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I'm new here and hoping someone might have thoughts on this - had a look and couldn't find an answer elsewhere! Apologies for the kind of long question, and if it's silly, but any thoughts would be appreciated :)

My situation is this: I ride a simple hybrid bike just to and from work/uni most of the time, though I'd like to get a road bike one day. I do also like "mountain" biking on flat trails but borrow bikes for this.

I have very mild cerebral palsy on my left hand side. It affects muscle strength and fine motor skills but only slightly. If I wanted to apply the rear brake, on my left handlebar, it's difficult for me to get up enough force quickly. (steering and controlling bike are totally fine)

I'm great at using the front brakes though, and it's never caused me problems before (I don't go that fast anyway), but I just started wondering, if I want to get a road bike or do more risky mountain biking, perhaps I should consider what's safest and whether modifications would be possible.

So firstly I'm wondering whether anyone thinks this is worth investigating, or if only front braking should continue to be fine.

Secondly, if I should try find a way to rear brake, does anyone have any suggestions? Is there any way to control both brakes from my right handlebar (I'm pretty quick and strong on my right, due to always having had to compensate for my left)? Also, when I was a kid, my dad used to find/make me bikes that applied rear brakes when I back-pedalled - is that a thing? (Google directs me to coaster brakes) But I can't remember if I also had a front brake on those bikes.

I'm not good at DIY, due to the lack of fine motor skills from one of my hands, so if I want to go the path of trying a modification I guess I also want to try work out what I'd get charged for it by a store here in Australia.

I may just be overthinking this, but I've always felt kind of nervous on road bikes (only ridden my boyfriend's a couple of times), so if I do want to get into riding one, I want to know I've got the best set up for me.

Thanks so much!

(also my injury tag = disability, wanted to create the tag but couldn't due to being new. I felt it might be useful to link it to injury anyway in case someone looks there for answers on how to ride after an injury to a hand)

Nate W
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Yhana
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  • It would be a good idea to say what country you're in -- in the UK, ikes have to be sold with the front brake on the right, in much of the rest of the world it's the other way round. – Chris H Feb 26 '16 at 16:21
  • Related: http://bicycles.stackexchange.com/q/28539/7309 (especially my answer) – Chris H Feb 26 '16 at 16:25
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    Many experienced cyclists almost exclusively use the front brake anyway. I only use the rear brake on long descents mostly to have heat distributed to both wheels, or when there's a possibility of the front wheel locking up due to traction issues (lots of water, or gravel). The front brake is the only brake capable of stopping you in a minimum amount of time in an emergency. – Stephen Touset Feb 26 '16 at 23:17
  • @chrisH in the UK, no they don't. Such a rule would conflict with the Disability Discrimination Act. – Emyr Feb 27 '16 at 07:59
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    You can have your bike set up how you want it to be. Noone else is going to ride it. I'd suggest a coaster brake on the rear (back peddling brake) and a front brake lever under your "good" or "responsive" hand, and no brake lever under the bad hand to help remind you. – Criggie Feb 27 '16 at 08:16
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    @Emyr in the answer I linked to I go into a little more detail. There are exemptions (which are likely to apply here) but the regs are clear. I suspect post-sale professional adaptation is the proper route – Chris H Feb 27 '16 at 13:06
  • I somehow only thought to add that I'm in Australia in the 3rd from bottom paragraph... I'll blame forgetting to make it clear on our isolation.

    And I know bikes here are all the same - front on right, but then on the rules on road/footpath-worthy bikes it just says rear brake required, front brake optional, so I imagine modifications are all fine, Standards to limit confusion.

     – Yhana Feb 28 '16 at 05:44
  • Another alternative is going to a geared hub with a coaster brake. That is, pedaling backwards engages the rear brake. – mpez0 Feb 28 '16 at 18:27

3 Answers3

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Generally speaking your off hand should be the front brake, so if you're right handed the front brake should be the left. They can be set up either way, though, especially if you're using cable-driven (non-hydraulic) brakes. Even with hydraulics you should have no problem making the right hand brake the rear. I would highly advise this, as in a panic situation while mountain biking if you grab the front brake hard, you're more than likely going over the bars.

There are levers that work both brakes. They are out there!

dual pull brake lever

Here is one that pulls 2 cables at the same time, so you could use it to pull both the back and the front brakes. http://www.jbi.bike/web/checking_product_description.php?part_number=13748

There is also a company called Surestop whose product I believe works off of one lever and won't engage the front brake until the rear is already engaged, thus making it very difficult to catapult yourself over the bars. They are for V brakes only though, I believe.

The backpedalling braking is indeed a coaster brake: you are correct on that note.

Móż
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Nate W
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  • That surestop looks pretty neat! http://www.surestop.bike/technology.html They don't seem to sell full kits on their site though... A little googling turned this up too: https://paulcomp.com/shop/components/duplex-lever/ although it doesn't have a mechanism to stagger the application of the rear & front brakes. – renesis Feb 26 '16 at 16:15
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    Sheldon Brown suggests that the left brake be used on the more dominant hand since it should be used most often on the road and requires the most fitness. – jfa Feb 26 '16 at 18:36
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    "left brake" being the rear that you're referring to correct? Because being the left is dependent on the country of origin. In the US our bikes come with the left brake as the front and the right as the rear. – Nate W Feb 26 '16 at 18:43
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    As you hand over brake control to your subconscious - it makes little difference what you dominant hand is. (Do you think "I need to stop, I need to pull the left lever little and the right lever a short time after, oh, too much, now I am skidding, a little less", or does it all "just happen" and your first though is "that was close".......).

    Based on that normally your brakes should be set up like everyone else does in your country, especially if you plan to borrow bike. Anyone who has experience riding a bike with brakes opposite you what they are use to knows why.

     – mattnz Feb 26 '16 at 18:49
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    @NateWengert >.< front brake, sorry – jfa Feb 26 '16 at 18:55
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    As a motorcycle rider, I cannot imagine having the front brake anywhere but on the right handlebar. I swapped my cables just because of this. –  Feb 26 '16 at 19:45
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    Why do you believe that your front brake should be in your off hand? In situations with good traction, the front brake is more effective. The only times I have gone down because I used the front brake have been when I was (unknowingly) riding over black ice - and I've never pitched over the handlebars due to braking too hard. I find that it's really quite challenging to pitch yourself over the handlebards due to braking too hard - you have to intentionally shift your weight forward to do it. http://www.sheldonbrown.com/brakturn.html – jayhendren Feb 26 '16 at 23:21
  • I flipped a borrowed bike the first time I rode it and almost flipped it a few other times before I figured out the rear brake was not working. I did NOT have to shift my weight forward to do it. – WGroleau Feb 27 '16 at 07:17
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    Those dual pull levers are really common on trikes and quads, they're not just a disability thing. I have two on my quad, for example. – Móż Feb 27 '16 at 22:39
  • Thanks all!

    Surestop piques my interest - though dual pull does too, it just worries me more on that one how much weight each brake gets from a pull, but cursory Googling suggests you can alter the bias to suit.

    I've got a bit of a list of things to look into and trial now. I'll hopefully get my own road bike come June-July, so will see what adding in one of those systems will add to purchase cost, and if any stores here in Perth are familiar with them.

     – Yhana Feb 28 '16 at 05:54
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I was amazed the right is the front but found this

Australian Standard AS1927 – 1998 Pedal Bicycles – Safety Requirements, page 16 Section 2.14 Braking System 2.14.2.1 states the following: Handbrake lever location: The brake lever for a front brake shall be positioned on the right-hand side of the handlebar, and that for a rear brake on the left-hand side.

Options:

  • Continue to use the right as the front
    This may be your best option as most of the braking is from the front
    If you have learned to control this (not go out the front) then not a bad option

  • Continue to use the right as front with a drop seat post
    Getting your weight back is the best defense to not going out the front
    On the street for emergency braking no help
    But on mountain bike you could drop the seat for downhill sections

  • Dual pull cable
    This is covered in the answer from Nate +1

  • Rear coaster
    With a single speed or internal hub you can get a rear coaster brake
    An internal hub with coaster would be kind of expensive and not even sure it would be compatible with your existing bike

  • Dual hydraulic
    Put a split on the hydraulic line go to both front and rear
    But then would need to find a brake lever to put out twice the volume or find brakes that only need half the volume
    Another problem there is with same in front and rear on hard braking it would not be much different than front only - as you go out the front there is no weight on the rear wheel
    You could tune it with a larger brake on the rear
    Cars do do something like this
    It would be an expensive custom build

Down hill is where you need to be very careful as easy to go out the front. But down hill the rear wheel is already unweighted by the angle so you need to use the front just be careful.

paparazzo
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    A split in the hydraulic line to feed both brakes with one lever is unsafe, a single leak will leave the brakes non-functional. – Timothy Baldwin Feb 26 '16 at 18:17
  • @TimothyBaldwin And leaks in two brake lines is equally unsafe. A single point of failure does not instantly go from safe to unsafe. Automobiles today are susceptible to a single point of failure and it is managed effectively. – paparazzo Feb 26 '16 at 18:24
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    @ Frisbee, Australian Standard: It is common in left-side of the road driving countries to have the front brake on the right lever. Any other country would have it on the left, generally speaking. There are however personal tastes and preferences. – Carel Feb 26 '16 at 18:38
  • @Frisbee automobiles have usually three separate brake circuits in order to avoid single point of failure. – ojs Feb 26 '16 at 19:15
  • @ojs And my statement of "susceptible to a single point of failure and it is managed effectively" is valid. A feed to both brakes on a bicycle is not inherently unsafe - that is a very manageable risk. – paparazzo Feb 26 '16 at 19:27
  • How does one manage that risk, then? If the hydraulic line leaks, both brakes go out. How do you propose never having hydraulic leaks? Or are you simply stating that the risk of a leak is acceptable, rather than manageable? – Stephen Touset Feb 26 '16 at 23:21
  • @StephenTouset Do you drive a car? Do you fly. Do you assume there is no possibility of an hydraulic leak. What basis do you have to assert that risk cannot be manage on a bicycle? You and I have a history where you asserted other false logic. – paparazzo Feb 27 '16 at 00:25
  • Brakes are a critical safety item so it should never be possible to lose all braking ability from a single failure. I don't find anything "manageable" about discovering I have no brakes on a fast downhill with a busy intersection at the bottom. – Carey Gregory Feb 27 '16 at 00:25
  • @CareyGregory You have a flawed sense that manageable means discovering a failure on a down hill. Do you drive a car? That is and hydraulic brake system going to 4 wheels. You think with independent brakes there is zero chance of failure? – paparazzo Feb 27 '16 at 00:28
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    The brake system goes to four wheels via a minimum of two physically separate systems on all modern cars. This costs manufacturers more money but it's cheaper than paying out millions in punitive damages for installing inherently dangerous brake systems. If you can't envision a hydraulic system losing pressure at the worst possible moment, then I have no idea what you mean by manageable. Redundancy of critical systems is a hallmark of good engineering, and yes, I can calculate the odds of a dual failure vs. single failure. Let's just say the latter is far more likely. – Carey Gregory Feb 27 '16 at 00:36
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    If you want to run two hydraulic brakes from one lever, don't mess with the hoses, just get an appropriate dual lever. This one has the right master cylinder size to drive two mid-range Shimano calipers: www.tartybikes.co.uk/hydraulic_disc_brakes/tensile_shimano_twin_caliper_hydraulic_disc_brake/c558p13126.html – Emyr Feb 27 '16 at 08:03
  • @CareyGregory In a vehicle the risk is managed. Do you really think risk management means just accept the risk of any design and figure out has to deal with with it? Do you think a risk manager does nothing about averting risk. I am using the term in proper way. If you want to react to it in an improper way then that is on you. You give an example of manage risk on a car and follow with "what you mean by manageable"? So a car has a single brake pedal and that risk is managed but no way a single brake lever on bike can have an acceptable risk? – paparazzo Feb 27 '16 at 09:00
  • @Frisbee All I did was ask how you propose to manage the risk, because it really does sound like you're simply saying it's an acceptable risk. I'm not even disagreeing with it being acceptable, as I genuinely don't know the incidence rate of hydraulic brake failures (and assume it to be relatively low). We already accept all kinds of risks in cycling. – Stephen Touset Feb 27 '16 at 21:54
  • @StephenTouset I am not proposing how to manage the risk. I am asserting it is very manageable. The question is not how to build a dual hydraulic brake. A dual hydraulic brake is simply a solution. I am asserting that it is a manageable risk based on hydraulic brakes are used on bicycle today. Give that dual (well quad) actuation is successful on car (that has a higher risk profile) clearly there is a valid design with an acceptable risk. The purpose of the detail is not for an actual design but point out cannot just slap existing brakes on - "It would be an expensive custom build". – paparazzo Feb 27 '16 at 23:01
  • @StephenTouset For Timothy (and then Carey) to take "A split in the hydraulic line" as a literal rather than conceptual design to me is an unreasonable interpretation. I feel like I address that sufficiently with "Automobiles today are susceptible to a single point of failure and it is managed effectively." I am not going to drag this into a design discussion when I think that would actually dilute the answer. A custom design and build is simply not cost effective for the benefit but to me it clearly could be done. – paparazzo Feb 27 '16 at 23:11
  • Thanks all.

    I'll continue to investigate these - my dad (travelling Europe, never wants to come back to Aus) also finally replied to say yep, he used to fit rims with coaster brakes to my childhood bikes himself.

    Whilst I've never yet gone over the front bars (my brother did as a kid though), I am just worried that if I'm going faster on a road bike, or proper mountain biking, it'll be easier to screw up under pressure - but in meantime I might try a few practice runs on standard setups just using the front brake to see how safe I feel.

     – Yhana Feb 28 '16 at 06:04
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Have you thought about modifying a lever so there is less pull, less reach to the lever too, and having that on your restricted side? If you know any 2nd hand parts places and had a rummage through the old stuff you might find something to play with. Could you operate a brake lever fitted under the heel of your hand?

Pedaldog
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