Originally Posted by
merlinextraligh
But my point is that its not a reasonable test of a set of brakes whether the bike stops downhill with just the rear brake, given that most o fthe braking force comes from the rear brake.
Out of curiousity, I tried this on my single bike, Dura Ace Calipers, Zipp pads (which are really Kool stops) dura ace aluminum rims. Brakes closely adjusted to the rims. At 20 mph using the rear brake alone, I couldn't skid the rear wheel even with a substantial amount of hand force.
Without the front brake shifting the wieght forward, its not that easy to skid the rear.
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I didn't mean to start an argument. I certainly agree with you that trying to stop a bike with the rear brake only is not a good test of any braking system. And I particularly commend you for doing a test to get actual data and reporting it. Bravo. You've made me "curious-er" than I was before. And that's a good thing.
Funny: you spend your whole cycling career learning how to keep your bike from skidding and crashing in the rain, snow, on ice -- it's hard to get out there and try to make it skid!