Left or Right .....?

TheBlaaMan · 08-01-2011 09:33PM #1

Right, this seems very basic, but bear with me....

I realised today that my Ridley orion seems to have the brakes switched !
:eek:

I bought and had to assemble an Spesh Secteur for my son recently and realised when out on a spin with him today that (naturally) I had routed his cables as I expected them to work from all other bikes, including motorbikes, that I've had: Right lever - front brake; left lever - rear brake.

HOWEVER, the penny dropped that my Orion is opposite to this! Its set up as Right-rear, left-front.

I've had the Orion about six months and (shamefully ...) didn't twig this before now............but, that said, its never been a problem. Its was bought new and fully assembled from CSS.

So, I'm presuming that my bike is incorrectly set-up - but IS there actually a 'convention' (or law, like with motorbikes) for this ............or is it somehow manufacturer 'discretionary' - surely not?

Can other Ridley owners offer their experience....

Ta

nomadic · 08-01-2011 09:41PM

There's no convention, well country specific convention.

The US and other places have their brakes on the wrong side.

C3PO · 08-01-2011 09:48PM

According to Sheldon Brown .....

http://www.sheldonbrown.com/brakturn.html

........hardly conclusive!

I know I recently reversed mine on both my ancient Giant OCR and new Pinerello FP5. Couldn't get used to left/front particularly as my mountain bikes are set up in the more usual right/front!

Captain Havoc · 08-01-2011 09:50PM

Europeans have their brakes the other way, my LIDL bike is like this.

Beasty · 08-01-2011 09:54PM

I thought it was "driven" by the side of the road you ride - UK/Ireland have back brakes on the left, and Continental Europe/US the right. Isn't it something to do with the hand you have free to signal when turning across the other lane?

polariz · 08-01-2011 10:22PM

They're the wrong way round on my German MTB. I don't know how many times I've flung myself over the bars by jamming on the "wrong" brake! There's no mercy with disks

el Bastardo · 09-01-2011 12:57AM

The cable routing on my German road bike was clearly designed for front/left and rear/right, but presumably the UK distributors saw to it that this would be swapped around (to conform with UK safety requirements?) - It's actually better in this country. My American MTB is front/left and rear/right (because I brought it with me on the plane from US) and it's caused a few over-the-handlebars mishaps, enough so that I don't indicate any right turns if I have to brake at the same time.

tomasrojo · 09-01-2011 01:44AM

Someone pointed out during the cold weather in January that on dublinbikes the right lever controls the rear brake (this being the appropriate brake to use when you hit ice).

funkyjebus · 09-01-2011 02:20AM

I go with rear brake/left shifter on my road bike, its just makes sense as i can shift down my rear der easier while braking. Used to be the other way around, but much prefer the set up now.

Lumen · 09-01-2011 09:41AM

"Wrong" brakes make more sense to me, wherever I am.

Braking in the wet whilst indicating to take an exit on the "other" side of the road is where you want the stopping power from the front brake.

RobFowl · 09-01-2011 11:09AM

Beasty wrote: »

I thought it was "driven" by the side of the road you ride - UK/Ireland have back brakes on the left, and Continental Europe/US the right. Isn't it something to do with the hand you have free to signal when turning across the other lane?

+1
It's the British/Irish set-up to have the rear brake on the left.
The European set-up to the other way round.

goods · 09-01-2011 11:54AM

is it not best to have the rear brake set to whichever is your dominant side, so if your right handed have rear brake on the right - whichever side you would tend to pull automatically in an emergency ?

at1withmyself · 09-01-2011 12:38PM

el Bastardo wrote: »

My American MTB is front/left and rear/right (because I brought it with me on the plane from US) and it's caused a few over-the-handlebars mishaps, enough so that I don't indicate any right turns if I have to brake at the same time.

polariz wrote: »

They're the wrong way round on my German MTB. I don't know how many times I've flung myself over the bars by jamming on the "wrong" brake! There's no mercy with disks

Most disc brake levers are reversible so are the same upside down (if that makes sense), so you can easily switch the levers around unless they are tied into the shifter. Just check the lever, and then unbolt the screws and swap them around on the handlebar, 2 minute job.

Alternatively it's very easy to do if they are mechanical brakes.

Anytime I've been abroad and hired a bike I always change them over to suit myself, and then change them back when finished, saves me going over the bars!!

09-01-2011 04:20PM

goods wrote: »

is it not best to have the rear brake set to whichever is your dominant side, so if your right handed have rear brake on the right - whichever side you would tend to pull automatically in an emergency ?

It's a common misconception that the rear brake is the most important brake. You can stop twice as quickly with the front brake alone as with the rear brake alone due to the fact that under braking forces, the load of the bike is shifted forward towards the front wheel. Maximum braking occurs when the rear wheel is just on the verge of lifting off the ground, at which time the rear brake contributes almost nothing to stopping power. This kind of braking requires fine control of the front brake, which is why I prefer to have it controlled by my dominant hand (right hand for me).

I recommend that all cyclists practice powerful front braking at low speed to get a feel for the amount of braking it takes to lift the back wheel, it's a useful skill to have if you need to stop in a hurry, one I was very glad of when a truck pulled out in front of me on a descent. If I had relied on the rear brake I would have just skidded straight into it. Thankfully I was able to come to a stop from 60kph with about 5-10 feet to spare.

doozerie · 09-01-2011 04:49PM

There is no right or wrong re which lever controls which brake, just personal preference. Pick which way suits you best and stick with it as it is swapping between them that'll cause you problems.

Personally, I've been riding with my right lever as the rear brake for years with no problems - ironically, if I were to switch now to what some people call the "correct" setup I might well put myself over the bars due to it being unfamiliar. My brain also appreciates the simplicity of rear brake and rear derailleur controls both being by the same hand. My brain likes simple.

polariz · 09-01-2011 06:06PM

at1withmyself wrote: »

Most disc brake levers are reversible so are the same upside down (if that makes sense), so you can easily switch the levers around unless they are tied into the shifter. Just check the lever, and then unbolt the screws and swap them around on the handlebar, 2 minute job.

You're absolutely right! .. dah, I should've copped that :rolleyes: I've been putting off what I saw as a potentially big/annoying job for ages. Thanks a mill.

TheBlaaMan · 09-01-2011 06:37PM

Interesting to read the various replies (and to be reassured that all was well !) as I was confident there would be some 'rule', but obviously there is not.

While its somewhat counter-intuitive to me (as I also ride a motorbike) its beginning to seem sensible to leave things as is, ie front brake operated by left lever, if for no other reason (as Lumen points out) that it leaves the left hand to take care of the primary braking if making a right turn and using a hand-signal. Also, as @doozerie points out, it leaves front brake/front derailleur on left and rear/rear on the right. That said, if the cables weren't routed under the bar tape, I might be tempted to change them over just to be 'normal'.

Anyhow, I'm now well used to them as they are, so I'll leave it be.

cantalach · 09-01-2011 10:22PM

Even the pros get confused - check out the little reminder this Aussie rider taped to the bars (either side of stem) of his American team bike:

http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/photos/willos-wrist-ends-his-beauce/26786

doozerie · 09-01-2011 11:17PM

TheBlaaMan wrote: »

That said, if the cables weren't routed under the bar tape, I might be tempted to change them over just to be 'normal'.

Hey, I'm normal too. And the voices in my head agree. We're just differently normal.

dquirke1 · 10-01-2011 12:08AM

I was in a similar situation a few weeks ago when I picked up my new TT bike from the shop. I got around 100 yards before locking up the back wheel and hitting the deck. Glad to hear I'm not alone in my ignorance. Now I have them set up front-right rear-left, same as my other bikes (and motorbike).

CramCycle · 10-01-2011 01:17AM

I thought I was normal with left = front, right = back, until a mate borrowed my bike and went head over heals into a pile of muck because he believed me to be wrong, wouldn't change though, he was clearly wrong

Signal_ rabbit · 10-01-2011 11:16AM

RobFowl wrote: »

+1
It's the British/Irish set-up to have the rear brake on the left.
The European set-up to the other way round.

+2

The brakes were designed that when signaling to turn left in the UK/Ireland, the theory was that very little braking action is required if riding on the extreme left as you wont need to stop to turn and can continue on. If you do need to slow with one hand (as the other is signalling) it is considered safe to do this on the front brake.
Whereas if signalling to turn right you would actually need to stop the bike as you would be pulling across oncoming traffic. Braking to a halt with one brake (again as the other hand is signalling) is easier/safer to do on the back brake.

In Europe where they drive on the wrong (sic) side of the road the brakes are reversed.

That was the theory anyway.

Lumen · 10-01-2011 11:22AM

Signal_ rabbit wrote: »

Braking to a halt with one brake (again as the other hand is signalling) is easier/safer to do on the back brake.

Yeah, try doing that with carbon rims in the wet!

IMO when you've only one hand on the bars you want maximum braking power with as little applied force as possible.

cantalach · 10-01-2011 11:28AM

Lumen wrote: »

Yeah, try doing that with carbon rims in the wet!

I wish I had carbon rims with which to try it!

snottybridge · 10-01-2011 12:50PM

have a ridley triton,same set-up,left is front brake,right is the back.

sham2 · 10-01-2011 02:04PM

I always wondered why my German designed Cube MTB had the brakes the other way around. I'm so used to the left/front setup I don't think I would change now.
Also braking on the left/front while signalling right or otherwise should be practiced first as my shoulder found out when I slammed it into the ground after losing control from not anticipating the weight transfer to the left side of the handlebars when doing this. Oh God that hurt. I avoid braking with one hand off as much as possible now.

rp · 10-01-2011 08:45PM

polariz wrote: »

They're the wrong way round on my German MTB. I don't know how many times I've flung myself over the bars by jamming on the "wrong" brake! There's no mercy with disks

Which way round is that? Last I heard, the German DIN regulations said that new bikes sold in Germany must have Front brake / right lever, and that was set to become an EN as well, but the French didn't like it.

Coronal · 10-01-2011 09:24PM

rp wrote: »

Which way round is that? Last I heard, the German DIN regulations said that new bikes sold in Germany must have Front brake / right lever, and that was set to become an EN as well, but the French didn't like it.

Not a law here as of yet, anyway. I kinda like it, it'd drive me silly to have to get used to front brake right.

Karma · 11-01-2011 12:48AM

Beasty wrote: »

I thought it was "driven" by the side of the road you ride - UK/Ireland have back brakes on the left, and Continental Europe/US the right. Isn't it something to do with the hand you have free to signal when turning across the other lane?

or to flip off drivers :rolleyes:

I have the front on the left on one fixie and my my road bike. MTBS are mixed

Left or Right .....?

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