Brake Configuration

Quoted post said:

Originally posted by Drinky
I tried out a friends bike yesterday and nearly went over the handlebars as his front brake (right
hand) is where my back brake is.

Does one of us have our bike set up incorrectly?

Traditionally in the UK the rhs is the front brake. The reverse is true in the US. Sheldon Brown writes a few words on this topic http://sheldonbrown.com/brakturn.html#whichside
which suggests that there is only weak standards here. This is backed up by the fact that my mum has her brakes set up the wrong way around. OTOH she is a 50% south-paw so it really comes down to taste (and checing first on an unfamiliar bike)

best wishes
james

"Drinky" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
"]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

I tried out a friends bike yesterday and nearly went over the handlebars

as

Quoted message said:

his front brake (right hand) is where my back brake is.

Does one of us have our bike set up incorrectly?

My front brake is on the right. I don't think it's a case of the wrong set-up, just a different
model and manufacture procedure. I've ridden bikes with both configurations. You just learn to
compensate/adjust.

Gadget

Drinky said:

I tried out a friends bike yesterday and nearly went over the handlebars as his front brake (right
hand) is where my back brake is.

Does one of us have our bike set up incorrectly?

In the yes one of you does have your bike set up incorrectly.

In the UK the front break is on the right.

Now in the rest of Europe[1] and in the US they have the front break on the left.

1) Not sure about Ireland?

--
Chris dot Gerhard at btclick dot com.

Drinky said:

I tried out a friends bike yesterday and nearly went over the handlebars as his front brake (right
hand) is where my back brake is.

Does one of us have our bike set up incorrectly?

All five of our bikes are set up with the right hand lever operating the front brake, so presumably
that's the conventional way around. There's no technical reason why it must be so, however, so it
would be safer when riding an unfamiliar bike not to assume.

--
[email hidden] (Simon Brooke) jasmine.org.uk~simonOpen ↗

;; An enamorata is for life, not just for weekends.

As Chris says, in the UK front should be on the right. I assume this is because your right hand is
stronger, but with new brakes you don't need any power in your hands.

--
David Brown :o) kitemap.co.ukbuggyOpen ↗

Gadget must be edykated coz e writed:

Quoted message said:

"Drinky" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
"]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

I tried out a friends bike yesterday and nearly went over the handlebars

as

Quoted message said:

his front brake (right hand) is where my back brake is.

Does one of us have our bike set up incorrectly?

My front brake is on the right. I don't think it's a case of the wrong set-up, just a different
model and manufacture procedure. I've ridden bikes with both configurations. You just learn to
compensate/adjust.

Gadget

Both my brake levers operate front brakes, on my Catrike. On my Kett Wiesel, both levers operate
rear brakes.

--
Ian

catrike.co.ukcatrike.co.ukOpen ↗

Chris Gerhard must be edykated coz e writed:

Quoted message said:

Drinky said:

I tried out a friends bike yesterday and nearly went over the handlebars as his front brake
(right hand) is where my back brake is.

Does one of us have our bike set up incorrectly?

In the yes one of you does have your bike set up incorrectly.

In the UK the front break is on the right.

Now in the rest of Europe[1] and in the US they have the front break on the left.

1) Not sure about Ireland?

Ah but, those are left hand drive bikes.

--
Ian

catrike.co.ukcatrike.co.ukOpen ↗

"David Brown :o)" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
"]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

As Chris says, in the UK front should be on the right. I assume this is because your right hand is
stronger, but with new brakes you don't need

any

Quoted message said:

power in your hands.

Guess who has an article mentioning this?

sheldonbrown.combrakturn.htmlOpen ↗

cheers, clive

Chris Gerhard said:

Now in the rest of Europe[1] and in the US they have the front break on the left.

1) Not sure about Ireland?

Feet, heels down in the gravel. And don't forget the yell.

John B

"David Brown :o\)" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:<[email hidden]>...

Quoted message said:

As Chris says, in the UK front should be on the right. I assume this is because your right hand is
stronger, but with new brakes you don't need any power in your hands.

Must be something to do with the rule of the road. At school we all changed ours over for some
strange reason. I have kept it like that. All UK bikes are front right, apparently it is ileegal to
supply a bike other way round. My last UK bike was supplied front left, as was a bike I bought in
France. I have not been able to obtain a RH rear disc in the UK.

Clive George said:

"David Brown :o)" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
"]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

As Chris says, in the UK front should be on the right. I assume this is because your right hand is
stronger, but with new brakes you don't need

any

Quoted message said:

power in your hands.

Guess who has an article mentioning this?

sheldonbrown.combrakturn.htmlOpen ↗

It is indeed a matter of taste and convention. But I would like to add a point in favour for the
continental setup (front brake left): As a right handed person I can use my better skilled hand to
operate the downtube shifters while breaking. Not in an emergency situation, of course, where both
hands should be at the handle bar. Now there are not many bikes with downtube shifters around
anymore, so this is quite obsolete. Still it might be a historical reason for setting the brakes
up this way.

Guenther

martin said:

Quoted message said:

As Chris says, in the UK front should be on the right. I assume this is because your right hand
is stronger, but with new brakes you don't need any power in your hands.

Must be something to do with the rule of the road.

I think it's to do with right-hand turns, where you might have to signal and brake at the same time.
In that case, the rear brake is assumed to cause less instability and therefore be safer to use,
although I'm not sure how true that actually is.

Left-hand turns aren't nearly as critical, because you don't have to wait for oncoming traffic and
you don't get into an exposed position in the middle of the road.

On the continent it's all the other way around, of course.

Andy

Guenther Schwarz said:

It is indeed a matter of taste and convention. But I would like to add a point in favour for the
continental setup (front brake left): As a right handed person I can use my better skilled hand to
operate the downtube shifters while breaking.

As a left handed person, I always operate downtube shifters (both sides) with my _right_ hand. Not
sure why I do this; I suppose I learned on a five speed bike which only had a lever on the right.

--
[email hidden] (Simon Brooke) jasmine.org.uk~simonOpen ↗

See one nuclear war, you've seen them all.

In article <[email hidden]>, [email hidden] says...

Quoted message said:

Guenther Schwarz said:

It is indeed a matter of taste and convention. But I would like to add a point in favour for the
continental setup (front brake left): As a right handed person I can use my better skilled hand
to operate the downtube shifters while breaking.

As a left handed person, I always operate downtube shifters (both sides) with my _right_ hand. Not
sure why I do this; I suppose I learned on a five speed bike which only had a lever on the right.

As a right handed person, I always operate downtube shifters (both sides) with my left hand. This is
because I feel safer with my stronger hand on the bars; I use the headtube to give me leverage and
move the shifters with my thumb.

Juliette
--
nowt to add

Juliette said:

In article <[email hidden]>, [email hidden] says...

Quoted message said:

Guenther Schwarz said:

It is indeed a matter of taste and convention. But I would like to add a point in favour for
the continental setup (front brake left): As a right handed person I can use my better skilled
hand to operate the downtube shifters while breaking.

As a left handed person, I always operate downtube shifters (both sides) with my _right_
hand. Not sure why I do this; I suppose I learned on a five speed bike which only had a lever
on the right.

As a right handed person, I always operate downtube shifters (both sides) with my left hand. This
is because I feel safer with my stronger hand on the bars; I use the headtube to give me leverage
and move the shifters with my thumb.

Juliette

I cheat - my shifters are in the brakes. Trouble is that for so many years I was used to having
levers on the down tube (and spending a fair amount of time sucking sore fingers or thumbs where I
overshot them and got dragged into the front forks by the wheel) that I keep drifting down there
(and still getting sore fingers) even though my hands were already on the levers - or the brakes.

In this case, it's left brake lever for rings and right lever for gears. Nice & easy to handle, even
when using the brakes from 20mph + and needing to stop suddenly. Can be used from dropped or mid
position - which is my preferred stance.

Well, I s'pose I have two choices, get used to where they are, or run out of digits to shred 🙂

Gary

--------------------------------------------------
Reply to gary at data dot mildenhall dot com
--------------------------------------------------

[QUOTE]Originally posted by Juliette
[B]In article <[email hidden]>, [email hidden] says...

Quoted message said:

Guenther Schwarz said:

It is indeed a matter of taste and convention. [/B]

"MSeries" <[email hidden]> wrote in message

Quoted message said:

I was rebuilding the Peugeot after getting it refinished and I wasn't sure which way to set the
brakes up so I looked at the back covr of CW and the rider there had his bike the WRONG way so I
have too.

More than likely the photograph was printed back to front. Happens a lot. ;-)

Tim

Tim Downie said:

"MSeries" <[email hidden]> wrote in message

Quoted message said:

I was rebuilding the Peugeot after getting it refinished and I wasn't sure which way to set the
brakes up so I looked at the back covr of CW and the rider there had his bike the WRONG way so I
have too.

More than likely the photograph was printed back to front. Happens a lot. ;-)

Tim

Unless it had the chainset on the left too and brake cables emanating from the right hand side of
the calipers. That was some special kit on the bike
!!

Quoted post said:

Originally posted by Andy Koppe

Bmartin said:

Quoted message said:

As Chris says, in the UK front should be on the right....

I think it's to do with right-hand turns, where you might have to signal and brake at the same time.
In that case, the rear brake is assumed to cause less instability and therefore be safer to use...[/B]

This is the same conclusion SB comes to in the linked article although he also points out that the assumption about the rear brake being any use for anything other than stopping at low speed on a surface with very low traction is, of course, wrong