Cycling Technique

KATRA said:

I am a relative novice in terms of cycling properly. Although just about anyone can ride a bike, can anyone tell me how to corner properly, brake properly. What I mean by that is when and which brakes front or back do you use and when. Emergency stop situations etc. Thanks everyone.

Sheldon Brown has some article on his web pages, start from the braking stuff there: www.sheldonbrown.com/harris

also check out:

cptips.comtoc.htmOpen ↗
cobr.co.ukintroduction.shtmlOpen ↗

boon

KATRA said:

I am a relative novice in terms of cycling properly. Although just about anyone can ride a bike, can anyone tell me how to corner properly, brake properly. What I mean by that is when and which brakes front or back do you use and when. Emergency stop situations etc. Thanks everyone.

Find a parking lot with four corners so you have about 150-200 meters track. Of course, make sure there's no traffic, and practice. See how fast you can go through the corners without crashing. After about 80-90 turns you'll start to pick it up. Be advised, this does wear you tires. Go clock- and counter clockwise.

Ref. brakes. Front, rear... doesn't matter. If you lock the front one up, you'll know it.

The front brake is more effective (more stopping power), but should be used cautiously if the road is wet or if there is sand or pebbles on the road surface. If you lock up your front wheel, you will probably go down, whereas if you lock up your rear wheel you will probably stay upright. In a paceline, use your rear brake (if you have to brake) because the rider behind you can see it and start to slow down. If you use your front brake, he will be caught by surprise and may overlap his front wheel with your rear wheel. Then, if he touches wheels he will go down. For cornering, just keep an eye on the road surface and avoid severe bank angles if it is not perfect (dry, flat and smooth, no rocks or sand).

RapDaddyo said:

In a paceline, use your rear brake (if you have to brake) because the rider behind you can see it and start to slow down. If you use your front brake, he will be caught by surprise...

Don't stare at people's brakes. There's more important things to look at.

helmutRoole2 said:

Don't stare at people's brakes.

Who said anything about staring at anything. What I said was that if you have to brake in a paceline, use your rear brake because at least the rider behind you has a chance to see that you are braking. If you use your front brake, he'll never see it (regardless of where he's looking).

RapDaddyo said:

Who said anything about staring at anything. What I said was that if you have to brake in a paceline, use your rear brake because at least the rider behind you has a chance to see that you are braking. If you use your front brake, he'll never see it (regardless of where he's looking).

How can they tell if you're braking? Are they watching the movement of the brake calipers?

helmutRoole2 said:

How can they tell if you're braking? Are they watching the movement of the brake calipers?

Yes. I keep an eye on the calipers because that's one of only two things that are likely to cause me to run up quickly on a guy's rear wheel. The other one is when he gets off the saddle, the momentary deceleration before the first downstroke. That's a tough one, because not everybody does the same thing just before they get off the saddle (e.g., some upshift and some don't). So, I will usually back off ~1/2 bike length as we approach a climb, just in case the guy gets off the saddle right at the beginning of the climb (some do).

RapDaddyo said:

Yes. I keep an eye on the calipers because that's one of only two things that are likely to cause me to run up quickly on a guy's rear wheel. The other one is when he gets off the saddle, the momentary deceleration before the first downstroke. That's a tough one, because not everybody does the same thing just before they get off the saddle (e.g., some upshift and some don't). So, I will usually back off ~1/2 bike length as we approach a climb, just in case the guy gets off the saddle right at the beginning of the climb (some do).

Thanks to all who replied - this info is invaluable. Thanks again, much appreciated.🙂

KATRA said:

Thanks to all who replied - this info is invaluable. Thanks again, much appreciated.🙂

I think the best thing to know about cornering/handling is to look at where you want to go, not at the road in front of you. Somehow, and I don't quite know why, you will naturally go to where you're looking; the bike following it's own line to get there. ...if you get caught by surprise at some obstacle in the road/trail your instincts might be to focus on the thing to avoid instead of the clear path around it. Instead, look at the clear path, look ahead on the curve, forward to the dry pavement after the puddle, etc. Don't get caught looking down at your front tire, at the !@#$ joggers congregating in the middle of the trail, at the puddle - that's when you crash into things you were hoping to avoid.