which side is your front brake lever?

Hi

I'm now in another part of the world and many of the bikes here seem to have
the front brake on the left hand side. I was sure mine have been on the
right hand side back in Oz ... or am I going mad?

See Ya
(when bandwidth gets better ;-)

Chris Eastwood
Photographer, Programmer Motorcyclist and dingbat
blog: http://cjeastwd.blogspot.com/

please remove undies for reply

ok .... as I was posting this question I had a feeling of deja news, so I
googled grouped that and found my answers.

thanks

See Ya
(when bandwidth gets better ;-)

Chris Eastwood
Photographer, Programmer Motorcyclist and dingbat
blog: http://cjeastwd.blogspot.com/

please remove undies for reply

On 2009-01-18, obakesan wrote:
ok .... as I was posting this question I had a feeling of deja news, so I
googled grouped that and found my answers.

Spoilsport! We can't have much of a discussion if you're going to
answer your own questions!

What did you find out?

--
John
The velorution will not be motorised!

"obakesan" wrote in message
...
Hi

I'm now in another part of the world and many of the bikes here seem to
have
the front brake on the left hand side. I was sure mine have been on the
right hand side back in Oz ... or am I going mad?

They're on the right on my household's road bikes, hybrids and MTBs. Dunno
why - maybe the view was that most riders giving hand signals could better
modulate stopping with one hand if they used the rear brakes rather than the
fronts??? If you're in a LHD country then that would tend to add some weigh
to this theory.

In article , wrote:
On 2009-01-18, obakesan wrote:
ok .... as I was posting this question I had a feeling of deja news, so I
googled grouped that and found my answers.

Spoilsport! We can't have much of a discussion if you're going to
answer your own questions!

well we could


What did you find out?



Australian Standard AS 1927-1989 (Pedal Bicycles for Normal Road Use - Safety
Requirements) stipulates the safety requirements for adults’ and children’s
bicycles which have a wheelbase of not less than 640 mm. Included in this
Standard is the requirement that bicycles with two separately operated
handbrakes be assembled with the right handlebar lever activating the front
wheel brake and the left lever the rear brake. Children’s bicycles are
required to have a back pedal brake plus a back-up handbrake located on either
the front or rear wheel. The handbrake lever for a child’s bike is to be
located on the right handlebar for a front wheel brake and on the left
handlebar for a rear wheel brake.

It has been noted that bicycles are being sold with the levers for handbrakes
in the reverse configuration (ie the right lever operating the rear wheel
brake and the left lever the front). This reverse configuration is the
accepted norm in the United States and Europe, however, contravenes our
Australian Standard.

See Ya
(when bandwidth gets better ;-)

Chris Eastwood
Photographer, Programmer Motorcyclist and dingbat
blog: http://cjeastwd.blogspot.com/

please remove undies for reply

On 2009-01-19, Claude wrote:
They're on the right on my household's road bikes, hybrids and MTBs. Dunno
why - maybe the view was that most riders giving hand signals could better
modulate stopping with one hand if they used the rear brakes rather than the
fronts??? If you're in a LHD country then that would tend to add some weigh
to this theory.

I believe that's the case, and it does make sense. If you're going to
be braking with one hand and signalling with the other, the bike is more
stable if the brake being used is on the rear wheel.

Unfortunately the rear brake is less effective than the front, but you
can't have everything.

--
John
ALL CAPS TALK LEADS TO B1FF T4LK. B1FF T4LK LE4D$ 2 W4r37_t4LK. W4r3Zt/\1k
L34d$ 2 31337 \/\//\r37_ |0o|) 7/\|_|, 4|\||) 7|¬3|23 7!¬3 |)/\|2|( 51|)3
|_|3$ - Charles Cooke

John Pitts wrote:
On 2009-01-18, obakesan wrote:

ok .... as I was posting this question I had a feeling of deja news, so I
googled grouped that and found my answers.

Spoilsport! *We can't have much of a discussion if you're going to
answer your own questions!

What did you find out?

Having the front brake on the right hand makes the transition to
motorcycle riding much easier. ;-)

Pretty much every motorcycle made in the past 30 years has the front
brake operated by a lever on the right handlebar, and the rear brake
operated by a foot pedal on the right side of the bike.

Given that it was the USA that initiated this "standard", I find it a
bit surprising that they didn't also apply it to bicycle brakes.
Maybe it's that ride-on-the-wrong-side-of-the-road thing?


BTH

On Jan 23, 7:07*am, BT Humble wrote:

Given that it was the USA that initiated this "standard", I find it a
bit surprising that they didn't also apply it to bicycle brakes.
Maybe it's that ride-on-the-wrong-side-of-the-road thing?

They drive on the right side of the road, we drive on the right side
of the road, but our right side is the other side to their right side.
It's the coriolis effect.

Theo

theo wrote:
On Jan 23, 7:07*am, BT Humble wrote:

Given that it was the USA that initiated this "standard", I find it a
bit surprising that they didn't also apply it to bicycle brakes.
Maybe it's that ride-on-the-wrong-side-of-the-road thing?

They drive on the right side of the road, we drive on the right side
of the road, but our right side is the other side to their right side.
It's the coriolis effect.

And solar flares. Don't forget about the solar flares.


BTH

BTH said
Given that it was the USA that initiated this "standard", I find it a
bit surprising that they didn't also apply it to bicycle brakes.

Theory being that where right handedness is dominant, it is *dangerous* on a
bicycle to operate that over sensitive front brake with your most powerful
hand.

In a more logical world, where 80% of your retardation comes from the front
brake, wouldn't you put that under the hand that has the most power (and
control for that matter).

Must stop trying to argue using logic (unproductive) and ride more instead
(productive).