Fierce brake on bike
 

Grandson's bike has a rather fierce front brake which tends to throw him
over the handlebars when he uses it. How can I tame it?


Regards

John

Fierce brake on bike
 

On 01/12/2011 23:11, DerbyBoy wrote:
Grandson's bike has a rather fierce front brake which tends to throw him
over the handlebars when he uses it. How can I tame it?

Best is to teach him how to control the brake, and body positioning to
stop him going over. Eg don't just heave on the lever, do brace against
the handlebars, push bodyweight back.

That way if it comes to a problem he'll be able to stop harder than with
a weak front brake.

Shimano do some devices for their drum brakes which essentially puts a
spring in the system to limit the force the rider can exert. Bad idea.

If he's just starting out, you could slacken the brake off, but then in
the wet it won't work at all.

Fierce brake on bike
 

On Thu, 01 Dec 2011 23:42:14 +0000, Clive George wrote:

Grandson's bike has a rather fierce front brake which tends to
throw
him over the handlebars when he uses it. How can I tame it?

Best is to teach him how to control the brake, and body positioning to
stop him going over. Eg don't just heave on the lever, do brace against
the handlebars, push bodyweight back.

Hear, hear. Grandson ought to learn by himself not to squeeze the
brake too hard. If it hurts, stop doing it!

Are you sure he's not doing it deliberatly to get the buzz of being
thrown over the handle bars?

--
Cheers
Dave.

Fierce brake on bike
 

DerbyBoy wrote:
Grandson's bike has a rather fierce front brake which tends to throw him
over the handlebars when he uses it. How can I tame it?

Vaseline?


Regards

John

Fierce brake on bike
 

In article ,
DerbyBoy No-one wrote:
Grandson's bike has a rather fierce front brake which tends to throw him
over the handlebars when he uses it. How can I tame it?

What type of brake?

--
*A day without sunshine is like... night.*

Dave Plowman London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.

Fierce brake on bike
 

On Thu, 1 Dec 2011 23:11:34 -0000, "DerbyBoy" No-one
wrote:

Grandson's bike has a rather fierce front brake which tends to throw him
over the handlebars when he uses it. How can I tame it?

Abouit 25% effort on the front; 75% on the rear is motorbike practice.
Obviously things might vary a bit for a non-motor cycle.

Get him to try and find an off-road place where he can legally play
about with using speed/braking/tipping-over-the-handlebars.

--
Frank Erskine

Fierce brake on bike
 

On 02/12/2011 01:32, Frank Erskine wrote:
On Thu, 1 Dec 2011 23:11:34 -0000, "DerbyBoy"No-one
wrote:

Grandson's bike has a rather fierce front brake which tends to throw him
over the handlebars when he uses it. How can I tame it?

Abouit 25% effort on the front; 75% on the rear is motorbike practice.
Obviously things might vary a bit for a non-motor cycle.

If you want to stop a normal bike (non-motor) in a hurry, the back brake
does nothing if you're doing it right. Unless you're really good in
which case you can use it to tell you when the bike is at tipping point.

Tandem is different - just haul on both brakes as hard as you can if
it's dry.

Get him to try and find an off-road place where he can legally play
about with using speed/braking/tipping-over-the-handlebars.

I agree with this. Actually, if it was here I'd get him to try it on the
road outside - grass is softer to fall on, but no grip this time of year.

Fierce brake on bike
 

"DerbyBoy" No-one wrote in message
...
Grandson's bike has a rather fierce front brake which tends to throw him
over the handlebars when he uses it. How can I tame it?


Possibly uk.rec.cycling.moderated might be a better place for this question?

Firstly, have you checked that the brake is set up properly?
If there is too much for and aft movement on a front brake then as it flexes
it can put the brake on harder.
Also, check that the brake pads aren't toed in too much as I think that can
have a similar effect.

http://sheldonbrown.com/brakes/index.html is a good place to look for
information.

--
No plan survives contact with the enemy.
[Not even bunny]

Helmuth von Moltke the Elder

(\__/)
(='.'=)
(")_(")

Fierce brake on bike
 

Cheap cable operated rim callipers. It is fierce - it seems to be all or
nothing!

Fierce brake on bike
 

On Fri, 2 Dec 2011 09:10:35 -0000, DerbyBoy wrote:



is the calliper assembly a bit loose? if so braking often makes the front
of the blocks pinch in to the rim as the brake is applied giving an all or
nothing effect
--
(º€¢.¸(¨*€¢.¸ ¸.€¢*¨)¸.€¢Âº)
.€¢Â°€¢. Nik .€¢Â°€¢.
(¸.€¢Âº(¸.€¢Â¨* *¨€¢.¸)º€¢.¸)

Fierce brake on bike
 

On 01/12/2011 23:11, DerbyBoy wrote:
Grandson's bike has a rather fierce front brake which tends to throw him
over the handlebars when he uses it. How can I tame it?


Regards

John

Teach him to apply the rear brake *first* - and then *gently* pull on
the front brake for additional retardation, if required.

When I were a lad, I hardly ever used the front brake - for this very
reason.
--
Cheers,
Roger
____________
Please reply to Newsgroup. Whilst email address is valid, it is seldom
checked.

Fierce brake on bike
 

Grandson's bike has a rather fierce front brake which tends to throw him
over the handlebars when he uses it. How can I tame it?

Abouit 25% effort on the front; 75% on the rear is motorbike practice.
Obviously things might vary a bit for a non-motor cycle.

You sure that's not the other way round??
when i took my test (03) it was the same as it's always been, you use the
front brake the most as the weight transfer from slowing makes the front
wheel grip the most, the rear wheel will loose grip very easily if you apply
too much rear brake... unless your not using the front one, in that case
you'll be embedded in the back of the truck that's just stopped fast to
avoid squishing the kitty,

quite a lot of bikers hardly ever touch the rear brake, and during my
training for the test i was told that when doing the emergancy stop, to just
make it look like my foot was operating the rear brake but not actually push
the lever down, otherwise i'd lock the rear and fail,

Of course, if you grab the front brake handle hard you'll perform a stoppie,
but you then have to learn how much to release the brake to keep the back
end up in the air whilst not going over the bars.


on a push bike without suspension, then yes the rear brake is used more, and
you usually push your self back into the seat when slowing down so keep the
weight on the back wheel, in holland it's common to have only a back pedal
brake on a simple bike, that makes you put more weight on the rear wheel,

Fierce brake on bike
 

On Fri, 2 Dec 2011 10:51:18 -0000, "Gazz" wrote:

Grandson's bike has a rather fierce front brake which tends to throw him
over the handlebars when he uses it. How can I tame it?

Abouit 25% effort on the front; 75% on the rear is motorbike practice.
Obviously things might vary a bit for a non-motor cycle.

You sure that's not the other way round??

You're right. Sorry.

Blame the vodka :-)

--
Frank Erskine

Fierce brake on bike
 

On Fri, 02 Dec 2011 10:25:34 +0000, Roger Mills wrote:
When I were a lad, I hardly ever used the front brake - for this very
reason.

Yes, me too, and old habits die hard - which isn't good when you hop on a
cycle in the US for the first time in years and quickly learn that they
swap over the brake levers on the handlebars as compared to the UK. I
probably flew about 20 feet. :-)

cheers

Jules

Fierce brake on bike
 

On 02/12/2011 14:44, Jules Richardson wrote:
On Fri, 02 Dec 2011 10:25:34 +0000, Roger Mills wrote:
When I were a lad, I hardly ever used the front brake - for this very
reason.

Yes, me too, and old habits die hard - which isn't good when you hop on a
cycle in the US for the first time in years and quickly learn that they
swap over the brake levers on the handlebars as compared to the UK. I
probably flew about 20 feet. :-)

cheers

Jules
As per motorcycle, front brake for slowing down and then transfer to
back for last few mph for stopping, google motorcycle braking
techniques. Progressive braking.

Excessive use of the back brake will cause skidding.

Fierce brake on bike
 

On Dec 1, 11:11*pm, "DerbyBoy" No-one wrote:
Grandson's bike has a rather fierce front brake which tends to throw him
over the handlebars when he uses it. How can I tame it?

May be adjusting the brake blocks so the rear touches the rim first
will help make it a bit less harsh.

Matt

Fierce brake on bike
 

On Dec 2, 4:47*pm, matthelliwell wrote:
On Dec 1, 11:11*pm, "DerbyBoy" No-one wrote:

Grandson's bike has a rather fierce front brake which tends to throw him
over the handlebars when he uses it. How can I tame it?

May be adjusting the brake blocks so the rear touches the rim first
will help make it a bit less harsh.

Matt

Yes, absolutely - if the front of the pad is toed in then the forces
will pull the pad onto the rim causing excessive braking force
particularly if the toe in is significant.

As a grandfather you are of the generation who maintained their own
bikes and should know all this ! No young or middle aged person knows
these sort of things now and relies on the bike shop to do it for
them.
Rob

Fierce brake on bike
 

On 02/12/2011 02:08, Clive George wrote:

If you want to stop a normal bike (non-motor) in a hurry, the back brake
does nothing if you're doing it right. Unless you're really good in
which case you can use it to tell you when the bike is at tipping point.

My experience is that braking is almost all front brake, except in a
corner where I'll use a little more rear because I'd rather handle a
rear wheel skid than a front wheel one, and because there's less weight
transfer.

My motorbike had the brake light wired to the pedal, and that was its
main use.

Andy

Fierce brake on bike
 

On 02/12/2011 21:29, Andy Champ wrote:
On 02/12/2011 02:08, Clive George wrote:

If you want to stop a normal bike (non-motor) in a hurry, the back brake
does nothing if you're doing it right. Unless you're really good in
which case you can use it to tell you when the bike is at tipping point.

My experience is that braking is almost all front brake, except in a
corner where I'll use a little more rear because I'd rather handle a
rear wheel skid than a front wheel one, and because there's less weight
transfer.

My motorbike had the brake light wired to the pedal, and that was its
main use.

When I was a lad about the only road safety information around was a
poster exhorting motorcyclists to 'brake on the straight'. Most of my
contemporaries (we only had bicycles), myself included, tended to use
the back brake only as use of the front brake on less than ideal
surfaces provoked a front wheel skid. Those of us who switched to a
fixed wheel over winter had to learn to use a front brake with
discretion if we wanted to survive.

--
Roger Chapman

Fierce brake on bike
 

On Thu, 1 Dec 2011 23:11:34 -0000, "DerbyBoy" No-one
wrote:

Grandson's bike has a rather fierce front brake which tends to throw him
over the handlebars when he uses it. How can I tame it?

If it's a cheapy V-brake on a bike-shaped-object it probably doesn't
have great design. Either he gets used to it, or fit a suitable lever
with less leverage, or fit a modulator from wiggle
http://www.wiggle.co.uk/shimano-power-modulator-kit/

Fierce brake on bike
 

On Dec 2, 9:10*am, "DerbyBoy" No-one wrote:
Cheap cable operated rim callipers. It is fierce - it seems to be all or
nothing!

Servo action. Could be due to slack pivot mountings. The mounting
pivot(s) should provide adjustment to account for manufacturing
tolerances and wear. Careful attention to brack block alignment also
helps. The blocks should strike the middle of the brake track and
stay completely on them as pressure is increased and the wheel is
still rotating.

Fierce brake on bike
 

In message , DerbyBoy
writes
Grandson's bike has a rather fierce front brake which tends to throw
him over the handlebars when he uses it. How can I tame it?

Somewhere at the back of my mind, I seem to recall that you used to be
able to get brake blocks in different hardnesses of rubber. [So far, no
one has mentioned this, so I could be imagining things.] However, if I'm
right, the harder rubber will give less effective (softer) braking, and
vice versa.
--
Ian

Fierce brake on bike
 

On Dec 3, 9:44*pm, Ian Jackson
wrote:
In message , DerbyBoy
writesGrandson's bike has a rather fierce front brake which tends to throw
him over the handlebars when he uses it. How can I tame it?

Somewhere at the back of my mind, I seem to recall that you used to be
able to get brake blocks in different hardnesses of rubber. [So far, no
one has mentioned this, so I could be imagining things.] However, if I'm
right, the harder rubber will give less effective (softer) braking, and
vice versa.

I remember leather blocks. They could lock solid in certain
conditions. Ah the things you forget that seemed so important in times
past.

It's odd as you grow older different things seem just as important to
take the place of more immature pastimes.

How I wish we had had a list of what these things would turn out to be
as we aged.

Fierce brake on bike
 

On 3/12/2011 4:56 a.m., ss wrote:
On 02/12/2011 14:44, Jules Richardson wrote:
On Fri, 02 Dec 2011 10:25:34 +0000, Roger Mills wrote:
When I were a lad, I hardly ever used the front brake - for this very
reason.

Yes, me too, and old habits die hard - which isn't good when you hop on a
cycle in the US for the first time in years and quickly learn that they
swap over the brake levers on the handlebars as compared to the UK. I
probably flew about 20 feet. :-)

cheers

Jules
As per motorcycle, front brake for slowing down and then transfer to
back for last few mph for stopping, google motorcycle braking
techniques. Progressive braking.

Excessive use of the back brake will cause skidding.

Excessive use of either brake will cause skidding, and skidding of the
front wheel is the more problematic.

Fierce brake on bike
 

On 04/12/2011 06:37, Gib Bogle wrote:
On 3/12/2011 4:56 a.m., ss wrote:
On 02/12/2011 14:44, Jules Richardson wrote:
On Fri, 02 Dec 2011 10:25:34 +0000, Roger Mills wrote:
When I were a lad, I hardly ever used the front brake - for this very
reason.

Yes, me too, and old habits die hard - which isn't good when you hop
on a
cycle in the US for the first time in years and quickly learn that they
swap over the brake levers on the handlebars as compared to the UK. I
probably flew about 20 feet. :-)

cheers

Jules
As per motorcycle, front brake for slowing down and then transfer to
back for last few mph for stopping, google motorcycle braking
techniques. Progressive braking.

Excessive use of the back brake will cause skidding.

Excessive use of either brake will cause skidding, and skidding of the
front wheel is the more problematic.

In the dry at least, you can't do that with the front brake on a bike -
you'll go over first.