Brake usage

[SadieKate]

Not necessarily, Corsair. On the dirt, it can make a HUGE difference. Go have a few sessions with snow on some steep loose stuff. Yowee!

[Veronica]

On the dirt, it can make a HUGE difference. Go have a few sessions with snow on some steep loose stuff. Yowee!

Yep, that's why I was wondering if it was road or mountain. My answer really only applies to road.

V.

[SadieKate]

My own experience - when I learned to brake properly on dirt, I rode much faster.

[CorsairMac]

well I have stayed outta this one for the most part - coz I Only use the front brake EXCEPT on dirt. It comes from riding motorcycles where you just don't wanna use the back brake except as a backup (and even then I don't use it). The front brake is the primary and pretty much the only means of stopping so I just translated that to my bicycles. I even have the brakes switched so the front is on the right hand side, where it would be on the Harley.
and yes, when I was riding with Snow I realized the back brake was the better choice for MTBng and had no problems making that switch. V is right - the question is what application is she riding in although I know a lot of ppl that use the back or both on the road. My concern would be: if you're not used to using the front brake - you could go over the handlebars because of the unfamiliarity with the stopping power. I'd rather see someone stick with what they know and are familiar with especially in a clutch situation than try to switch coz someone said they should. Unless it's mashing vs spinning!

[Irulan]

s, when I was riding with Snow I realized the back brake was the better choice for MTBng and had no problems making that switch.

why would you think the back brake is a better choice for MTB? It's ineffective at best: skids & lockup when applied too hard, harder to finesse, The only reason I've heard that back brake is "better" is when people are ignorant of understanding how much more effective front brake usage is. The standard ignorant but well meaning way to teach mountain bike braking is to teach people to never use the front; that way they won't endo or do panic grabs. (in theory)

Case in point: my first year of camp, our coach asks, who here doesn't use the front brake? 28 out of 30 hand went up. It turns out most of us were taught to not use it for a variety of reasons, the primary one being to prevent endo-ing. Tsk, Tsk, tsk. We were all treated to a informative lecture on the proper use of the front brake. In mountain biking ( I can't speak for road at all) the front brake is 70% of your braking power. When you rely on your back brake, you are essentially dragging your bike to a stop, instead of just slowing it. Correct use of the front brake enables you to finesse many thing things, and have much more fine control over the bike.

Sure, using the front brake means creating a level of awareness and sensitivity to the brake/speed relationship. You just can't grab and squeeze the front like you can the back brake. It means learning the art of feathering, modulation and two finger braking. The rewards are improved control in technical areas, better cornering and steeing, and a more confident ride.

If you have having trouble with braking, look into having the reach adjusted on your brake levers. I brought the reach in on mine last year, and WOW what a difference it made on being able to do all of the above with nary a thought.

Irulan

[Veronica]

why would you think the back brake is a better choice for MTB? It's ineffective at best: skids & lockup when applied too hard, harder to finesse,

Irulan

Yep! The day I lost my front brakes mountain biking down Meridian Ridge on Diablo, I was thinking, with all my spare brain cells, why the front? And all the rear did was slide.

V.

[fixedgeargirl]

For me, the feathering and modulation on my mtb became possible when I got disk brakes. Made all the difference in the world. I lack the hand size/forearm strength/whatever to to finesse even v-brakes. With them, it was either full-on or completely off. Now I lack the terrain to test my skills....