Disc brakes have advantages as well including being waterproof (working while wet) and being unaffected by rim dents or an out of true wheel. Rim brakes have certain advantages over disc brakes including lighter weight, improved heat dissipation, and lower stress on the bicycle frame, fork, and wheels. Both effective, yet certain types of riding styles and environments can dictate which style of brake is better suited for the task. Photo credits: Hilary Stone (Baines Flying Gate), Nicolas Joly (dark blue Rene Herse), Gipiemme (Giovanni Battaglin), Ryan Francesconi (OPEN gravel bike).The two most common types of braking systems found on bicycles today are rim brakes and disc brakes. For more information about how bikes really work, check out our book The All-Road Bike Revolution - How to Make Your Bike Fast, Comfortable and Reliable.How to brake on a bicycle for maximum stopping power.Several of my friends use the “right – front” approach, and when I ride their bikes, I constantly have to remind myself of the reversed brake levers – and hope that I won’t have to stop in a hurry. If the brakes are reversed, you’ll skid the rear wheel without slowing down much if you usually brake on the front (for maximum braking power), or you may lose control and fly forward if you usually brake on the rear (and aren’t used to bracing yourself for the powerful braking of the front brake). During a panic stop, your instincts will take over. Whatever you do, I recommend being consistent. Hydraulic fluid works via pressure, so it’s unaffected by tight bends.) (Cables have more friction when routed in tight bends. With disc brakes, the rotor is on the left side: If you use the right lever to operate the front brake, then the cable run has a larger radius, which may be helpful with mechanical discs. Except that a good brake shouldn’t require huge amounts of hand power… Yet others point to the fact that most riders are right-handed, and the front brake is the most useful one, so using your stronger hand to operate it makes sense. (European cyclocross professionals generally seem to follow their country’s practice, with French and Belgian racers using the “left – front” setup.) ![]() You really should be done with braking by the time you release the bars and prepare to shoulder the bike. ![]() I am not so sure this makes sense – to get your bike fishtailing when you have only one hand on the bars seems like a really bad idea. Some cyclocross racers prefer the “right – front” setup, so they can brake on the rear with their left hand as they dismount. Most motorcycles use that configuration, since the right hand operates the throttle, the left hand the clutch (via a hand lever), which in turn means that the right side of the handlebars is the only place to put a brake lever. Many reasons have been put forward for the “right hand – front brake” approach. copied French practice – probably because Schwinn was the only company importing performance bikes with hand brakes, and Schwinn was influenced by French bicycles. In France, the right side was already taken, so they mounted the extra lever for the front brake on the left (above). This required adding a brake lever to the handlebars. In Italy and Britain, the single brake was a coaster brake, and there was no brake lever at all.įront brakes were added to bikes at some time in the middle of the 20 th century-various countries adopted laws requiring two brakes around this time. So the single brake lever was mounted on the right, and it controlled the rear brake. Most people are right-handed, and it made sense to control the single brake with the right hand. ![]() The early brakes were not very powerful, so you needed lots of hand power to stop the bike. ![]() Many myths surround the reasons for these differences, but history is the most likely explanation: Early bikes had only a rear brake.
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