Rear brake lever

Alichat

I've just bought a Colnago bike online. It's mostly assembled and I notice that the rear brake / shifter is on the right (on the handle bar) .Is this normal? The rear brake has always been on the left on other bikes.

keef66

It's normal just about everywhere but in the UK. It does give a better cable run to the front brake.

Your options are:

1) leave it as it is and get used to it. Remember to warn anyone who borrows the bike (or get the video camera ready)

2) swap the levers over and retape your bars.

3) move to Italy

schweiz

I have all my bikes set up the English way. Confuses the cr@p out of the bike shop and any non-UK friends.

I tried going Euro. I spent all ride telling myself Right Brake Rear...Right Brake Rear.... What did I do when I needed to stop? Grabbed a handful of right brake, locked the rear wheel and avoided disaster on a test bike from the LBS by mm!

father_jack

4) Have surgery to your nerves, get them swapped over so when you think about applying brake to your fingers on your left hand, it moves your fingers on your right hand. And vice versa.

Far easier than swapping the gear shifters, imo

schweiz

Father Jack wrote:

4) Have surgery to your nerves, get them swapped over so when you think about applying brake to your fingers on your left hand, it moves your fingers on your right hand. And vice versa.

Far easier than swapping the gear shifters, imo

You don't swap the shifters, just the brake cables. It's a 5 minute job.

keef66

But then your gear changing is still back-to-front and you find yourself changing onto the big ring at the foot of the hill.

Or do you then need 10 chainrings and just 2 sprockets??


I'm thinking the move to Italy option is the simplest

TommyEss

I hired a bike in Italy, but thankfully on the web-form they asked which way you wanted the brakes set up.

Just makes life simpler - you end up with a trained sub-conscious response - so very hard to un-learn that instinctive "Shite - there's a lorry pulled out in front of me - grab the brake" response!

In short - swap them!!

schweiz

keef66 wrote:

But then your gear changing is still back-to-front and you find yourself changing onto the big ring at the foot of the hill.

Or do you then need 10 chainrings and just 2 sprockets??


I'm thinking the move to Italy option is the simplest

no it's not, the shifters are the same way round on Euro and UK bikes. Rear Shifting Right, Front Shifting Left.

Think about it...if you switched the levers they would swing outward not inwards!

Alichat

Sage advice - particularly not to switch the gears over too as this would mean having to push out.
I think the move to Italy for a full frontal labotomy wins it over surgically switching my arms but as a cost saver I'm heading for the bike shop. Chain reaction - who I bought it from, and following your advice, called in the knowledge that I am in the right, have kindly offered to cover the cost of getting it done and will send me vouchers too. Nice chaps and good customer service.
Many thanks

keef66

That's a good point! I hadn't really thought that through. So a right hand lever is the same wherever you are, and it always does the rear shifting, but it's set up to operate the front or back brake depending on where you are.

I suppose that saves the manufacturers from having to make UK specific levers. Imagine how expensive they would be then!!! :shock: