Originally Posted by
nomadmax
He's talking about having the right hand brake lever operate the front brake like Euro bike racers have been doing since the 60s, maybe even further back than that. I'm not familiar with Shimano shifters but it's nothing more than running the front brake cable to the right lever with Campy. Even though I ride motorcycles, I keep my right lever as the rear brake because I'm right hand dominant and the rear doesn't have as much mechanical advantage as the front (longer cable run).
With the way Shimano works, I don't think braking hard and sweeping the cogs into a lower gear is really a viable option (if the right lever were set up to be the front brake). One or the other functions would be compromised given that the brake lever serves two functions (braking and downshifting). With the front brake lever on the left it would lend itself better to braking with the front (left side) and down shifting (right side) at the same time.
Mechanical advantage shouldn't be an issue; it's not that hard to lock up the rear. Modulation could be a reason, though.
Braking hard and sweeping the chain onto larger cogs not only works, it works so well I'm sure that's the whole point of the swinging brake lever. Japanese riders have their front brake on the right, no? As for needing both hands to perform this move, what if you're holding your water bottle, or carrying say, milk home from the shop?
Originally Posted by
AndyK
When you are braking hard, you are not pedaling. Makes shifting at the same time difficult at best!
It's a piece of piss to lightly pedal during this move; it's not necessary to transmit any drive.
Originally Posted by
Rides4Beer
I have never shifted the FD while braking, but ok.
Who's talking about the FD?