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Rear brake too strong, locking up and skidding

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Old 03-02-13, 12:04 AM
  #26  
Muffin Man
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Originally Posted by RollCNY
Certain exercises can lead to incredible forearm grip, in one arm only. Practice alternating hands. Stop before you go blind.
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Old 03-02-13, 12:18 AM
  #27  
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Originally Posted by BoSoxYacht
Originally Posted by datlas
You are doing it wrong. Lighter "feather" touch.
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Old 03-02-13, 04:06 AM
  #28  
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So really there isnt any mechanical adjustment I can do huh? I guess the original cable wasnt as slick as the one now, and i got used to the stickiness of the brake lever.

I suppose i need to learn now to adjust to this new brake setup. thanks for your help guys!
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Old 03-02-13, 05:37 AM
  #29  
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In all seriousness, a slight bit of toe on a non flared rim helps. It keeps the pad from making abrupt full contact. I didn't know if it was still done on carbon rims, but coachboyd is an authority.
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Old 03-02-13, 06:12 AM
  #30  
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Originally Posted by d8168055
So really there isnt any mechanical adjustment I can do huh? I guess the original cable wasnt as slick as the one now, and i got used to the stickiness of the brake lever.

I suppose i need to learn now to adjust to this new brake setup. thanks for your help guys!
Give it a try and report back how it's worked. BTW it's true that most of your braking power comes from the front.

Go ride!
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Old 03-02-13, 08:15 AM
  #31  
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Originally Posted by rm -rf
Yes.
From Sheldon Brown's "Braking and Turning" page:

Maximum Deceleration--Emergency Stops
The fastest that you can stop any bike of normal wheelbase is to apply the front brake so hard that the rear wheel is just about to lift off the ground. In this situation, the rear wheel cannot contribute to stopping power, since it has no traction.

That's why a rear wheel locks up and fishtails when both brakes are sqeezed hard in an emergency stop.
yep

I adjust my brakes so that I can just barely get the levers to touch the bars. I only use the rear brake for easing it off when I want to share the load with the front pads (so they last a little longer).

Honestly, if you really need to stop or slow rapidly, forget about the rear brake completely.

Do not feather it, as that provides no appreciable stopping power, but may still be enough to lock it up if you are really on the front brake. The safest thing to do is to only use your front brake for any hard braking. The exception is if you come off the back of the saddle with arms fully out straight in front of you, saddle on your ribs, then you have enough weight on the rear to jam it a bit more, but that's more of an MTB move.

My teammate sweats so much that he froze up his rear brake line. He raced an entire season w/out a working rear brake, got all of his upgrade points, upgraded to Cat 3, and got 15 points in the 3s before he finally got around to fixing it. You don't need the rear brake.
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Old 03-02-13, 08:30 AM
  #32  
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Originally Posted by knowledgdropper
Yeah, don't squeeze so hard. Also may want to get a little more weight over the rear wheel, when braking, to help maintain traction. It sounds as if you're relying on your rear brake to be your primary stopper. If so, don't do that. Your front brake has so much more stopping power, it's not even funny.
+1 So true
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Old 03-02-13, 07:59 PM
  #33  
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First question: Are you a triathlete? Or riding on aero bars when this happens?

Second question: I assume a shop installed the new cables and housing for you?. Did they also give your bike a shiny, shiny? Sometimes, if solvent or other cleaners are used on a brake track it makes them 'too clean' and they will feel very, very grabby. This usually fades over a few rides but can be a real PITA until then.
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Old 03-03-13, 02:31 AM
  #34  
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Originally Posted by Bob Dopolina
First question: Are you a triathlete? Or riding on aero bars when this happens?

Second question: I assume a shop installed the new cables and housing for you?. Did they also give your bike a shiny, shiny? Sometimes, if solvent or other cleaners are used on a brake track it makes them 'too clean' and they will feel very, very grabby. This usually fades over a few rides but can be a real PITA until then.
No triathlete, just a normal road bike with compact drops. Yes, the shop did install for me, but dunno about a shiny shiny.. WTH is that lol!

I tried both Zipp 101 and 404 (using appropriate pads) and got the same results.

The toe-in sounds like something i should try...
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Old 03-03-13, 02:54 AM
  #35  
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Shiny, shiny...did they clean your bike for you? Did they wipe down your wheels and get solvent on the brake track?
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Old 03-03-13, 11:48 AM
  #36  
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Originally Posted by d8168055
The toe-in sounds like something i should try...
Yes. Also, use your front brake as the primary stopper. Really- the rear will lock up just by looking at it funny.
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