3-fingered braking

[Chris S]

I seem to remember being told only to use my first three fingers to pull the brake lever. Is this the correct way to brake and if so what's the reasoning behind it?

 

[marzjennings]

Never heard of that one. What sort of brakes are we talking here, road, mtb, bmx, etc?

For me it's mtb disc brakes and 1 finger.

 

[MikeW-71]

If you only use 3 fingers, the other 2 are still gripping the bars. On a road bike I'll use 3 fingers from the hoods and 2 from the drops. On an MTB with hydraulic discs, 1 finger is enough.

 

[ianrauk]

Use how ever many fingers you feel comfortable with.

 

[Dave 123]

In Norfolk they use all 17.

 

[Chris S]

Never heard of that one. What sort of brakes are we talking here, road, mtb, bmx, etc?

For me it's mtb disc brakes and 1 finger.

It's a Batavus roadster. I suppose the advice was just one of those idiosyncrasies like holding the steering wheel at '10 to 2'. In Japan drivers are taught to hold it at '9:15'.

 

[HLaB]

In Norfolk they use all 17.

I thought that was Suffolk

 

[HLaB]

I seem to remember being told only to use my first three fingers to pull the brake lever. Is this the correct way to brake and if so what's the reasoning behind it?

Never heard of anything specific but I like to use my finger to feather the brakes. If its any help, I think I use the outer one or two first and the next two when I need more power.

 

[Rob3rt]

Brakes............ I try not to use them!

 

[HLaB]

Brakes............ I try not to use them!

They are overated

 

[Ciar]

I switch between 2 & 3 depending on which of my bikes i am riding at the time.

 

[shortone]

As a motorcyclist I was always taught to use 2/3 finger braking to prevent sudden sharp braking. Its very easy when grabbing a fistful to pull to sharp to hard causing a lock up. Modern braking systems are very efficient and require little effort to lock up the brakes.
So I assume cycle brakes are the same and as I now automatically brake with 2/3 fingers I've just naturally carried it across to road bikes without thinking about it..
Andy

 

[MaxInc]

As a motorcyclist I was always taught to use 2/3 finger braking to prevent sudden sharp braking. Its very easy when grabbing a fistful to pull to sharp to hard causing a lock up.

The answer is practice and technique, not limiting the amount of pressure available at the lever by using fewer fingers. Practice braking so you don't grab a fistful in the first place.

On a motorbike, in a high speed emergency brake (40mph+) you really need all fingers on the lever to be able to achieve the minimum stopping distance. If applied correctly, in a progressive manner to allow for weight transfer, fork and tyre compression, it is virtually impossible to lock a front wheel in an emergency brake. You may seen race riders using only 2 fingers but only because they need to control the throttle at the same time mid corner so they use the remaining fingers for that (trail braking).

On a cycle the same technique applies to some extent with the difference that there is no throttle.

 

[byegad]

When I motorcycled, in the days of drum brakes I used three fingers on the brake so I could still blip the throttle to change down with the little finger. I got so used to it I still do this, and have never had any issues with stopping power.

 

[Chris S]

As a motorcyclist I was always taught to use 2/3 finger braking to prevent sudden sharp braking.
Andy

That's where I could have remembered it from - after 30 years!