Left brake lever for front or rear brake?

Eich

Monty Dog wrote:

RH front brake and I cross my gear cables under the downtube - keeps everything a lot tidier

Me too.

dusk

Rolf F wrote:

dusk wrote:

It makes sense to keep it the same as motorbikes, also I for one am glad that my most useful brake (the front one) is controlled by my much stronger hand (my right one)

How come your right hand is much stronger? Apparently the norm is only about 10% difference (but only for right handed people).

Serious wrist injury (don't try dirt jumping on an xc bike with spd's on! :oops: )

verylonglegs

I've two bikes, one has front brake on the left and the other has it on the right as one was a UK purchase and the other bought manufacturer direct from Italy. Guess my brain is somehow subconciously dealing with it so far....(tempting fate to have an off now I've said that!)

ilm_zero7

Down the Road wrote:

It's to do with hand signals. In the UK we are more likely to turn left than right (I don't make it up) therefore we need to take our left had off the 'bars to signal.

The right is left to do the braking. On the mainland it is the other way around.

this is flawed - if you stick one hand out to signal and use the other on the extreme end of the bars braking, the chances are you will come off!


its RH rear brake on all my bikes - because most to them are set up for the geoemetry of RH rear braking in the entry points of the cable routing through the frame

andy_wrx

It is an issue if you hire a bike abroad.

I hired a bike in Italy, recognised it had the brakes reversed, so spent some time trying to concentrate on which brake I was pulling and hopefully my subconscious would pick it up.

Nope ! Fast downhill, under trees so from bright sunlight into a deep shade, through a pothole I'd not seen. Bike got in a bit of a shimmy so quick jab of rear brake to settle it town - WHOAH ! That was a quick jab of front brake...
Fortunately was just a quick jab so I gathered it up, but scared the hell out of me.

Sheldon Brown http://sheldonbrown.com/brakturn.html
(Remember he was American, hence rode on the other side of the road - he's also wrong in saying that Euro countries use same set-up as UK)

Which Brake Which Side?
There is considerable disagreement as to which brake should be connected to which lever:
- Some cyclists say it is best to have the stronger right hand (presuming a right-handed cyclist) operate the rear brake.
- Motorcycles always have the right hand control the front brake, so cyclists who are also motorcyclists often prefer this setup. A moment of confusion in an emergency situation can be deadly. The left lever on a motorcycle operates the clutch, which will not stop you!

There are also observable national trends:
- In countries where vehicles drive on the right, it is common to set the brakes up so that the front brake is operated by the left lever.
- In countries where vehicles drive on the left, it is common to set the brakes up so that the front brake is operated by the right lever. The European Union has adopted this as a standard, even though only the United Kingdom and Ireland are left-side driving countries. The standard is not universally observed; a reader has written in to say that the left lever usually controls the front brake in Denmark.

The theory that seems most probable to me is that the national standards arose from a concern that the cyclist be able to make hand signals, and still be able to reach the primary brake. This logical idea is, unfortunately, accompanied by the incorrect premise that the rear brake is the primary brake.

For this reason, I set my own bikes up so that the right hand controls the front brake, which is not the norm in the U.S.

I also do this because I'm right-handed, and wish to have my more skillful hand operate the more critical brake.

On the other hand, if you have already developed a preference, it is usually best to stick with it -- or at least, choose a few weeks of riding under undemanding conditions to retrain your reflexes. In an emergency, you must act faster than you can think. If you switch between a Mac and a Windows PC, where the same keys don't make the same characters, or between a clarinet and a saxophone where they don't make the same musical notes, you know how reflexes can trip you up. If you are used to skidding the rear wheel with the rear brake, switching the brake cables can result a flight over the handlebars. If you mostly use the front brake, switching the cables can result in rear-wheel skidding and increased stopping distance. These problems are most likely when first riding an unfamiliar bike, so, again, always test the brakes with a light brake application when you first start out.

robbo2011

andy_wrx wrote:

It is an issue if you hire a bike abroad

I have the worst of all worlds. My UK purchased CX bike has the front brake on the right and my CH purchased road bike has the front brake on the left. Quite a few times now I have grabbed a handful of brake on a fast descent only to realise that it is the front not the rear. I haven't come a cropper yet, but it's only a matter of time.

I really should swap the brakes on my CX bike around.

t4tomo

davidof wrote:

Motorbikes are set up with right front brake everywhere in the world, as I ride a motorbike I prefer to keep things the same on a cycle.

Do you have a clutch lever and a rear brake pedal on your cycle then?

Motor bike set up is so the throttle and hand operated brake are on same level so its virtually impossible to rev the throttle and brake at the same time. its also same the world over, throttles are right hand operated.