Braking on the Bike

You should apply nearly equal pressure to both brakes at the same time.

This is what I do not sure if it is the best way. But I won't lie I pucker up on big descents and end up feathering the brakes if there is any curves in sight.

There's a lot of good info on the web about it. I've read some longer explanations from Sheldon Brown and Slowtwitch the topic comes up frequently... mostly front brake. Your back doesn't do much. Hold your line. Brake before turning. Don't brake while turning or you invite disaster. Someone else will probably have more to say since this usually ends up with lots of physics and philosophy and a big debate. lol

Mostly front brake - as you brake, weight shifts forward so the front wheel has more traction than the rear. Look at the discs on your car - the front is larger than the rear because it does more work. This has to be balanced with the fact that too much front brake will send you over the handlebars, so apply smoothly until you feel the back get light - on big hills this will be a lot sooner than you expect (it was for me!)

At any given time, each wheel has X amount of traction. if you are using X amount for braking, and you turn, you'll ask the tire for more traction than it can give and meet the pavement. Vice versa - if you are using all the traction for turning and you brake, bad things will happen. The practical advice is to brake in a straightline and ease off the brake as you enter the turn to the point where you're fully off the brakes at the apex. If you were in a car, you would apply gas as you open up out of the turn - that part doesn't apply here.

I'm no expert bike handler, but I spent some time autocrossing, karting and generally fooling with cars before taking up cycling. The principles are the same, except in autocrossing you hit a cone and are embarrassed, while in cycling you hit the tarmac and are bruised. Proceed with caution.

My inclination would be to take it "easy" on the descents. The most important thing is to be smooth and if you're moving so fast you're nervous (especially in a race) you'll be more inclined to jam on the brakes or steer suddenly at the wrong time. In that case you could wreck, but even if you don't, you've given up time you didn't need to lose.

Oh - and you need to make it up the wall, otherwise you've pretty much lost as much time as you'll lose on all the descents combined.

Mostly front brake - as you brake, weight shifts forward so the front wheel has more traction than the rear. Look at the discs on your car - the front is larger than the rear because it does more work. This has to be balanced with the fact that too much front brake will send you over the handlebars, so apply smoothly until you feel the back get light - on big hills this will be a lot sooner than you expect (it was for me!)

At any given time, each wheel has X amount of traction. if you are using X amount for braking, and you turn, you'll ask the tire for more traction than it can give and meet the pavement. Vice versa - if you are using all the traction for turning and you brake, bad things will happen. The practical advice is to brake in a straightline and ease off the brake as you enter the turn to the point where you're fully off the brakes at the apex. If you were in a car, you would apply gas as you open up out of the turn - that part doesn't apply here.

I'm no expert bike handler, but I spent some time autocrossing, karting and generally fooling with cars before taking up cycling. The principles are the same, except in autocrossing you hit a cone and are embarrassed, while in cycling you hit the tarmac and are bruised. Proceed with caution.

My inclination would be to take it "easy" on the descents. The most important thing is to be smooth and if you're moving so fast you're nervous (especially in a race) you'll be more inclined to jam on the brakes or steer suddenly at the wrong time. In that case you could wreck, but even if you don't, you've given up time you didn't need to lose.

I hope that helps!

Edited by guitarfrk75 2013-08-31 8:20 PM

Mostly front brake.

good info here

http://sheldonbrown.com/brakturn.html

 

 

Edited by Jason N 2013-08-31 9:02 PM

I don't know if you have ridden the roads in that area, but they are extremely winding and steep. I live about an hour away from there in WV, and the roads in Garrett county are even crazier than our roads here. For perspective, yesterday I was in the LBS having a 28T cassette put on my bike. The sales guy asked why I was wasting my money because I am too strong to need that. I responded that Savageman was coming up (I am only doing the 30), and he said he understood.

In the Garrett County gran fondo, I saw countless riders at the bottom of the hills with flats because they were braking so hard that they overheated their rims and blew out their tubes. I also know someone who melted his carbon rims with his brakes a couple years ago on that ride.

I give you these warnings because, I too, am a coward on the descents. You have to resist the urge to tuck in and fly down the hills. You will really want to because you had to work so hard to get up them, and you know that more difficult climbs are ahead of you, but take it easy from the top. Feather your brakes. You want to scrub speed before the last minute so that you are always in control of the bike and don't have to make emergency decisions. Also, try to lessen the angle of a curb. If you watch a bike race where the riders are strung out, it provides an excellent illustration of the position your bike should be in every foot of the way.

Also, I don't know what type of bike you are planning on riding, but the website does recommend a road bike instead of a tri bike.

Good luck! I don't know about you, but I am as concerned about the hills on the run as the bike.

The front brake mostly. I may not recommend it, but I've adjusted my rear brake so that it only scrubs speed. Its impossible to skid my rear tire the way its set up. Practice.

Brakes are just a means of expressing fear.

As others have said, front brake has the stopping power, but the back brake is safer to use for minor speed scubbing. You can recover from a locked back wheel, but a locked front wheel is pretty much game over. I tend to use back to scrub speed a bit and front to slow down in a hurry.

Be sure when descending to push your weight back before you use the front brakes (butt on the back of the seat or even off the seat in the back). Keep your arms strong to prevent your chest from going forward when you brake. That way you dont do an endo over the front. Be aware of the heat this builds in the front wheel -- I've never blown a tire, but my front rim has gotten too hot to touch on relatively short descents.

If the decent is VERY steep, I also try to sit tall to use wind resistance to scrub speed.

I'll see you at Savageman!