How do you brake?

xtreem

I wonder how many fingers do you use for braking?
I'm using 2, and sometimes that's not enough, because on very rough terain it happens my fingers to leave the levers, wich is a bit frightening.

Also some mate told me that I should use only 1 finger for braking. :shock:

topo

I use one finger braking most the time unless i need to brake very hard then i use 2 fingers.
On the rough bits you want to be using 1 finger braking so you can hold on to your bike better. Make sure your levers are in the right place so they wont slip on the levers, are wear gloves with grip on the end of the fingers

mudsucker

i tend to use 3 as i've been riding over ten years and i'm stuck in my ways! That how i started out and stilll do use 3. doesn't really matter so long as you're comfortable with it and you can apply enough pressure to actually stop.

Papa Smurf

I use 2 mostly, just cant get on with one when im haring downhill or whatever

Anonymous

i always move my brakes quite far inboard and use one finger. one fnger is only effective if you are pulling on the very end of the lever, so you should move your levers acordingly.

by using one finger, the rest of your hand is wrapped firmly around the grips!!

Surf-Matt

I drag my foot on the ground to stop.

Seem to get through a lot of shoes and crash a lot.

xtreem

[b]topo[/b] wrote:

On the rough bits you want to be using 1 finger braking so you can hold on to your bike better

Ohhh, I will hold the bike better that way, but when the only finger get off the lever on steep rocky, rooty section then what.................. not enough time to put the finger on the lever, the bike is picking speed very fast and after 2sec you are storming to some tree.
I don't know how do you manage to hold on the lever with one finger.

Will a gloves, full finger, make some difference?

Surf-Matt wrote:

I drag my foot on the ground to stop.

That means 5 fingers (toes)?

stumpyjon

I've moved towards one finger braking recently. I do have to set my brakes up differently, I've reduced the amount of movement required to fully close the lever and also set the levers so they are away from the bars otherwise I squash my other fingers (may have ago at moving them inboard as Sheeps suggested).

Still use 2 finger breaking some of the time although I feel much more secure and comfortable with 3 fingers on the bars.

topo

Well the faster you go through rock sections the easier and smoother it is, same also apply s to roots. I just use the finger to cover me in case something goes wrong, and then move to 2 finger when i need to slam on the anchors for a corner or something like that.
You can adjust your brakes so that the lever has to be pulled quite far back before it bites, i ride with people who like that so they can have there finger bent, i guess makes the risk of your finger slipping less. I prefer mine to bite straight away so its personal preference i guess.
I use full fingered gloves when riding DH ye, partly because i don't want to rip my hands apart and it also has a rubber tip on the 2 fingers your most likely to brake with, when jumping then i dont usually wear gloves, but find my finger doesn't really slip anyway.

The Northern Monkey

with my face















nah i use 2 or 3...depends on the terrain/how tired my fingers are

Anonymous

there is no point in one finger braking if you havent moved the levers in board, pulling the lever is like trying to open you living room door with the door handle right next to the hinges!!

its all about leverage, if you pull right at the edge of the lever, you can aply just as much pressure to the lever and therefore the brakes, with almost no effor. then when you need to slam on, you just pull a bit harder but you are more stable on the bike as you have more fingers wrapped around the grips.

look at the setup of pro DH bikers, their levers are miles away from their grips, i would imagine they need powerful brakes more than anyone so if it works for them, it might just work for you too

hucking_fell

1 finger braking mostly.

2 fingers towards the end of an uplift day, due to arm pump.

3 fingers feels weird. I like having more fingers on the grips, holding on, than covering the brakes.

Having a good set of brakes help

Felix-da-house-mouse

how far in towards the handle bars do you have you levers?

cee

Felix-da-house-mouse wrote:

how far in towards the handle bars do you have you levers?

different for everyone....as much is comfy. my brakes are clamped on the bar with about an inch between the grips and the brake.

I like to use one finger for braking.....the other 3 are for holding on!

Anonymous

Felix-da-house-mouse wrote:

how far in towards the handle bars do you have you levers?

mine are moveed so far that when holding on to the bars with my hands in their natural position, all i have to do is extend my forefinger and it fall naturally onto the edge of the lever.

you might find you have to swap you levers and gear shifters around so you can still reach you gears.

i reckon the gap between the brake clamp and the grip is easily an inch, probably a bit more.

dunker

usually 1 finger hovering over them for small braking but for long periods i use 2. have my levers setup 3/4 inch away from grips so good for 1-2 finger reach.

xtreem

Felix-da-house-mouse wrote:

how far in towards the handle bars do you have you levers?

About 3/4", like dunker.

Konahed

I would use 2 if I didn't have an old bike with cantis