Dear Bike Industry

[lechatnoir]

Then it must be the right foot

 

But then you have to have a 27.5 saddle... 

[Hairy]

Sibling? 0_0

That was a specific point for you Gauteng lot.

[ThePubSA]

...and please, right hand, front brake.

 

Left hand is for clutch or rear brake only

left handed might run front on left .. dominant hand on front brake . or not there no rules on a bicycle except sit facing forward . or not .

[TheoG]

I have no problem with right - rear brake, rear gears also right so for me it make sense everything rear is on the right ...   

 

If its such a big bother, change it, although not bought like that it is not rocket science to swap the hoses or get someone to do it for you.

 

Personal preference, do what ever the hell works best for you.

[RocknRolla]

I do plenty of enduro on my husky, commute on a z1000. My bicycle brakes all have a rear brake on the right..... no issues or confusion

 

+1 

 

Never got confused...

 

But.... trying to lane split with the car... that's another story...

[MrJacques]

 

I really hope SRAMs Universal Derailleur Hanger catches on and becomes the standard. I recently broke a rear hanger and finding a spare is can be a pain, especially for older bikes. It looks like I'll have to have one custom made or pay for a really expensive replacement.

[MTBeer]

It is like kissing your cousin or sibling ... you can do it, but it should not be done ... do the right thing Front Brake = Right Lever

dude, have you checked my cousin?

[MrJacques]

[Headshot]

...and please, right hand, front brake.

 

Left hand is for clutch or rear brake only

No. Not a standard. Its user variable.

[Headshot]

That's a very small list.

 

Btw, I remember those old Shimano BB's well. They weren't the best sealed and were a pain to change esp if the puller threads in your crank were fooked. The best system by far is the Shimano pinch bolt system on their external BB. No special tools bar the BB spanner. 

[MrJacques]

Trek's Knock Block... I understand why it's needed on some frames, but you either have to use their own expensive stems on it or buy an expensive lock ring adapter to use a normal stem. It's not an item that gets changed frequently, but it makes sourcing spares more difficult and costly.

[Chavo]

Trek's Knock Block... I understand why it's needed on some frames, but you either have to use their own expensive stems on it or buy an expensive lock ring adapter to use a normal stem. It's not an item that gets changed frequently, but it makes sourcing spares more difficult and costly.

That's much like Giant's OD/OD2 steerers...

 

"Oversized headset bearings (1 1/4-inch top and 1 1/2-inch bottom bearings) and a tapered steerer tube combine for unprecedented steering performance with no additional weight"

 

Yeah right, thanks for nothing besides a PITA Giant! Similarly expensive exercise to get things aligned with what everyone else used

[Jewbacca]

That's a very small list.

 

Btw, I remember those old Shimano BB's well. They weren't the best sealed and were a pain to change esp if the puller threads in your crank were fooked. The best system by far is the Shimano pinch bolt system on their external BB. No special tools bar the BB spanner. 

Exactly, and I use a modified, L shaped butter knife for that..... 

 

I had to remove a DUB BB last week. I couldn't find the right cup/tool so landed up using water pump pliers and some cloth. It worked, but I was sweating!

 

I don't mind if the spindle size changes etc, but at least use the same number of dimples so one doesn't need 50000 different tools. That's just childish

[dave303e]

I don't see the problem. 

 

Rode left-front for more than 30 years on my bikes. Got on a motorbike for the first time in my life and it wasn't a problem at all. 

 

 

What if you don't moto? Besides, I don't think this is a bike industry "standards" thing. It's more personal preference IMO. You can still use brakes from 10 years ago on a bike today if you wanted, can't say the same for wheels (for example)

 

The context is standards in a bike industry.

 

If all motorcycle manufacturers around the world could agree where clutch and brake levers go then surely all bicycle manufacturers and assemblers can just all align in one way or the other. This is not like all the other issues mentioned where advances in tech have lead to new variables- this is just not getting their ducks in a row. All bikes parked in a bike shop should have the same control set up to start. You don't walk into a car dealership and have to ask if the accelerator is on the left or the right, or find that out in the first drive do you? 

 

From there you can personalize away, esp if you are a lefty. I have a friend running a left thumb brake on his R1 in the American superbike series, works for him, other guys have tried and found it a waste of time. each to their own to personalize, but it should have a standard to start...

[TheoG]

The context is standards in a bike industry.

 

If all motorcycle manufacturers around the world could agree where clutch and brake levers go then surely all bicycle manufacturers and assemblers can just all align in one way or the other. This is not like all the other issues mentioned where advances in tech have lead to new variables- this is just not getting their ducks in a row. All bikes parked in a bike shop should have the same control set up to start. You don't walk into a car dealership and have to ask if the accelerator is on the left or the right, or find that out in the first drive do you? 

 

From there you can personalize away, esp if you are a lefty. I have a friend running a left thumb brake on his R1 in the American superbike series, works for him, other guys have tried and found it a waste of time. each to their own to personalize, but it should have a standard to start...

 

The car industry also dont have it sorted by a long shot, lights (indicator lever) a simple example.

 

It is unrealistic to expect all manufactures to abide by the same rules, aint going to happen.  We simply need to adapt & accept and change to what you want if possible.

[ChrisF]

The car industry also dont have it sorted by a long shot, lights (indicator lever) a simple example.

 

It is unrealistic to expect all manufactures to abide by the same rules, aint going to happen.  We simply need to adapt & accept and change to what you want if possible.

 

Hiehie ....

 

After decades on motorcycles my muscle memory was "right side = front brake" .... 

 

When I got back into cycling my first bike was like this .... so it was just natural to keep it this way.

 

 

But we all know the road back into cycling .... start with with a basic bike, then upgrade very soon ....

 

Second bike also had the front on the right ...     This later became the commuter

 

 

Imagine my shock and horror when my next bike had the rear brake on the right .....     I refused to take it out the shop until they swopped it about !! 

 

 

Fast forward to the next bike, with nice internally routed cables .....  designed for the rear to be on the right.  Off course it was possible to hack it, but it looked cr@p ..... so the decision was made to go "Right = Rear" ......  I was seriously dreading locking the front wheel out of shear habbit ..... 

 

Had a few sketchy moments on the commuter .... and then again on the MTB .... so I swopped the hoses on the commuter to also be "right = rear".

 

 

 

Maritz's first two bikes came from the shop "Right = front" .... he is so used to this ..... I dont want to swop him around at this point .....