Braking technique

[Ming the Merciless]

Every bike counts.

Except you do not brake on a turbo.

 

[Smokin Joe]

Except you do not brake on a turbo.

I've seen someone do it on rollers.

Not pretty.

 

[raleighnut]

That's just my explanation of what I've observed. I've twice had failure of the rear tyre at a tear parallel to and a few mm above the bead, accompanied by a worn groove matching it all the way round. My explanation is that hot rims, over a long period have weakened the tyre, causing the groove, where it eventually failed.

Another explanation could be the true one.

Btw my brake blocks are positioned as low as the brakes will allow. They may still be a bit too high

My money is on the brake blocks, if they're a little high they'll form a ridge where they don't contact the rim, this ridge eventually cuts into the tyre.

To 'cure' it you can take the blocks off and file them flat but it's only a temporary fix and will need doing regularly.

 

[Zofo]

I’ve always applied both brakes with equal pressure, with the front being applied a fraction before the rear -never had any issues so no plans to change technique.

 

[mikeymustard]

I’ve always applied both brakes with equal pressure, with the front being applied a fraction before the rear -never had any issues so no plans to change technique.

it's important that we know how much of a fraction

edit:

 

[Ajax Bay]

I pulled so hard my bars twisted down,

The bars 'twisted down' because you squeezed the brakes so hard that the deceleration meant the hoods took the weight of your upper body and the stem/bar friction interface was not 'strong' enough. If you have time to consider hand placement, eg downhill, it is best to brake from the drops to avoid the 'rotating bar' syndrome.

 

[rogerzilla]

Body position is also important for really hard braking. You need to throw your bum right back on the saddle, even off the saddle if you can manage it. This allows you to use a lot more rear brake, as well as eliminating any chance of an endo. Also, if you have a front wheel blowout, which happened to me going down here last summer, you can't touch the front brake, so you must get as much of your weight as possible on the rear (I stopped about 5 yards short of the crossroads, swearing loudly).

 

[mudsticks]

I was brought up to believe that it's safer to favour the rear 60/40.
To stop you going over the bars..

And I've only gone over the bars once in 40+ yrs.. All the other f*kups, have been some sort of variation on 'sideways' , or other vehicles were involved..

But I was also brought up to believe in free speech, equality between all peoples, and that eating the crusts will make your hair curl..

Turns out granny was lying about the last one.

But she was a Yorkshire woman, and we all abhor food waste anyhows right ??

 

[HLaB]

I was brought up to believe that it's safer to favour the rear 60/40.
To stop you going over the bars..

And I've only gone over the bars once in 40+ yrs.. All the other f*kups, have been some sort of variation on 'sideways' , or other vehicles were involved..

But I was also brought up to believe in free speech, equality between all peoples, and that eating the crusts will make your hair curl..

Turns out granny was lying about the last one.

But she was a Yorkshire woman, and we all abhor food waste anyhows right ??

I used to favour the rear more for precisely that reason. I don't know if its modern bikes (that I feel more balanced on them and I'm heavier LOL) and brakes (I can 'feather' more) but I probably use the front brake more these days

 

[Deleted member 26715]

I thought of this thread when I went out today, I have habit of just touching each brake in turn as I start my ride probably within the 1st 200 yards, which is quite daft really as I've already checked them both before I set off.