Front Brake on Right Hand
#1
Senior Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: May 2010
Location: Bastrop Texas
Posts: 4,483
Bikes: Univega, Peu P6, Peu PR-10, Ted Williams, Peu UO-8, Peu UO-18 Mixte, Peu Dolomites
Mentioned: 13 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 968 Post(s)
Liked 1,631 Times
in
1,047 Posts
Front Brake on Right Hand
05/24/2011 - As a kid I originally set up my bikes with the front brake on the right hand - My Dad recommended this cause motorcycles are set up this way - I don't see many road bikes set up this way though and the bikes I do see set up this way are mostly ridden by guys who also ride Motorcycles - Any Comments...
05/25/2011 - Thanks for the comments - It would appear that people prefer to have their dominant hand on the front brake - Especially on older bikes - Or maybe older riders...
05/25/2011 - Thanks for the comments - It would appear that people prefer to have their dominant hand on the front brake - Especially on older bikes - Or maybe older riders...
__________________
No matter where you're at... There you are... Δf:=f(1/2)-f(-1/2)
No matter where you're at... There you are... Δf:=f(1/2)-f(-1/2)
Last edited by zandoval; 05-25-11 at 08:20 AM.
#2
Member
Join Date: Feb 2011
Posts: 35
Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 2 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 2 Times
in
2 Posts
My hard tail dirt bike is right handed (like my motorcycles). The road bikes are left handed. I changed the road bike once for a while but just didn't like the way the cable lay. After that I started using my right hand to signal right hand turns so I could brake with my left. It might have been better with retro brakes where the cable exited out the top of the lever rather than snaking along the handlebar.
#3
)) <> ((
there was a recent thread on this. imo, do whatever you like. sometimes it makes sense to run your cables in reverse. don't fight it.
#5
Senior Member
#6
Senior Member
Front Brake should go to the dominate hand. For most people this is the right, me included. Been riding this way since I had handbrakes.
__________________
1984 Cannondale ST
1985 Cannondale SR300
1980 Gary Littlejohn Cruiser
1984 Trek 760
1981 Trek 710
Pics
1984 Cannondale ST
1985 Cannondale SR300
1980 Gary Littlejohn Cruiser
1984 Trek 760
1981 Trek 710
Pics
#7
Bicycle Repair Man !!!
All my bikes have right handed front brakes... my daughters have never known anything other than this... and I am seeing many more people adopting this set up here.
#8
Senior Member
Join Date: Oct 2009
Location: Minneapolis
Posts: 2,470
Bikes: -1973 Motobecane Mirage -197? Velosolex L'Etoile -'71 Raleigh Super Course
Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 0 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 2 Times
in
2 Posts
Me too. All my bikes are set up like this, mostly so I can signal my turns and feather the brake at the same time.
#9
Senior Member
Join Date: Apr 2011
Location: Lancaster,CA the desert north of Los Angeles
Posts: 701
Bikes: 84' Ciocc, 79' Shogun 1000, 76' KHS Gran Sport, 96' Schwinn Super Sport,
Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 2 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 0 Times
in
0 Posts
No clutch, no foot brake= right hand brake
#10
Cisalpinist
Join Date: Jan 2011
Location: Holland
Posts: 5,557
Bikes: blue ones.
Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 5 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 16 Times
in
11 Posts
hm I like to keep my front brake for the off hand, which is in my case the left one. i need the right badly for coffee/cellphone/waiving/flipping the bird to suv drivers!
#11
Senior Member
Join Date: Apr 2010
Location: Paris France
Posts: 1,338
Mentioned: 1 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 2 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 3 Times
in
2 Posts
I'm english and we always had the front brake on the rightside.
Here in france it is on the left side.
It is to do with making turns into traffic so that you can signal and have your hand on the rear brake.
It is considered safer to slow down with the back brake when signalling with your arm.
So in the US if you are turning left and need to wait for a gap in the traffic you should brake on the rear brake with your right hand.
Well that's the principle anyway.
Here in france it is on the left side.
It is to do with making turns into traffic so that you can signal and have your hand on the rear brake.
It is considered safer to slow down with the back brake when signalling with your arm.
So in the US if you are turning left and need to wait for a gap in the traffic you should brake on the rear brake with your right hand.
Well that's the principle anyway.
#12
Senior Member
Join Date: Apr 2005
Location: Wherever
Posts: 16,748
Mentioned: 92 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 556 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 132 Times
in
78 Posts
Always had my rear on the right. Figuring, in a panic stop situation, I'd want my dominant hand braking with the rear brake, but this theory may not hold any water. Just what I'm used to.
#13
multimodal commuter
Join Date: Nov 2006
Location: NJ, NYC, LI
Posts: 19,808
Bikes: 1940s Fothergill, 1959 Allegro Special, 1963? Claud Butler Olympic Sprint, Lambert 'Clubman', 1974 Fuji "the Ace", 1976 Holdsworth 650b conversion rando bike, 1983 Trek 720 tourer, 1984 Counterpoint Opus II, 1993 Basso Gap, 2010 Downtube 8h, and...
Mentioned: 584 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 1908 Post(s)
Liked 574 Times
in
339 Posts
I'm not English and I don't ride motorcycles, so none of those reasons work for me. But I too put the front on the right. With side pull brakes one side or the other usually gives a better cable line. As it happens, my front brakes all work better with the cable coming from the right side of the handlebar. Were I using Campy brakes or something, the other way might well be better.
#14
Senior Member
While most of the people I know that use the RHS lever for the front brake are in Commonwealth countries using the left traffic lane, it's simply a matter of preference. I also ride motorcycles and have never had a problem, unlike adapting to RHS shifting!
Brad
Brad
#15
Senior Member
+1
__________________
Bikes on Flickr
I prefer email to private messages. You can contact me at justinhughes@me.com
Bikes on Flickr
I prefer email to private messages. You can contact me at justinhughes@me.com
Thread
Thread Starter
Forum
Replies
Last Post
Hairy Hands
Long Distance Competition/Ultracycling, Randonneuring and Endurance Cycling
37
10-05-12 11:04 AM