Brake Setup

[BigToe]

This topic has the making of a big faait. And since we're going to barney over it, I may as well pull a punch and ask how can anyone in their right mind want to control the front brake with their left hand? It is....dare I risk it....stupid!

What he said....

 

Having the front brake under your strong hand is irrelevant, but then I used to ride enduro and front was always on the right like all bikes....

Edited December 9, 2010 by BigToe

[ngala24]

Left front pulling looks to be popular 33 vs 25 and i thought i was odd riding like that

[SwissVan]

Left front pulling looks to be popular 33 vs 25 and i thought i was odd riding like that

 

Being in the majority does not exempt anyone from being odd, in fact the majority of people on this rock are very strange...

Edited December 9, 2010 by SwissVan

[Zeps]

Besides my brothers son in law and the 'clown' bike I rode at Rietvlei every other bike I have ever ridden or tried out had a left hand front brake ...... every bike I see sold at my LBS has a left hand front brake.

 

You right hand front brake dudes are wierd

[SwissVan]

 

wierd

 

 

New word? Surely everyone knows how to spell a 5 letter word

[Underachiever]

Road = left hand front

MTB = left hand back

[SwissVan]

 

You should be thinking "with" your controls. Not "About" your controls.

 

 

Gasp, cut, edit...

 

I prefer to let my brain (as in grey matter, not specialized thingy) do the thinking.

 

When my brain says "slow down dude" the right hand 2nd finger automaticaly starts curling in a controlled manner.

[kennyg]

I am right handed mostly - depending on the task , broke my wrist 5 years ago and swapped my bike around, can't remember which was what.

 

I know have 3 bikes - 2 left rear and one right rear...dunno, I ride by feel I suppose...

 

Its never really bothered me.

[Underachiever]

Mmm..read through all the comments - interesting thoughts.

 

It seems I'm the only one who's MTB differ from Road.....so my explanation.

 

I don't think it's about dominant hands per se. BTW I'm right handed.

 

I started cycling back in '83 and my first bike - bought from Wiele Wentzel, was front brake on the left hand. Font brake is the most powerful, so it became HABIT to favour the LEFT hand. A HABIT from '83 is very hard to break (in this case brake )

 

So when I switched to the muddy side a few years back, my front brake was on the left. Not a good idea on the MTB bearing my habit in mind, so I had to switch left side = back.

[SwissVan]

Road = left hand front

MTB = left hand back

 

Impressed, your processor must have the latest upgrades?

Edited December 9, 2010 by SwissVan

[Brian Fantana]

I find it a little disturbing that most people on this thread has such strong right hands?? Maybe the strong right handers should share their secrets to right hand strength. With hydraulic brakes finger strength is surely not such a big issue? For v-brakes I agree with RH-Front.

Edited December 9, 2010 by Stephan

[flymango]

If you have decent hydraulic brakes on board strength should have little say in the matter.

My MTB bottle cage opens out to the right and I generally use my right hand to drink anyway (on my road bike which is a straight up bottle arrangement) so I like to have my left hand on the back brake while I'm drinking, if i need to slow down I do not want to find my chin on the tar or gravel as I lock up the front wheel....

This comes from a past experience when my new bike was set up front brake left.... VERY quickly changed it.

+1

[Underachiever]

Impressed, your processor must have the latest upgrades?

 

 

 

 

Hi Swiss!! How's the Epic training coming along?

 

On my processor - actually running a 286 . You know....we are cyclists, not rocket scientists.

 

Simple processor. Legs push pedals up and down, body gets tired, breath harder, heart pump faster. Need to stops = always use left hand. Uses nearly 95% of my processing capacity.

[SwissVan]

 

Hi Swiss!! How's the Epic training coming along?

 

On my processor - actually running a 286 . You know....we are cyclists, not rocket scientists.

 

Simple processor. Legs push pedals up and down, body gets tired, breath harder, heart pump faster. Need to stops = always use left hand. Uses nearly 95% of my processing capacity.

 

Ja well with my processor I either have to pedal or use brakes, everything gets a bit blurry if I try and do both at the same time...

 

Epic training been going well so far, but from now it will be mostly indoors as the weather is to wet n cold to go cycling outdoors, so Ja we will see...

 

Howz your knee doing?

[RodTi]

Maybe I'm just a smooth rider, but....

 

[having thrown the cat in - he continues]

 

I run v-brakes, and have the rear brake running left...

And I'm a lefty...

 

With v-brakes - strength obviously plays more of a role, and I prefer it set up this way.

 

Wait - actually I'm fibbing now.

 

I've never really thought about this.

 

I can grab a handful a rear, pump hard - and then use the right to feed in the front brake, as necessary...

Guess it would probably make sense to have my 'dominant' hand feeding the front - but I inherited the bike set up this way, and never thought to change...

 

I'm pretty sure that if I was to change things around - I would kill myself.

Period.

 

So I won't.

[Underachiever]

 

Howz your knee doing?

 

2:43 in 94.7 vs a 2:38 last year. So not too bad. Took 7 months at the Physio and Biokineticist to get it as strong as the healthy one.

 

Very grateful!!

 

Good luck!!