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Desperate-Face-6594 t1_iu39vcy wrote

Reply to comment by deepoctarine in TIL bicycle brakes in the UK are reversed from the US and Europe by UlisKromwell

Nah, if you need to break the front wheel hard you’ll go over the handle bars and into incoming traffic. A back break results in a skid that can, to a degree, be controlled or more safely dismounted from.

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AtebYngNghymraeg t1_iu3bkvq wrote

Brake. Not break.

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BobbyP27 t1_iu3z85d wrote

The comment wasn't wrong, though. If you break the front wheel you will go over the handlebars.

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snow_michael t1_iu4fozc wrote

Been there, done that, tree still bears the mark (mine healed)

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dirtiehippie710 t1_iu3aqu0 wrote

Ya wtf who's instinct tells then to lock up the front brake?!? Learned this the hard way as a kid lol

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Desperate-Face-6594 t1_iu3avhv wrote

It’s breaks at the same time is best but always work the back break harder. It’s more than science, it’s common sense.

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Greeboth t1_iu3i6jr wrote

Common sense maybe but it’s not science. Predominately using the rear is certain safer and too much front brake will result in going over the bars. But to stop the quickest, you need to use the front brake more as weight transfer forward means the front wheel can withstand more brake pressure before locking up than the rear. This is exactly the same on motorcycles and cars for the same reason - Physics.

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Viper_JB t1_iu4h0cu wrote

Apart from the going over the bars thing from a mountain biking perspective if you lock up the front wheel you have no control over the bike anymore, you can afford to lock up the back wheel though and still maintain control over the bike, same reason why generally you will run a more aggressive tyre on the front of a mtb.

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willie_caine t1_iu3gq1a wrote

>It’s more than science, it’s common sense.

Wow :)

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Desperate-Face-6594 t1_iu3gty0 wrote

As in kids know this through lived experience, they don’t need science lessons to know this.

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willie_caine t1_iu3u14e wrote

So when you said "science" you meant "science lessons". Gotcha.

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deepoctarine t1_iu3d4ku wrote

That is why you are supposed to shift your weight backwards to reduce the chance of going over the bars. It is about how hard you have to squeeze to achieve a lock up and how much retardation that can be achieved before the wheel locks, not how controllable the bike is when it's locked up. A locked up wheel has less grip than a rolling wheel and gives less retardation. The fastest way to slow down is with the primary effort through the front wheel, end of story, the mass of rider and bike are thrown onto the front increasing the effective weight through the tyre onto the road and increasing the contact patch and therefore the grip. Watch some moto gp or superbikes, they brake into corners with their rear wheel off the ground and that must be the fastest way to slow down otherwise they wouldn't be doing it and they are operating under the same laws of physics as everyone else.

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