NorcalNewbee

As I mentioned in my intro post, I recently got back into cycling after a lengthy hiatus. I've been riding motorcycles for over 45 years. One of the first things I noticed was the front brake lever was on the left side on my bicycle. Hmmm....is that right? Shouldn't it be on the right, like a motorcycle? Then I noticed in pictures of other bikes, new bikes, proudly rebuilt bikes, whatever, almost all had the front brake cable routed to the left side. Except on a few euro bikes.

I realize this shouldn't really matter. Whatever you get accustomed to would work. I rode the bike the way I got it, front brake on the left, back brake on the right, and all was fine. For casual braking, at least. But I had to keep THINKING about it (which side was which.) My concern was in a panic situation I would instinctively grab a handful of right brake lever, lock up the rear wheel, and skid right into what I was desperately trying to avoid. Knowing how hard to modulate the front brake on my motorcycle has saved me from disaster more than once. Old habits are hard to unlearn, or relearn. It's hardwired into my brain that right lever equals front brake.

So I switched the cables around on both of my bikes and now the front brake is on the right hand lever. I'm much more comfortable with it that way. Many of you may feel the opposite.

So....my questions are:
Do other cyclists with a strong motorcycle background do the same, moving the front brake to the right side?
Why are bikes sold in the US set up with the front brake on the left? Tradition? Mandated by some Bicycle Industry Council (if there is such a thing?)
Why are things done the opposite in Europe?

I realize these are rather trivial questions. I'm just curious as to the history or reasoning behind it.
Your thoughts?

big chainring 

I look at a lot of vintage bike racing photos. Seems like English and Italians go right hand lever to front brake. Belgians and French left hand to front brake. Set them up the way you are comfortable. There is no right or wrong. Though as long as I have been riding, left hand to front brake is the way I have always done it and the standard for the American bike market. I have heard the same inquiry from other motorcyclists. I would think with your experience you would want to set up all your "bikes" the same way.

NorcalNewbee

Big chainring, thanks for the reply. Yes, I find my setup more comfortable for me. But that's just me. To each their own, naturally. I wasn't sure if I was part of a miniscule group who felt this way. I'll wait and see if others feel the same way I do. I did run across a Sheldon Brown article (can't remember where, so I don't have a link) that mentioned he liked to have his front brake lever on the right. If it's good enough for Sheldon it's good enough for me! For anyone who has always had the lever on the left and grown accustomed to it, it would be foolish to change. I guess the US bike market started off one way and the practice remained. Perhaps others know more of the history behind it.

50PlusCycling

Old bikes can come with the lever on either side. Most bikes I have ridden over the years have the front brake lever on the left, but a couple had it on the right. As a long-time motorcycle rider I am used to having the front brake on the right, but I have never had any braking issues regardless of which side the lever is mounted. My current car is right hand drive, as I live in Japan, but I drove left hand drive cars for many years. In Japan cars can come with the turn signal and wiper controls on either side. On my BMW, the turn signal is on the left side, on my Alphard, it is on the right. Needless to say, I am often unintentionally using the wipers or turn signals.

Rolla

Several guys I ride with have their brakes reversed, moto-style. Nobody ever asks to borrow their bikes!

This excerpt gives the history of brake lever placement: https://www.renehersecycles.com/whic...r-which-brake/

feejer

I've been motorcycling for decades, and thought about switching my bike's brake levers. I never did, and I'm glad. It's not a big deal at all, and for me it's easy to remember all the rear wheel stuff (brake and shifters) is on the right and all the front wheel stuff on the left. No biggie.

Litespud

Growing up in Ireland, the front brake was always on the right. I've always assumed that this was a UK standard, but I'm pretty sure most of the bikes on GCN are set up left-front. As I understand it, at some point the US mandated right-rear, the logic being that locking up the rear wheel and skidding was "safer" than locking up the front and going over the bars. My view is that, since the front brake does most of the braking, the hand with the most strength and modulation should operate that brake, so your dominant hand should operate the front, whichever side that happens to be. As a righty, all my bikes are set up right-front and always will be.

NorcalNewbee

Rolla....thanks for that link. That was an interesting article. Seems like a lot of people have good reasons for either setup. It's nice to know I'm not a complete outlier.

dedhed

How's that work out with STI shifters

SteelBanana

Hi Norcal,

My opinion, for whatever it may be worth to you:

I started riding motorcycles in 1973 (still do), and I rode my first bicycle in 1964 (still do). I was a heavy equipment mechanic, and in most instances,I was required to operate and test the machine I had just repaired. I held a Class A CDL (still do) in order to move heavy equipment from one location to another. I have flown aircraft and, of course, I drive a car. Does all this make me an expert? No, it makes me a survivor.

The point is, I operate each vehicle or in the manner it was designed to be operated. I adapt to the design of the machine, instead of thinking, "That just doesn't seem right." In my opinion, it frees up my thought process to accomplish my two primary objectives: 1) Survive the experience. 2) Enjoy the experience. I guess I may have a more utilitarian approach to your question compared to others.

freeranger

I also (used to) ride a motorcycle. My rear brake lever is on the right on my bicycle. Maybe that's the way most bicycles are set up because most are set up with the rear shifter on the right. So the right hand is used more for shifting, and maybe because it's used more, it was decided to put the rear brake there also? Talk about differences, I had a vintage, english made BSA motorcycle, and the shifter was on the right foot. Also had japanese motorcycles with the foot shifter on the left. I was used to it, but if a friend wanted to ride the BSA, it could be interesting! Noone ever dumped the BSA, luckily.
Set which lever for which brake feels natural to you, just warn anyone who you might be taking it for a spin.

JohnDThompson 

Some caliper/lever combinations don't give you a choice:

dedhed

Now we're going to have to start an argument over excavator vs backhoe controls

Germany_chris

I route moto style I always have.

chaadster

I have a moto background, and prefer my bikes to be set up right front brake. That said, because road bikes can be a hassle to set up that way, not all of my bikes are. My MTB is always proper right front because braking is so critical to effecting moves, whereas for road biking it is not. As a consequence, I never know WTF is going on with braking, and am constantly testing and checking whichever bike I’m on. It’s a real bad situation. I was thinking the other day I need to put more effort into unifying right front braking across all my rigs, but between all the different equipment types, especially road hydraulic, it’s a real hassle.

NorcalNewbee

I don't know! Both of my bikes are old school rigid frame MTBs with canti brakes. It was easy and took only minutes to switch the cables around. Is that even possible on STI shifters? I also know nothing about modern hyd disc setups. Is it possible to switch the hyd hoses from one side to the other, or are the lever/master cylinders different (piston diameter, leverage ratio, etc.) between front and rear? Perhaps if I ever got a new bike and joined the 21st century I might be forced to relearn my braking habits.

bwilli88 

I do not know why but I prefer to have the front on the right.

Litespud

makes no difference - the shifter and brake cables are independent, so you can route each one however you like

vane171

I don't get how the brake in this picture works. The cable would seem to need to 'push' for the brake pads to squeeze the rim. As it is, it looks like when it pulls, as when you squeeze the brake lever, it would release the brake. And the spring would act as to press pads against the rim. It seems to be all reversed. I don't get it. Could it be, that's why it says 'Slow Down' in the picture? As in, if you want to move, you need to hold the brake lever or else it naturally slows you down?

I believe the logic was as freeranger put it above - "the right hand is used more for shifting, and maybe because it's used more, it was decided to put the rear brake there also?"

Also the rear brake cable is longer and so the the brake lever requires more force to work it and right handed people have stronger right hand...

Right handed people as a majority of population mount the bike from the left side, lifting their right leg over the bike. So before you mount, the rear of the bike is towards your right hand and vice versa. Hence the association of the right hand with the rear wheel & brake.

We used as kids to lock the rear wheel on dirt surface and make a skidding turn, even 180 degrees turnaround on the spot. It seems natural to operate the action by the dominant right hand. BTW I started on a bike with the rear drum brake operated by pedals and there you use either leg, depending if you skid clockwise or anticlockwise.
Modulating front brake with left hand is no problem for us right handed folks and that is why those left handed don't have any problem with the traditional bike brake setup or at least you don't hear about it. Also, if anything, you don't want your stronger hand operating the front brake. The sensitivity is more important there than any strength, as it is easy to lock the front without much force.

Ironfish653

All kinds of reasons here. The reason motos have the brake on the right is that for the most part (vintage Brit iron excepted) the throttle is on the right, so the clutch HAS to go on the left. Can't work both with one hand.

On a bicycle, say you have a coaster brake and a single handbrake (doesn't have to be front) Single brake lever would be on your dominant hand (typically right) no matter which brake it works. If you've got a 3-speed (rear) hub, which side would you put your shift lever on? Same thing, right side.
With derailleurs, you have to have shifters. Think about a classic 'ten-speed' road bike with downtube shifters: A front derailleur can be activated by a shifter on either side, but the rear shifter has to be on the right side of the bike, or the shift cables will have to cross under the downtube. When you move the shifters to the bars, whether it's thumbies, barcons, or brifters, the convention carried on, that the right shifter was the rear wheel. If the right shifter is the rear wheel, for simplicity's sake, the right brake lever is also the rear wheel.

There have been a lot of comparisons between motos and velos as far as needing strong front brakes. Motos are far heavier, with a much lower center of mass than a velo, and have a lot of suspension, to boot. Because of that weight difference, the rider has a lot less control over weight shift during braking on a moto. If you have that same kind of weight transfer on your velo during hard braking, then you're doing something wrong.

Rolla

"Early bikes had only a rear brake. In France, this usually was a rim brake. The early brakes were not very powerful, so you needed lots of hand power to stop the bike. Most people are right-handed, and it made sense to control the single brake with the right hand. In Italy and Britain, the single brake was a coaster brake, and there was no brake lever at all. When front brakes were added to bikes sometime in the 20th century, this required adding a brake lever to the handlebars. In France, the right side was taken, so they mounted the extra lever on the left. In “coaster-brake countries,” the handlebars were still empty, so the brake lever for the front brake went on the right side. When racers started using rim brakes on both wheels, the extra brake lever (for the rear wheel) went on the left side.

Many reasons have been put forward for the “right hand – front brake” approach. Most motorcycles use that configuration, since the right hand operates the throttle, the left hand the clutch, which in turn means that the right side of the handlebars is the only place to put a brake lever."

https://www.renehersecycles.com/whic...r-which-brake/

Bigbus

I had a '58 BSA Road Rocket with the same setup. I never had any problems till I sold it and the guy rode it into the side of a building when he came back from his test drive. He still bought it haha.

icemilkcoffee 

If you are going to grab a handful of brakes, the rear brake is far safer than the front. You could loop the bike if you grab the front too hard, or if you are on gravel- lock the front and go right down.

When you are braking hard on a motorcycle- you pull in the left clutch lever also. So it's no different than the bike. Pull in both levers at the same time. No problem.

partyanimal

As a dumb American who's not into motorcycles it's blowing my mind that anyone would even think to have the front brake on the right. I guess if anything it's a great prank to play on any would be thieves.

move55

R for Rear for brakes and derailure. simple to remember. anyone said it already? for the motorcycle, Right foot for Rear brake. still simple to remember for me.