vins0010

So, over the winter, I picked up an '86 Trek 500 (checked serial number on Vintage Trek) on the cheap. It's a nice bike, frame (531) is in good shape. The person I bought it from is not the original owner, and it has been modified a good bit. The frame has been repainted (pretty decently) with an American Flag theme (red and white stripes, blue with stars) and someone has removed the older Shimano Light Action (an okay) rear derailler with a fairly new Sora (no comment). The weird thing is that someone removed the front brake; the bike only has a rear brake. I'm guessing it was used this way, for awhile, as the bars are taped up to accomodate the missing lever.

Any ideas why someone would outfit a bike with a rear brake only? Is there a good reason, if you're only going to have one brake, the rear one is it?

I'm debating just stripping it down, getting it repainted, etc. and just turning it into the project I've always considered doing. On the other hand, I might just sell it (adding a front brake, for safety - just wouldn't feel right selling it otherwise).

blamp28

Perhaps they just lacked the understanding of physics neccessary to appreciate the value of the front brake.

jco1385

this was me until i got back into bikes. i always figured the rear brake was good enough, and wouldn't launch you over the bars if applied too hard. now i understand the physics of it. i guess as a kid i never thought about it any other way than getting launched over the bars. lol. maybe this was the previous owners' standing as well.

blamp28

Plus as a kid, it was oh so cool to lay down a 20 foot patch of rubber. Now that we have to pay for the rubber, we look at that differently.

Kimmo 

Sounds like a BMX hangover.

IIRC, dirt racers generally run a rear brake only.

FBinNY 

Odds are something broke, cable lever, whatever, so they remover it. People do it all the time, figure there's two brakes, one's a spare. Might be the caliper arm bent when the fork spun on a crash.

Also some folks get overwrought after hearing stories about locking the front brake and flipping over.

Don't try to second guess the reasons why people do things, removing front brakes doesn't even make the radar given all the other stupidity out there.

Bikedued

I still run into people that are scared to death of the front brake. They probably heard of someone getting launched over the bars 20-30 years ago
and never recovered from that mentality. I just know that EVERY bike I own that's not a beach cruiser, has one installed and functioning.,,,,BD

kludgefudge

My Nephew was just visiting from the interior and I took him out on a few road rides with me. he wouldn't use the front brake. apperently he took the front disc off his MOUNTAIN BIKE which as far as I know he uses for actual mtn biking. Say's he "only uses it for endo's anyway"

Needless to say, I was a little perplexed. I like having two brakes, especially off road, and I really wouldn't be comfortable on a bike without a front brake, in traffic at least. Right now I am riding a bike with no rear brake (freewheel) but only because I can't find one for a vintage Peugeot UE 8 that has a wierd in-line-with-seatstays brake mount that requires a special, hard to find part. (if you have one let me know!)

DArthurBrown

Shimano Sora is fine. The differences in the Sora line with the higher lines (other than the shifters) are pretty superficial. In fact, a new Shimano Tourney rear derailleur is far far far better than even the best 1980's Campy, and is certainly better than any Shimano stuff from the same period. People attach to much to the marketing hierarchy. Modern stuff is so much better than the old stuff it's not comparable.

Keep the Sora.

Kimmo 

Depends how old... I'd way rather have say, 1994 Dura-Ace in good nick than Sora.

Two factors: design and materials. If you're running friction shifters, any nice old slant-parallelogram derailleur is better than a nasty new one if it's in good condition. 1990s Campy rear derailleurs rock; they're made to last ages.

...But then, if you're friction shifting, anything that vaguely looks like a derailleur would prolly work fine...

jgedwa

I know plenty of casual riders who do not use the front brake ever. I know a number of parents who remove front brakes from their kids' bikes. I know a number of casual riders who seem not to understand that you can modulate the front brake to avoid comically disasterous results.

I am not defending any of these positions of lunacy, but they are very, very common.

The only real mystery here is why someone who had a decent enough bike (that Trek is a good old bike) who be so silly. Surely the person who bought it new did not do that to it. But, I bet it filtered down to someone who did not understand bikes at all.

jim

noglider 

Because he's ignorant. It's a foolish thing to do.