Poll: Brake Lever Placement

[GrandPaBrogan]

Just curious... I wonder how many of us connect our rear brake to our right hand lever?

In my country (NZ) the standard is - right brake lever to front brake. But because of my early BMX background - my brake reflex still reverts to 'right to rear' when it comes to sudden or life & death instances on a MTB. I was club racing BMX cruiser class (rather poorly) along with my kids many years ago - so I had both BMX and MTB bikes at the same time period.

I have always struggled with this (I actually face-planted on my dirt motorbike - but just once tho ). To stop getting muddled-up I kept things consistent with brake lever placement on my MTBs even though I haven't been on a BMX bike in 2 decades! The downside is that when my friends borrow my MTBs. I warn them about this - then they freak themselves out with a near or complete endo, just seconds later. I thought I was weird until someone told me that brake lever orientation is actually like this in Europe.

Besides the poll... it might be interesting to discuss how Europeans deal with the braking instinct mental adjustment, when switching from e-bicycle to motorcycle?

 

[Rusty]

For any motocrosser front brake on the right is normal ... hell, for pretty much any motorcyclist it should be.

Oh, and all my buddies that rode BMX when it first started always set up so they did not have to think switching between BMX & MX bikes.

 

[GrandPaBrogan]

^ I know... I didn't think it through far enough ahead.

I was actually already riding motorbikes for a few years and then flagged that - before I ended up doing BMX in my early twenties. Very late start, and my progression from motorbikes to bicycles was back to front! Pulling a BMX brake lever with my left hand felt weird and unsettling because that was the clutch on my motorbike.

This was years before mountain bikes came into the scene. Having two brake levers on a handle bar was strange to begin with - as I found out years later when I got my first mountain bike in my mid-40s. By then it was too late to switch.

I'm pretty sure French and German mountain bikes have right lever to rear brakes.

 

[Zimmerframe]

You've missed an option "I just grab, didn't know they did different things...."

My rear is on the right (French spec). This is generally fine and you get used to it .. EXCEPT .. when you get in the "Flow Zone", relax completely and finally get some muscle memory working in harmony with your subconscious and everything becomes automatic ...

Then you go for the brakes ... 30 years of motorcycles have taught the muscles what to do .. and SPLAT ..

 

[Fivetones]

For any motocrosser front brake on the right is normal ... hell, for pretty much any motorcyclist it should be.

Oh, and all my buddies that rode BMX when it first started always set up so they did not have to think switching between BMX & MX bikes.

This is exactly my view. Not MX but trials motorbikes (from age of 10, BMX from 13). If you’re tuned into brake feel this is something that you just don’t feel the need to re-wire.

 

[Rusty]

Then you go for the brakes ... 30 years of motorcycles have taught the muscles what to do .. and SPLAT ..

Probably why you go SPLAT so much monsieur.

 

[Zimmerframe]

Probably why you go SPLAT so much monsieur.

I'd like to think my lack of abilities encompass many facets of Mountain Bike Riding, not just braking Professionally embracing unprofessional-ism.

 

[ccrdave]

isnt the reason why the front brake is either left side (Europe and Canada in my experience) or right side as in UK dictated by what side of the road we drive on

 

[Zimmerframe]

isnt the reason why the front brake is either left side (Europe and Canada in my experience) or right side as in UK dictated by what side of the road we drive on

Quoted :

Cycling hand turning signals originated from the same signals that cars used before they had indicator lights. For example, in America when a car wants to turn left, the driver (who sits on the left side of the car) put his left arm straight outside the window. If the driver wanted to signal right, he had to make a “L” with his left arm out the window (because he wouldn’t be able to reach out to the right side of the window with a straight arm to indicate a right turn). Similarly in places like Australia and the UK where you drive on the left side of the road, the driver (sitting on the right of the car) would have extend his right arm straight out the window to turn right, and same arm in a “L” shape to signal to turn left.

These turning signals were adopted by cyclists and the national standards organizations in each country got involved. There was concern that the cyclist should be able to make hand turning signals and still be able to reach the primary brake. The logic is accompanied by the premise that the rear brake is the primary brake. These standards organizations misunderstood braking and thought that using the front brake was hazardous and would cause the cyclist to abruptly topple over the front when hitting the front brake (endo!). In reality, very few accidents result from braking from the front.

Why Do Brakes Differ From Country To Country? | CyclingTips

 

[Good Times]

My bmx had back brakes only. Did the best skids. My poor Dad was buying tyres fairly frequently

 

[GrahamPaul]

Muscle memory improves with pain. Just like when I was learning to ride a bike as a kid.

Started off in Britain, where the back brake was on the left.

A couple of weeks later went to stay with my family in Germany for the summer, where the back brake in those days was activated by pedalling backwards.

What do all little kids do when they first learn to ride a bike..? Oh the pain!!!

 

[cat1]

Surely it just depends on if your from the uk or the rest of the world. Every one learns to ride from a kid in the way there set up don't they?

 

[slippery pete]

Weirdly, I run road bikes and mountain bikes the opposite ways round and it is completely natural.

So moto-style for mountain bikes. Front brake on the right.

Rear brake on right for road. I learnt my road riding when downtube shifters were the way things were done so having the powerful front brake on left hand while shifting on right hand was completely natural.

I think this means on the survey I can click on four of the options.