Distance from brakes on a road bike

Roundandround

So I'm trying to get past the fear of feeling too far away from the brakes on a road bike with drops (all in my head, so far,until I can get the courage to buy a bike with drops). I realise that most of the riding is done on the hoods, and a light touch on the brakes may be all that's required most of the time. But what about emergency, hard, braking? Very few roadies I've seen have an additional set of brake levers on the flat bit of the handlebars, and I'm wondering what the secret is in handling brakes efficiently. [/i]

P_Tucker

Er, if you're likely to need to brake imminently e.g. in traffic, ride with your hands on the brakes. If you're on a deserted road then ride on the tops if you fancy it. Simple.

Daddy2Coull

i had the same worry, i'd not ridden with drops for 20 years, i hang on the hoods and brake with my fingers, i can still reach fine and can brake with more that enough force to lock the brakes up and come sliding to a halt!!!

briantrumpet

Daddy2Coull wrote:

i had the same worry, i'd not ridden with drops for 20 years, i hang on the hoods and brake with my fingers, i can still reach fine and can brake with more that enough force to lock the brakes up and come sliding to a halt!!!

Yep, had one of those today, after a car that had overtaken me on a country road came to a rapid stop on a narrower bit of road to let a car come the opposite way.

It's all about looking ahead and seeing any potential need to brake suddenly - usually you can get more than enough purchase from the hoods, but if you're worried about it, get down on the drops - if you're going that fast (25mph+), you'll probably be on the drops anyway.

night_porter

As Brian says it really is all about looking ahead and reading the road.

Hands on the hoods with fingers wrapped around the brake levers is all you really need because you can predict most situations by reading the road.

In fact I usually only use my front brake for most things and that is only really slowing down not hard braking.

When confronted with a situation where I need to brake quickly I just use both brakes and surprise myself at how quickly the bike stops, bearing in mind collision avoidance (steering away) is also at the forefront of my mind when the need arises.

Secteur

I dont understand - I can reach the brakes and apply them 100% both on the hoods and in the drops.

The only time I am not in direct contact with them is when holding onto the flat part, but that's usually when I'm slogging up a hill at 10mph, so would be very unlikely to need to emergency brake anyway.

Some ladies road bikes have an additional brake lever on the flat part - maybe that's the bike for you ;-)

(PS Specialized TriCross also has additional brake levers on the flat bar in addition to the hoods).

Peddle Up!

Road bike brakes are better than you think. I barely heard, "F*ck, left" but managed to scrub off downhill speed for an unexpected tight turn. :shock:

Monty Dog

The critical factor isn't generally how hard you can pull the levers, but the coefficient of friction between the wheels and the tarmac - pull a road lever full-on and you'll likely lock the wheels. Generally, riding on the hoods gives enough modulation to deal with almost all situations. IMO The auxiliary 'interrupter' levers fitted to CX bikes are pretty useless - the centre part of road bars enough isn't generally wide enough to give good control when braking from the tops.

unixnerd

Very few roadies I've seen have an additional set of brake levers on the flat bit of the handlebars

My bike came with them, cyclocross levers. You could retrofit them to most bikes. They do give more braking power and are handy in heavy traffic if you're stopping and starting a lot.

MichaelW

The normal cruising position is on the brake hoods.
In the drops means that your hands are on the curved section, within reach of the levers. There is no need to hold the ends of the drops.

You can get drop bars with different amounts of drop. Shallow-drop bars are very comfortable and are making a comeback after years of fashionable but impractical deep drop models.

Roundandround

Thanks, guys. Sounds like the brake levers are more responsive at the top end than I'd thought. Next step is to have a look at what's around in the bike shops. I posted a query a while back about a Tricross vs a Ridley Crossbow. Opinion seems to favour the Ridley. I feel a bit more confident about considering drops now.

briantrumpet

Roundandround wrote:

I feel a bit more confident about considering drops now.

Drops are fine - and they offer you so many more possible hand positions and body angles than straight handlebars.

keef66

Wot they said. I wouldn't have expected it, but when a car tried to kill me on a mini roundabout I instinctively locked both wheels braking from the hoods. Lovely 2 wheel skid on a dry road, stayed upright just inches from the car.

(Invited him to pull over, got the usual SMIDSY excuse, suggested he f*ck off to Specsavers)

racingcondor

Roundandround -

I wouldn't worry about it too much. I've stood my road bike on it's front wheel braking from both the drops and the hoods. Get the bars and shifters in the right position and you won't be short of power.