Pro riders - which hand do they operate rear brake with?
I believe the UK using left hand for rear brake is unusual with most other countries defaulting to right hand rear brake.
Do UK pros ride with the setup the same way as most UK hobby riders do, or do they shift when they get into the pro ranks so their teams have less hassle when swapping bikes mid-race?
Do UK pros ride with the setup the same way as most UK hobby riders do, or do they shift when they get into the pro ranks so their teams have less hassle when swapping bikes mid-race?
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I don’t think they all do as I have a vague recollection of one UK pro having a crash or near miss because they were given a spare bike with the Continental set up.0
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One of the GCN lot were saying they did that a couple of days ago. I think it was Lloyd but may have been Dunne.webboo said:I don’t think they all do as I have a vague recollection of one UK pro having a crash or near miss because they were given a spare bike with the Continental set up.
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Tony rominger switched levers mid 96 tour ...had a massive off . I can switch fairly easily ( or used to) . Panic last min breaking is more about getting your weight back asap as much as anything else... Trying to feather a rear brake in a corner to correct gets kinetic using the front brake by mistake .
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Riders will stick to the normal set up that they've used prior, I know there have been cases of riders jumping on a team mates bike mid race and having to adjust but doesn't cause too many issues I don't think1
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It was Dan Lloyd - he'd got caught out as he was having a drink and only had rear brake on a wet corner, and copped some stick for it.Pross said:
One of the GCN lot were saying they did that a couple of days ago. I think it was Lloyd but may have been Dunne.webboo said:I don’t think they all do as I have a vague recollection of one UK pro having a crash or near miss because they were given a spare bike with the Continental set up.
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I wonder how many cyclists ride motorbikes? I know quite a few MTB-ers do. The front brake is usually on the right, the clutch is the left lever.All Road/ Gravel: tbcWinter: tbcMTB: tbcRoad: tbc"Look at the time...." "he's fallen like an old lady on a cruise ship..."1
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Dumb question:
If you hire a bike on the continent, does it have front brakes on the left?0 -
Yes1
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Not always. In Mallorca I used a company run by a couple of Brits, all their bikes were set up front right and back left. Some other companies will swap them over for you if you ask, but not all. It's probably harder in these days of hydraulic discs.1
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I stand corrected. Both the ones I've had (Tenerife, Algarve) had front brake on the left0
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I do.andyrac said:I wonder how many cyclists ride motorbikes? I know quite a few MTB-ers do. The front brake is usually on the right, the clutch is the left lever.
I think the front brake is always on the right side. No idea why the conti setup reverses this for bikes.BASI Nordic Ski Instructor
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Isn't it to do with indicating when turning against the traffic?davidof said:
I do.andyrac said:I wonder how many cyclists ride motorbikes? I know quite a few MTB-ers do. The front brake is usually on the right, the clutch is the left lever.
I think the front brake is always on the right side. No idea why the conti setup reverses this for bikes.2 -
I'd guess that the whole concept including clutch, footbrake, gears, throttle etc operated by various appendages makes getting on a motorbike feel sufficiently different to flip out of the learned "push bike" braking routines.2015 Canyon Nerve AL 6.0 (son #1's)
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Aren't both brakes on the RHS on a motorbike? Then clutch on the lever on the left and gear shift by the left foot?2015 Canyon Nerve AL 6.0 (son #1's)
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Yep - if indicating right (left on the continent) you have your back brake still accessible with the hand on the bars. Most of the time when racing though both would be used at once/with a certain amount of finesse so not that likely to cause an issueDeadCalm said:
Isn't it to do with indicating when turning against the traffic?davidof said:
I do.andyrac said:I wonder how many cyclists ride motorbikes? I know quite a few MTB-ers do. The front brake is usually on the right, the clutch is the left lever.
I think the front brake is always on the right side. No idea why the conti setup reverses this for bikes.0 -
Yep - if indicating right (left on the continent) you have your back brake still accessible with the hand on the bars. Most of the time when racing though both would be used at once/with a certain amount of finesse so not that likely to cause an issueDeadCalm said:
Isn't it to do with indicating when turning against the traffic?davidof said:
I do.andyrac said:I wonder how many cyclists ride motorbikes? I know quite a few MTB-ers do. The front brake is usually on the right, the clutch is the left lever.
I think the front brake is always on the right side. No idea why the conti setup reverses this for bikes.1 -
I wish. It's never that simple is it? Not all motorcycles have the rear brake on the right and the gear change on the left. Old British motorcycles have these two reversed, only recently have they changed over.larkim said:Aren't both brakes on the RHS on a motorbike? Then clutch on the lever on the left and gear shift by the left foot?
But the handlebar leavers are right-hand for front brake, left-hand for clutch. This makes perfect sense because the throttle is on the right twist grip. There's bound to be an exception though that I don't yet know about.
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FWIW I used to have a singlespeed commuter set up continental style because otherwise the cable run to the front brake was horrible. My other bikes were UK still. I never particularly struggled swapping over - once I'd slowed down a couple of times it was just natural either way, though I retained a preference for UK. If the cable runs made more sense the other way I'd do it again though.0
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Yes. Descending down Tiede this spring with bitterly cold hands having misjudged the weather was not helped by the additional burden of having to ‘think’ about brakingflite said:Dumb question:
If you hire a bike on the continent, does it have front brakes on the left?2020/2021/2022 Metric Century Challenge Winner1 -
Although some old Indian motorcycles (possibly others) had left hand throttles so that police riders could still shoot their sidearms while riding.0
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Old Italian geared motorscooters have the rear brake as a right foot pedal the front with the right hand lever and left hand is the clutch and gear change. Right hand twist throttle.[Castle Donington Ladies FC - going up in '22]0
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Don't go melting their brains with telling them about hand gear changes and foot clutches on motorbikes now....
tbh, this is a new level of discussion on here..The camera down the willy isn't anything like as bad as it sounds.
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looking at the OP's question though, whichever they want..
The camera down the willy isn't anything like as bad as it sounds.
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or automatic motorbikes with no clutch leverMattFalle said:Don't go melting their brains with telling them about hand gear changes and foot clutches on motorbikes now....
tbh, this is a new level of discussion on here.
or quickshifters
or linked front and rear brakes......
.The camera down the willy isn't anything like as bad as it sounds.
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So, does this cause issues for the soigneurs getting replacement bikes or bike swaps between teammates during a race? Or is it just a minor annoyance and the pros cope well enough with swapping around if they have to?MattFalle said:looking at the OP's question though, whichever they want.
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2011 Specialized Hardrock Sport Disc (son #4s)
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2018 Voodoo Bizango (mine)
2018 Voodoo Maji (wife's)0 -
99% of the time, they will get their own spare bike set up exactly for them off the top of the car, so no worries.
Worst comes to the worst, they will just ride whatever until the team car catches them up and gives them their own specific bike.
its not really a biggie tbh.
i'd say seat heights were more of an issue, which,nonetheless, didn't stop Jens Voigt as we ll know 'cos he's well 'ard..The camera down the willy isn't anything like as bad as it sounds.
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DeVlaeminck said:
Old Italian geared motorscooters have the rear brake as a right foot pedal the front with the right hand lever and left hand is the clutch and gear change. Right hand twist throttle.
True. I have a 2013 Vespa which retains that configeration, they stuck with it.DeVlaeminck said:Old Italian geared motorscooters have the rear brake as a right foot pedal the front with the right hand lever and left hand is the clutch and gear change. Right hand twist throttle.
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I've had MTBs and road bikes with Euro configuration before, but a good hire shop asks how you want it in my experience (or one which caters mainly to Brits!).
The good thing on MTBs is it's normally quite easy to flip the levers.1
