unterhausen

I feel like the U.S. is mostly by itself on having the front brake on the left. I never understood that preference anyway, it has never caused me any problems to have the front brake on the right.

Rick

The story I have been told many times. Is that most people are right handed and this is a safety issue. My most recent bicycle purchase was my Co-Motion Pangea Rohloff. Even after requesting the brakes to be setup with the front on the right side. The mechanic still set it up for the left. I took it home and did it myself. this cost them a repeat customer.

PeteHski

Europe is also left hand. UK being an exception.

trailangel

If you are left-handed you want the front brake on the right, so you can smoke while descending and still have good braking.

Paul_P

I believe we're talking brakes, not shifters.

One example : If I have to brake while turning on pavement covered in sand, I'm not going to touch my front brake as I prefer a rear skid to falling flat on my face.
It often has to be quick reflex, and became one on a motorcycle, but ever since going back to cycling I can't help but hesitate the time to figure what I shouldn't do.

I seem to vaguely recall that I may have intially made my bicyle brakes conform to what I was used to, but that disappeared through the new bikes that followed.

SoSmellyAir

Even though the best place to smoke a cigarette is on top of a big hill when your lungs are still burning from the climb?

Germany_chris

Do the other RHD countries do right front braking? I know we have some folks here from Japan

jgwilliams

I always assumed it was to do with the fact that in the UK, Australia and NZ we drive on the left-hand side of the road, although I'm not entirely clear why that matters. It means that if you're indicating and turning right, across the oncoming traffic, you'd only have access to the rear brake. Personally, I've always felt it would be better to have access to the front brake, but I'm now so conditioned to having the front brake on the right I don't think I'd want to change.In any case, if I'm doing more than gentle braking I want to have both hands on the bars so it probably doesn't make a lot of difference.

Paul_P

Your suggestion that the issue is related to hand signals makes a lot of sense to me.
When driving on the right, all signals are (supposed to be) with the left arm and if I'm only going to have access to one brake, I want it to be the rear.
I imagine that this is true also for those of you on the left side of the road.

David_Harris

Bike signaling only with one arm has never made sense to me. When cars didn’t all come with indicator lights, the driver side arm doing the signaling only makes sense, because you can’t just reach across most vehicles and point your arm out the window, as you can with the window on the door next to you. But on a bike? I can just point with either arm which way I’m going to go, and so use the arm that is on the side of my intended direction.

jgwilliams

Yes, totally agree. If I started using my right arm to indicate I was turning left I'd leave a trail of confused and angry drivers behind me. Since it's over 45 years since I took my driving test I don't even know if hand signals are still taught in the UK; it wouldn't surprise me if they aren't.

As it happens, it isn't uncommon for me not to indicate that I'm turning left, or to leave it quite late, in order to avoid having drivers dive in front me.

Aardwolf

Damn, you made me check

From.
These are the other arm signals that drivers use to other drivers:

1. Left turn= Right arm out and rotating forward
2. Right turn = Right arm out and palm facing forward
3. Slow down or stop = Right arm out, palm down and moving up and down

.
Reads to me like cyclists can also use (1).

PeteHski

I reckon 99/100 motorists wouldn't have a clue that you were about to turn left using that method. But they all understand what pointing with your left hand means.

Aardwolf

Yep, I wouldn't actually use it, too many idiots around without confusing them more.

kommisar

Thats nothing. Wait until you see which way the toilet water swirls. Prepare to have your mind blown.

MinnMan

This.

Spent a year in Australia some years back and my wife bought a bike there. That was the point I noticed this difference.

But I had my US bike there, so my brakes were on the "wrong" side. I don't recall it making any difference to me, when signaling or otherwise. I suppose if I had had to do some sudden braking while signaling, it could have had an effect, but generally I would not be using my arm to signal if I though there was a chance that I needed a sudden stop.

escuta

Funny, I'm an Australian. I never rode a bike there (no longer live there) with the front brake on the right lever. And that's going back to the 70s. Perhaps it varies from state to state.

tcs

In the US by CPSC regulation bikes with hand brake(s) must have the rear brake on the right and front brake on the left when sold new retail: 16CFR Part 1512.5 B8

https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-1...er-C/part-1512

Once it's sold you can do anything with it you want or have the dealer do it.

Rick

Even though worded different than the official CPSC site. The hand brakes don't have to only be setup for the rear brake on the right side. I have also been told that their insurance person requires the brakes to be wired up this way also.

alcjphil

Back when there were exposed brake cables I tried out having my dominant hand using the front brake. It was great. my right hand had much better control when it came to modulating my front brake, up to being able to stop even with my rear wheel off the ground without going over the handlebars. The change for me came when aero brake levers came onto the scene. With brake cables under the bar tape, it became more difficult to have the same level of brake control with the extra friction of the very tight curvature of the cable coming out of the bar tape on the right side of the bar and having to get to the right side of the brake calliper. With external brake cables this was never an issue

rsbob 

Which way does the water swirl at the equator? Or does it?

rsbob 

Rented a stick-shift car in S. Africa. Not only was it a challenge driving on the left (not to mention people and random animals on the highways) but the turn signals are also reversed with the window/windscreen wipers. Think I activated the wipers about a half dozen times.

And then there was walking and crouching in the bush 20 feet from a mother rhino and her baby. That got the adrenaline pumping.

kommisar

If I remember calculus class right it must pass through zero, so I say no swirl.

PeteHski

I believe it's a myth on the scale of water in a sink. Tropical storms rotate in opposite directions, but not bathtub drains where the effect is too small to influence the direction of rotation.

rsbob 

I was thinking toilets, but you are probably on to something.