what side is your front brake?

[nporternz]

Front brake right always, the same as it is on a motorcycle.

AFAIK, the original idea of brake placement was to allow you to cover the rear brake while signalling to cross the opposite lane (that'll be turning right for us then...).
Obviously for the most of rest of the world this was reversed. I still don't know why they don't get over this though and use the front/right motorcycle convention.

i've got bikes with bot setups and find front/left way easier to drift around corners and control the bike

 

[andrewl]

I still don't know why they don't get over this though and use the front/right motorcycle convention.

Front right is only convention because Jap bikes took over the world.

 

[Easy_Rider]

I use my front brake 90% of the time, rarely use the rear except for steep slippery descents etc, where small amounts of braking is needed, hence I want the front brake on my right hand where the power is and the control needed.

The front brake is where most of the total braking power of the bike is.

Maximum braking occurs when the front brake is applied so hard that the rear wheel is just about to lift off. At that point, the slightest amount of rear brake will cause the rear wheel to skid.

Sheldon Brown also had the "right hand front" setup http://sheldonbrown.com/brakturn.html

 

[big.eck]

in a week or so i'll have a brake on both sides up-front

 

[Anthony]

It's worth bearing in mind that because the UK is the odd one out, we have to struggle with cable stops that are designed for front/left. This leads to the cable outers rubbing against the head tube and damaging the paint when front/right is used, because they're not taking the route that they were designed to take.

The 135 degree bend of the front brake pipe is also designed specifically to suit the front/left cable route. A 90 degree rear pipe is more suitable for front/right, but for some unknown reason virtually nobody uses one.

 

[ringo]

Mine are always on the right.

I remember BITD when my mate (on a GT he had just bought with the front brake on the left) broke his collarbone... He never admitted it, but I think he pulled the left lever to use the rear brake on a slippery sandy descent. Instead he was over the handlebars before he knew it!

 

[Andy R]

I still don't know why they don't get over this though and use the front/right motorcycle convention.

Front right is only convention because Jap bikes took over the world.

So BSA, AJS, Ariel, Matchless, Royal Enfield, Vincent, Sunbeam, Douglas, Norton etc etc didn't have front brakes on the right ???? :roll:

I think that you're mixing this up with rear brake/gearchange placement...

 

[dbmtb]

Front is on left on all my bikes except the CX ones.

I used to have the opposite on a couple of bikes when I moved to Denmark but got fed up of people asking why they were the wrong way round.... AFAIK it's only a british convention.

 

[P20]

Mountain bikes - front on right.
Road bikes - front on left.
Not sure why, but it works for me

 

[velomaniac]

British bicycles Right front.

The rest of the misguided world left front.

We didn't go far enough in our Empire building, although getting beat at cricket by the yanks would be very galling :roll: