Originally Posted by
terrymorse
No, never. Not even as a kid.
My only "over the bars" moment as a kid did not involve braking. It was when my front wheel suddenly stopped by hitting a fencepost at the edge of the road. I did a full flip and landed on my butt, unharmed. The front fork and frame were bent, but I was able to straighten them, because they were made of steel (and I worked after school and Saturdays in my parents' bike shop).
I suspect that most of these hard braking "over the bars" events are riders who don't adequately hold themselves back with their arms, and they tumble off the front of the bike (consider the force generated by an adult decelerating at around 0.6 g).
This is why the emergency braking method suggests using straight arms to push back against the bars.
Last time I went OTB from braking I was a teenager, it was embarrassing. I don't think you should say that its rare to go OTB from braking, its not something that happens to seasoned cyclists but they taught me how to brake as a kid with that very situation in mind. Someone earlier posted that they thought about this thread and on their ride were conscious of how they braked; they said they pulled the back slightly before the front. This is in line with how I was taught to brake, and as far as I know this was to prevent me from going over the bars.
The worry that going OTB from sudden front braking without the rear is the whole reason this argument is happening haha