is this true ?

northernneil

out riding today with a pal who met lizze armisteads brother who was riding one of her old/spare boardman bikes, he was struggling he said as pros have their front brakes linked upto to their front derailleur and the rear brake to the rear.

I.e. the other way round to every bike I have ridden

Is this true ? if so its a morsel of info that has passed me by for years

iainf72

Setups vary from country to country.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bicycle_br ... _technique

Last paragraph in that section

northernneil

so its not a standard then? as most pro's obviously race on closed roads but train on the continent i.e. lefthand drive

disquieting_museeuws

Before the days of integrated gear / brake levers it was always done left hand = front brake on the continent and I assume British pros tended to copy what the European pros did. My own best bike was set up by an old-school ex pro team owner/ mechanic and he did it the continental way, which gives me no problems at all, despite not always being good at knowing left from right.

In the era of down-tube shifters it was always done left hand = front changer of course because the right gear lever needed (as now) to connect directly to the rear changer on the right side of the bike - in other words it's just carried over from that situation, and the Europeans have always front-braked with their left hands.

Bhima

Err... My left brake is the front. I thought that was normal...? It's safer because I can brake in an emergency if something unexpected happens while i'm signalling with my right hand.

mididoctors

Tony Rominger decided to switch his european set up mid tour (1996) and flew over his handlebars as a result

hence the bandages by the time he hit the Hautacam!

not a wise decision IMO to experiment with habits of a lifetime when the tour was still to be won... even if it was a transition stage

prided himself on being the :"smart one"

andrewgturnbull

Hi there.

Left hand - front brake gives a much cleaner cable run, as the calipers are usually designed for the majority of the world that has that setup. I switched all my bikes to the continental way after breaking my right thumb, as I had trouble pulling the right-hand lever for a while and wanted more control over the front brake.

Since then I've noticed two more benefits: it's easier to brake hard with the left hand while changing down through the gears with the right, useful in a bunch. Also it's easier to brake with the left hand in traffic while signalling to turn right (I rarely signal to turn left).

Cheers, Andy

CyclingBantam

Bhima wrote:

Err... My left brake is the front. I thought that was normal...? It's safer because I can brake in an emergency if something unexpected happens while i'm signalling with my right hand.

Surely it is more dangerous in case you are signalling with your left hand?! :roll:

andrewgturnbull

BenBlyth wrote:

Bhima wrote:

Err... My left brake is the front. I thought that was normal...? It's safer because I can brake in an emergency if something unexpected happens while i'm signalling with my right hand.

Surely it is more dangerous in case you are signalling with your left hand?! :roll:

Signalling with your left hand is often more dangerous than not signalling at all...

iain_j

Why? :?

Bhima

If I want to turn left, I just do it; there's no need to signal.

For any left-turning signal to be effective to someone on the other side of the road, if there are other cars in front of you, you'd have to be doing it just as you hit the corner anyway, whereas I like to lean into the corner holding the bars firmly.

Bugly

Alwayshave set up my bikes left hand lever to front brake and thus to front deraileur, as said earlier the left brake lever to front brake was the euro standard and thus the standard for any 'quality' bike available in the 70's and 80's. Never found a reason to change.

calvjones

Bugly wrote:

Alwayshave set up my bikes left hand lever to front brake and thus to front deraileur, as said earlier the left brake lever to front brake was the euro standard and thus the standard for any 'quality' bike available in the 70's and 80's. Never found a reason to change.

This is in fact more efficient if you have to brake and indicate right across traffic down a 1 in 10 hill as I have to on my commute.

mercsport

I'm of the generation that grew up with right lever = front brake ; left lever = rear brake. It was/ is the British way. The continentals were always perverse. However, one great continental of recent times, Cipollini, had his set-up the British way.

( difficult to find a decent pic' of Mario displaying this technicality )





[/i]

northernneil

you need these then !

http://www.iwantoneofthose.com/bicygnal ... etwork=GAW

calvjones

Wow! And they look so cool!

andrewgturnbull

iain_j wrote:

Why? :?

'cos is can be an invitation for some c**k to try and overtake you and turn left at the same time.

Cheers, Andy

redddraggon

I have my bikes left lever front brake, right lever rear brake. Makes the cable routing so much better, and it's easier to change gear while braking.

cougie

If you buy a bike from Planet X they ask which way you want the brakes set up. I've always had mine set up the british way.

shinyhelmut

cougie wrote:

If you buy a bike from Planet X they ask which way you want the brakes set up. I've always had mine set up the british way.

If you buy a bike from any half decent bike shop they will set it up whichever way round you prefer. If they don't then shop elsewhere.

cougie

Well yes - I know that - I was just pointing out that if you order online from them - its a little box that you tick.

I think its best that if you ride on the LHS then your front brake is on the right lever. And vice versa for the continent.

Otherwise - when you are indicating right and you brake - jamming on the front brake could throw you over the top. Its not going to happen if its your rear brake you're using.

TornadoTom

I think if you running a bike with a short headtube it's far easier to route the left brake lever to the front brake. Gives a cleaner routing and the cables have to take smaller bends. All my headtubes are 12cm or less so it makes the routing far smoother to do left-front and right-back. It's also nice that it's loads easier to change gear while braking for the lights etc.

If you running a larger frame it makes little difference difference to the routing.

mtbhenry888

is he actually smoking in that pic!