"T i m" wrote in message
...
Many bicycles with cable brakes can be swapped front/rear right/left in
a matter of a minute or so - it's a simple case of unhooking and
swapping.

Sure.

The issue though is *are they* other way round (to what is 'std' here)
in other countries? I don't believe they would be.


Our hired bikes in Turkey were the wrong way round and they seemed to
think it was normal.

Ah, interesting, thanks.

I made 'em change it, I would have been over the
handlebars within a couple of hundred yards otherwise!

Quite.

That is strange though (that they should be 'reversed') because the
chances are that motorbikes (front brake) and TAG mopeds / scooters (2
off hand operated brakes) would be 'normalised' throughout the world?

I wonder if they just set them up wrong and only you thought to
question / swap them?

(Not sure any non regular / non experienced 'holiday' cyclists would
realise the difference)?



It's an interesting one. Car gear levers, pedals and stalks are the same way
round in LHD and RHD cars. When I first drove an LHD car, I instinctively
used the correct pedal and gear layout but for some reason expected the
stalks to be reversed (indicators on right, wipers on left). Strange the way
the brain works.

Likewise I'd expect motorbike controls to be standardised (at least on
modern bikes) and not to be reversed (either pedals or handlebar
twist/lever) for LHD/RHD.

But I've heard that for bicycles the brake levers (and maybe the gearchange
lever or twist) *are* swapped for LHD - and the reason is to allow braking
with the rear brake (the one that is safest on its own) if the hand that
uses the front brake is occupied with signalling a turn *across* traffic -
ie the left hand for LHD and the right hand for RHD.



The one that is very hard to get used to is driving a go-kart because the
layout precludes having a brake pedal on the right to be operated
alternately with the throttle. So you have to get used to left-foot braking.
After 40 years, my right foot is used to the delicate job, with small
travel, for braking and accelerating, and my left foot is used to big
to-the-floor movement of the clutch. The first few times I went to brake I
spun the car because I instinctively slammed my left foot right down ;-) We
were all warned at the end of the go-kart session "if you've driven here,
make damn sure that you go back to right-foot braking in your own car,
otherwise you'll forget to use the clutch when you change gear" ;-)