r2wtrials Posted January 7, 2009 Report Share Posted January 7, 2009 I have never had a good answer to this...Why is it that the europeans and the yanks mostly have the brakes switched around... rear on the right and vice versa?Now for me it would be almost impossible to get used to as i am a motorcycle trials rider and i find that the time using the clutch (on the left) is roughly the same as the when you use the rear brake on the biketrials. Because of an on going wrist injury on my left side i did consider swapping but dread the time getting my brain into gear about it..!So what is the history or reason for the swap? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dan6061 Posted January 7, 2009 Report Share Posted January 7, 2009 Britain's a stubborn country, we like doing things differently. Look who kept their own currency when everyone(?) else went to the euro! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
r2wtrials Posted January 7, 2009 Author Report Share Posted January 7, 2009 same thing this week Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Endohopper Posted January 7, 2009 Report Share Posted January 7, 2009 I have never had a good answer to this...Why is it that the europeans... have the brakes switched around... rear on the right and vice versa?I hear you . On the rare occasions that I meet fellow trials riders here in Holland and am free to try out their expensive shiny bikes I'm restricted to a few tenative backhops and trackstanding 'cause I learned whilst in the U.K so am pretty much unable to operate bikes with the freaky Euro set up . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adam-Griffin Posted January 7, 2009 Report Share Posted January 7, 2009 I ride with my brakes the 'wrong' way round, no particular reason other than i want to be different, it wasn't overly hard to get used to it, took about a week or so maybe ? Once your used to it it's no biggie, although it's crucial to warns friends before hand, especially with mega sharp brakes It's a bit of a pain if your buying disc brakes with reservoirs, means you have to switch the levers round apposed to running them upside down, i'm lazy so can't be bothered with the hassle Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NVWOCI WVS Posted January 7, 2009 Report Share Posted January 7, 2009 Front brake on the left is a convention from road bike brake setups. Shimano and Campagnolo road bike brakes are designed for the cable routing from the rear brake to go down the left hand side of the frame, and flow neatly, across the headtube and into the right hand lever, and the cable enters the front brake on the left hand side and crosses over neatly with a nice flowing cabe line into the left lever, giving really nice flowing cable lines. A lot of British road cyclists use their brakes the 'continental' way, for this reason.Front brake on the right was introduced by some British road cyclists, from 'back in the day', when brakes were shite, because most people are right handed, and the majority of the braking power on a conventional bike comes from the front wheel. It kindof stuck in this country, but not really anywhere else! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
walker Posted January 8, 2009 Report Share Posted January 8, 2009 but dont all motorbikes have the clutch on the left and the front brake on the right? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
r2wtrials Posted January 8, 2009 Author Report Share Posted January 8, 2009 (edited) Yes, that was my point. The explanation about the road cycles above makes sense i guess but as you say as far as i am aware the front brake on a motorcycle has always been on the right. As i started riding motorcycles when i was 4 years old (39 years ago!), i think it would take a fair while to get used too... and i ride motorcycle trials as well and won't be swapping my clutch over!!! Edited January 8, 2009 by r2wtrials Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
psycholist Posted January 8, 2009 Report Share Posted January 8, 2009 It makes more sense for every type of cycling but trials to put the front brake on the right to give maximum stopping power and control for right handed people. I'm left handed, so putting the back brake on the left makes sense for the extra back brake control, but if the brakes were the other way round day one, I'd have just used them as they were as I'm not 'strongly' left handed. The question then boils down to 'What is the rational for US/Euro riders to run swapped brakes in the first place and where did that come from?'I'm pretty sure bicycles predated motorbikes by over a century (Though the same technology that allowed bicycles to work well, namely steels strong enough to make a mass producable, reliable chain drive and bearings also made internal combustion engines possible), so the first brake lever almost certainly turned up on a bicycle... Which wheel it operated on is anyone's guess though... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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