsup:
 
#5 ·
I started out a 290 now down to 265. I used/use 1 finger for my ElixerCRs, 1 and 2 with the Elixer3s, and finally back to 1 with my SLX M666s.

I stick with 1 finger other than emergency braking.
 
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#6 ·
hey fellow Clydes!

as i sat upon my ummm throne reading back issues of MBA i saw an article on how you should position your brakes. ideal set up is to use just the index finger on the end of your brake levers

really? :skep:
yes, really. I consider disc brakes incorrectly setup if you would ever think you needed more than your index finger.

True, it wasn't possible to set up cantlivers to work that way, which is one of the big reasons no one uses them anymore. It's probably time to stop comparing modern bikes to the crap we had to live with 20 years ago, except in a "remember how bad things used to suck?" sense.
 
#7 ·
Only one finger should ever be used to stop a bike and theres a very good reason that the DH pros n gun riders use one finger.
If you use two or more(using more than two is ridiculous n dangerous for you) is that if you have less than 4 fingers holding onto your bike its not enough to control the bike safely under load.
Breaks have come a long way, i use hydros and you only need 1 finger to be enough to throw you over the bar at speed.
V breaks are basically a stone age breaking system and are compared to the other systems we have, they will be phased out on mountain bikes in the very near future, in fact they have been on middle to high end models as you all ready know.
Mechanical disk breaks will also be phased out in the near future too, i still have them on a few bikes but they do not rival hydros for stopping power, but still should only need 1 finger.
If you need more than one finger to stop on a dime its time to think about new breaks.
Your breaks should be set up so that your wrist is straight in the attack position, this is different for a few people but generally 1/3 of the way towards the ground, i have mine lower than that as i like a small cockpit/top tube on my bikes ..
Im not a clyde but im not small either, but regardless of size the same rules apply, in fact the bigger you are the more you wanna be using 1 finger due to the fact you have more weight to support and you need all the fingers wrapped tight around those grips you can
cheers:thumbsup:
They actual lever should be moved toward the stem far enough that you can only put one finger on the end of the lever whilst holding the grip.
If you break with 2 fingers it only leaves 2 fingers and a thumb to take your weight and control your bike under load if you are doing hard riding or DH.
thats fine for riding a flat trail or riding round the park but not for any serious or challenging riding.
 
#16 ·
I would say that I setup my brakes for 1.5 finger braking. 90+% of the time I only use 1 finger but I have it setup so that I can also comfortable get a second finger on for those LONG downhills that require LONG periods of braking. I don't have it setup this way for more power but for fatigue reasons. your rotor size should give you the power you need. If you are putting more than one figure on most properly setup disc brakes you will be over heating the rotors. That is the reason I run a 200mm rotor on the front and a 180mm on the back.

Just some food for though.
 
#18 ·
1 finger. You really don't have to pull that hard on quality modern hydraulics. And the difference in grip on the bar between 2 finger and 1 finger braking is significant. Try holding onto something with your ring and pinky fingers versus middle, ring and pinky. Yeah, the middle finger is one of the strongest. That's why I want it around the bar.
 
#29 ·
I tend to do the same thing! I am trying to go back to keeping all 4 over the grips and the brake lever but find it is a much more secure feeling to keep all 4 on the grips, especially on a bumpy downhill. But then how to brake?

I stopped keeping all 4 fingers, and braking with all 4 on my last mountain bike with hydraulic brakes...grip thebrakes hard with all 4 and over the bars you go!

So I got into the practice of braking with 2 fingers. On my trance there was room enough to stop the bike and not mash my fingers. On my mechanical brakes with this bike I find myself still braking with 2 fingers and mashing the other 2. Which also limits braking ability. Not a good thing in 2 ways!
 
#28 ·
One finger on mechanical discs (Avid BB7s). Works without a problem. The advantages of index finger braking for me is twofold: 1) those last three fingers on the bar (as opposed to just pinky and ring finger) make a HUGE difference in control and 2) it helps me keep my hands out at the ends of the bars where they should be. With two fingers on the brakes, I tend to slide my hands in a little and that means control loss.

I’ve only started one finger braking in the last few months, so I still need to be conscious of it. But for such a small thing, it’s made a big improvement in my riding.
 
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