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MountainBikeReview.com's Forum Archives - Brake Time
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Front brake lever on the right, a better setup? (24 posts)
|  Front brake lever on the right, a better setup? | Lowlypawn
Jul 14, 2002 8:19 AM | | Front brake lever on the right, a better setup?
Dose anyone know why bikes come with the front brake lever on the left? I ride a motorcycle almost every day and making the mental switch every time I ride is annoying.
Would there be any cable routing problems by switching?
Doses anyone else have this setup? |
| it's a different setup.... | Monte
Jul 14, 2002 8:47 AM | | personal preference. If I was you I'd switch your bike to match the moto. You should encounter no cable routing problems at all. And lots of people ride with front/right rear/left. You could search on http://www.sheldonbrown.com and probably find why bicycles are typically front/left. I've heard why, but can't remember.
Monte |
| "Does anyone else have this setup?"..... | HooKooAl
Jul 14, 2002 9:09 AM | | Only everyone in Europe......
Why do you guys have it the other way around anyway?
Alan <- in the UK |
| I found the article! | Lowlypawn
Jul 14, 2002 10:45 AM | | I found the article!
"Which Brake Which Side?" paragraph.
http://www.sheldonbrown.com/brakturn.html
I was also looking at the http://www.whytebikes.com/whyte-2002/index.html and sure enough the front brake is on the right. I'm definitely switching now that I'm getting more into biking.
Thx & Cya |
| Same reason why we are not metric | Yo Bartender Another Round Pls
Jul 14, 2002 4:50 PM | | Why?
Who knows...
But I am switching to the front brake/right lever set-up this week.
My left hand is weak from an old automobile accident, so I am switching the stronger brake to my stronger hand... |
| Europe vs. the UK | er2de2
Jul 17, 2002 8:22 AM | | Alan, according to you everybody in Europe has got the front brake on the right lever?? Not so!
Matey, as a good Brit you should know that the UK and (continental) Europe don't agree on many issues, and this is one of them.
In Germany it is customary to have the front brake on the left lever, which annoys me no end, as my new bike bought over here now differs from my old bike bought in Old Blighty. It's an accident waiting to happen.
Cheers
Tammo |
| For me, heck yeah!!! | Schtoo
Jul 15, 2002 12:44 AM | | I look at it this way.
My first bicycle (with training wheels no less) had the front brake on the right. All the rest of them were the same as were the engine powered cousins.
I am right handed (although close to ambidextrous, can't write well enough lefty to claim that) and my right hand is stronger than my left as well as having better dexterity and sensitivity because I use it all the time.
Why on earth would I have the brake that does the most work, needs the faster reflexes and needs more feel on the hand that doesn't have it from birth and from years of practise? I still can't see the logic in putting the front brake in the weaker hand of 90% of the population.
As a result of making the front brake work with my right hand, I can balance on the front wheel under heavy braking (on a good surface, not a consistant one) and lock up is not an issue, the hand just knows what to do. Who cares what the back brake does, if it locks you slide a little. If the front locks you will likely end up doing torso braking. Works fine, but hard on the torso used.
Kinda like changing gears in a car with most peoples primary hand/arm/side. Sure the US and others do it, doesn't make it correct or logical... (not a flame, just an observation)
So if you want to, go right ahead. Heck, you might even find that you like it. ;) |
| one benifit of left-front brake | Jimmy Hoffa
Jul 15, 2002 8:49 AM | | The only benifit I can see to left-front setup would be ease of shifting the rear gears while braking. While going into a corner, you might want to drop the rear ratio a cog or two for exit power. With left-front, your right hand would be free for accurate down shifting. |
| Shift what gears? | shiggy
Jul 15, 2002 11:53 AM | | 
I started using left-rear for cyclocross. You do not want your left hand on the front brake while setting up for a flying dismount. |
| It's not a problem. | Schtoo
Jul 16, 2002 8:41 PM | | About the only time I ever have my thumb under the grip is when I am downshifting, even while braking it stays behind the grip.
Not sure exactly why, but it may be from forgotten thumb injuries and possibly deep seated fear of breaking my thumb if the bike stops and I don't, catching the thumb underneath. Done that once, and it hurt, alot.
I do the same while driving, rarely do I catch myself with my thumbs wrapped around the wheel. Break that little ball in your thumb and you will have to use grip shift forever because that thumb wont work ever again.
Besides, I have never had a problem shifting and braking at the same time. That kinda solution seems (to me anyway) to be looking for a non-existant problem. |
| It's actually best... | firecrotch
Jul 15, 2002 8:43 AM | | for right-handed people in general to have the rear on the right, so that your dominant hand grabs the rear brake. In a panic stop, the natural reaction is to use the dominant hand first, whether it be left or right, to stop. So it could be appropriate to set up the rear brake in correspondence to your dominant hand. A riding buddy of mine reversed his levers because he's left handed. I'm right-handed, so I keep the rear on the right. I've switched them before, but it was a little scary because I naturally kept grabbing too much front brake.
-Ryan |
| Uh-Oh! You'd better notify the Europeans that they're wrong! | næstep
Jul 15, 2002 11:49 AM | | I made the switch, believe it or not, for cable routing reasons. I liked it so much I bought the company I made the change permanent. I really believe the more articulate hand should get the more articulate brake.
næstep |
| Oh, bullXXXt! | shiggy
Jul 15, 2002 12:01 PM | | You want the dominate hand, that has better control, on the brake that does the most good.
Most people are going to grab a big handful of both brakes in a panic stop. I want my best hand on the front brake for better control.
In any case, braking is learned and no matter which setup you use, you get use to it and it is best to run all of your bikes the same way. |
| Oh horse hockey. | Mike T.
Jul 15, 2002 2:29 PM | | I'm right handed and I use right hand/front brake. There's reasons (for me) for this setup and most people (in N.Am) use right/rear because their bike came that way. Not good enough for me.
I'm right handed so therfore I do everything with my right hand like -
Blowing snot rockets.
Waving.
Scratching.
Sun glass adjusting
Food eating
Chin wiping
Middle finger saluting
Drinking
Etc Etc Etc
Now if I have one hand busy and another still on the bars with a brake in its control, for reasons of self-preservation, it ain't gonna be a freakin front brake!
Mike (still got all his front teeth) T. |
| It's actually not best... | Pat T.®
Jul 15, 2002 4:06 PM | | Every motorcycle on the planet has right/front setup, and only bicycles in N. America are setup this way......stupid if you ask me, you have way more control with your right hand on the front brake (if you are right handed). "the natural reaction is to use the dominant hand first" that is not true, you use the hand you are trained to use, just like shifting a car ect. |
| I guess I better... | Mango
Jul 15, 2002 5:12 PM | | switch the front brake on my Buell S1W motorcycle to the pedal and the rear to the right brake lever. Wouldn't want to grab to much front brake and tip over....(That's the biggest bunch of bullshit I've ever heard dumbass). Maybe I'll switch the pedals on my car so the gas is on the left and clutch/brake is on the right...wouldn't want to panic and hit the gas with my dominant right foot.
Its just a matter of personal preference. No other reason, just preference. BTW, I go from riding the motorcycle (front brake on the right) to riding the bicycles (front brake on the left) with absolutely no problems whatsoever. |
| Ouch, it hurts to be wrong | firecrotch
Jul 16, 2002 6:33 AM | | Well, I guess my theory was thoroughly disproved, and I'll admit it. I guess I should've said originally that it was just a theory. I went ahead and changed my set-up, and wow what a difference! Mike T. was right.....
...it's much easier to do the one-finger solute now that my right hand is free. I solute you mango, dick. I didn't think people could take these posts so seriously, but then there are those of us that have sticks up their @sses. Maybe next time you ride your motorcycle, you can be happy to know your dominant hand is free to pull it out. Thanks everyone else for NICELY telling me I was wrong, and not being nearly as rude as this @sshole.
-Ryan |
| More than one way to be wrong | Sparty
Jul 16, 2002 10:00 AM | | I thought his name calling was a little over the top myself. What good ever comes of it? I've yet to see any. (Though I'd be lying if I said I've never been moved to stoop so low myself. ~sigh~)
--Sparty |
| Say what you will, | Mango
Jul 16, 2002 3:02 PM | | but I'm not the only one that's sick of the amount of misinformation posted on these boards. If you don't know what the f@ck you're talking about then just shut the f@ck up. Why people need to continually chime in about topics they obviously know nothing about is beyond me. Get off the damn computer and go ride your bike.
If you post misinformation...you're gonna get slammed...and rightfully so. |
| I use the right front brake setup | BalleRacing
Jul 15, 2002 10:33 AM | | I use the right front brake setup. I ride dirt bikes and I like my bike the same. The cable routing dosen't have any problems.
www.balleracing.com |
| yes for right handed people | derby
Jul 15, 2002 12:13 PM | | For hard braking and prolonged braking the front brake does nearly all the work. So it makes sense that a rider sets up the levers so the front brake is controlled by the strongest hand.
And if you ride motorcycles it might make the transition back and forth easier since motorcycles have right hand front brakes.
The rear brake is used for finesse braking, almost never with hard lock by anyone but beginners or trials riders. So it makes sense that the weaker hand could modulate the brake with more finesse with less chance of lock up.
- ray |
| Hand signals and driving on the right | Steve from JH
Jul 15, 2002 1:54 PM | | As I understand it the front brake is mounted on the right in those countries where they drive on the left.
That's also how Sheldon Browne understands it:
i There are also observable national trends:
i In countries where vehicles drive on the right, it is common to set the brakes up so that the front brake is operated by the left lever.
i In countries where vehicles drive on the left, it is common to set the brakes up so that the front brake is operated by the right lever.
i The theory that seems most probable to me is that these national standards arose from a concern that the cyclist be able to make hand signals, and still be able to reach the primary brake. This logical idea is, unfortunately, accompanied by the incorrect premise that the rear brake is the primary brake.
So he mounts his on the right anyway. I guess on the theory that he might have to make a panic stop while signalling for a turn. |
| The hand signal reason does not work for me | shiggy
Jul 15, 2002 4:44 PM | | When on a bike (on the streets), I signal a left turn with my left arm and a right turn with my right arm. Using the left arm for both makes sense only if you are in a four-wheeled vehicle. Plus most "right turn" signals made with the left arm on a bike can not be seen because the lower arm is level with the ground and not pointing up.
Just point in the direction you want to go with the closest arm! |
| That's the way I used to do it on a motorcycle nm | Steve from JH
Jul 15, 2002 7:16 PM | | nm |
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