cxwrench

You are utterly and totally clueless. Disc BRAKES are not dangerous. Riders that don't know how to control their braking are dangerous to themselves. There is a reason that nearly every other machine w/ brakes uses discs.

rsbob 

just rode my disk road bike today in the rain/downpour. First time with disks in the rain too. Was coming off a hill at 27 MPH and was able to quickly slow to 10 to make a hard right with zero drama. Certainly a different experience having the same braking on wet and dry. Not riding the calipered bikes in the rain now.

my 5 YO mtn bike has been through creeks, mud, rain and snow and nothing has kept it from meeting its appointed stop (with no drama).

Totally sold on disks. Ting, ting, ting.

rsbob 

Man you are cold. And talking smack to an 82 year. Unbelievable You beat up small children too for kicks?

cjenrick

Here is a drill you can do on regular or disk brakes:

Get in a parking lot somewhere, ride about 10 MPH, feather the back brake (real light pressure), then grab the front brake with increasing pressure. When you hear the rear wheel lock up and start to skid, that means you are about to go over. So the trick is to feather the back brake in a panic stop while braking as hard as you can with the front brake, while using the back wheel as your indicator as to how close you are to going over. So you modulate the front brake according to what the rear wheel is doing.

Or if you are like me, you apply enough front brake to keep the back wheel locked up, all the way into the telephone pole. This will mean you did the best you could before crashing.

Seriously, if you practice this often enough to get it into muscle memory, then you will do it automatically during every panic stop. If you get really good, then you can get the rear wheel to actually leave the ground and come back down again, which generates a bunny hop type action that will impress your friends. Tell them you learned this technique from Hans "No Way" Ray.

cjenrick

has anybody ever high sided a recumbent? that would be something to see,

rosefarts

You gotta look at the denigration.

Bent was getting denigrated for denigrating other riders for riding bikes, not trikes.

Nobody cares what he rides, just as long as he doesn't profess it to be a solution to the world's problems.
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I-Like-To-Bike

Seriously, what percentage of bicycle riders are ever going to sufficiently practice any type of braking drill in a controlled area to allegedly create a so-called "muscle memory" that will protect them from a bicycle feature that is otherwise likely to catapult them over the handlebars when used in a panic situation? Are all "untrained" cyclists put at increased risk because the braking capability of disk brakes requires such drills in order to use them safely when most needed?

Seriously, it is even less likely than practicing brake drills that cyclists will voluntarily lose significant weight just to protect them from the end-over tendencies of their bicycle.

cjenrick

well, i practiced that method and now it comes automatic, use it every day, been like that for about 46 years now. Greg Lemond taught me that trick.

i bet every pro jock out there uses that same trick,

worked great until i bought a used bike and the guy had the left and right levers swapped, almost killed myself the first time out, locked up the back tire while the front brake did nothing. flat spotted the gatorskin dang!

I-Like-To-Bike

Perhaps sales of bicycles with brakes that require lessons from pros like Greg Lemond to be used safely should be limited to "pro jocks."

Selling bicycles as safe, normal and ready for general use by the public that in fact may require special techniques and training to be used safely sounds like a page out of the Corvair chapter of Unsafe at Any Speed by Ralph Nadar.

cjenrick

No.

Everybody who rides a bike could benefit from learning this simple technique.

It is even online:

12. Practise your braking

Find yourself an empty road and practise braking. Pull both levers but favour the front one; make it about 75% with your front brake, 25% with your rear brake. Try pulling the levers harder and stopping sooner, just to the point where the rear tyre is about to skid. If the rear wheel does skid, release the brake to allow it to move again. The idea is that learn how hard you can brake while retaining control."

here is a good one>

https://www.google.com/search?q=cycl...80PEP_rSDqAs33

tomato coupe

You get a pass if you stick the landing.

superpletch

in my limited experience, but having ridden most types of brakes, I seem to get used to the feel of the brakes in just a short while and don't recall ever having been concerned with "catapulting" during braking. disc brakes seem to have great modulation and I would think would lessen the catapult effect. maybe you are positioned on the bike wrong and have weight too far forward while riding and should try a bike fitting?

my mom taught me not to stare at the sun....

Ferrouscious 

Braking is an acquired skill, no matter what you're riding. Do you expect a teenager on their first drive to do everything perfectly and safely? No. Why is this an expectation for bikes? Bikes require just as much skill as driving.



Edit: I use my front brake only. Power move, I know.

SteelBanana

Not a Har-lee rider because I'm more discerning about my machinery, but they all know you have to rev the engine and "lay 'er down" because that front brake will kill you.

I-Like-To-Bike

I suppose that is a cue for recommended training classes, videos, books and/or club memberships so that every bicyclist (without training wheels) can use their bicycle safely. Sounds like an invitation for Safety Nannys to team up with club cyclists and some infamous "b'crats" to demand the same licensing regimens and requirements as motorists for every bicyclist, no matter what their age, in order to prove they have the required skill to ride a bicycle safely like "every pro jock." That must be the cost for allegedly improved braking systems for non racing bicycles.

Ferrouscious 

And what do you, sir, bring to the table? Riderless bikes?

I-Like-To-Bike

Isn't that what happens to bikes equipped with allegedly Catapulting Disc Brakes when ridden by unskilled (i.e. not pro jocks) bicyclists who have not properly trained the memory of their muscles?

Branko D

Who would have thought braking causes such anxiety? Anyway, barring wet carbon or whatnot, properly functioning brakes can throw you off if you just squeeze the levers full force at speed, rim or disc.

I must say that I never felt fearful that my bike would catapult me. I do give it a good clean after every filthy ride to placate the fickle disc brake spirits.

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jack pot 

[QUOTE=SurferRosa;21716856]What about that time when you were captured by the french after scaling the castle walls and were catapulted back on your own troops, fatally injuring the chaplain and standard bearer.[/QUOTE ]

> LOVE compelled me to do what my Lord forbade. The chaplain had heard my confession the night before. He had blessed my plan but with doubt. The standard bearer had been with us since Agincourt. He carried the gift of tongues and in the whisper of a holy ghost wished me caution. Their deaths are small reminders that faith & absolution are short lived. Alas, I am now a knight without sword or shield, discharged by my Lord and wanting for the maiden of the high castle walls. Learnath my lesson friends, know how to stop and how to slow and never risk a catapult's blow

BlazingPedals

OBVIOUSLY improper technique, since most cyclists don't pole-vault themselves over their handlebars every time they hit the brakes. You just need to learn how to modulate your grip. I was always taught that braking forces are roughly 70% on the front wheel and 30% on the rear. The reason being that as braking increases, weight is transferred to the front wheel, which lifts the rear wheel and eventually can cause what you describe. The solution is to back off ease off on the front brake lever when the rear wheel starts to lift/skid. This requires awareness. I usually use 3 fingers on the front brake and 1 finger on the rear brake, that way the forces are automatically proportioned in roughly the correct amounts.

Hypno Toad

Look ... all of you out there clutching your pearls about getting through over the bars, just ride a bike with coast brakes. You'll be fine.

I-Like-To-Bike

Coaster Brakes ARE good for a lot of general cycling tasks that people do every day, and don't require "pro jock training drills" to be used safely. But taking seriously the "pro jocks" training requirements/skills needed to ride safely as stated by the self described cognoscenti of BF General Bicycling is enough to make one clutch his pearls.

Hypno Toad

I'm not knocking coaster brakes, I've got them on one of my bikes. Great for casual rides.

But I really like disc brakes when riding in rain, snow, slush, mud, gravel, .... The disc brakes make it easier to control the bike when rim brakes can struggle. And this makes disc brakes less "pro jock" and safer for the average dork on a bike in non-sunny conditions.

Homebrew01

The problem is you squeezing the front too hard, not that you squeezed it first.

I-Like-To-Bike

Another problem (at least for non "pro jocks) is that controlled modulation and/or proper sequencing of front/rear brake application, as well as other enthusiast recommended techniques sometimes suggested on BF like shifting body weight to the rear prior to application of front brakes is easier said (or performed in practice drills in an empty parking lot) than done suddenly in traffic during an unplanned emergency/panic braking situation.