HerrKaLeun

I know this is a topic where people disagree or where the answer is "do it the way you prefer".
I'm restoring my old bike (see my stupid questions on several mechanical issues )

Among other things I'm removing the mechanical disc brakes and install new hydraulic brakes. The mechanical brakes were set up front-left rear-right (typical US way) I already have the front brake and actually ordered one with lever on right side. Since the cable brakes were not strong anyway, it didn't really matter. I doubt the mechanical brakes could have thrown me off. I also didn't bike a lot (I'm planning to bike much more). So before now this was a moot point. but with the strong hydraulic brakes this becomes critical.

Based on what Sheldon recommends (more control etc.), but also based on:
1. Coaster brake bikes would have front brake on the right, so this makes sense to not switch (i did that for my 5 year old daughter's bike)
2. I don't ride a motorbike, but from my old moped days this is my primary brake.
3. As far as I remember my old bikes in Germany used to have front brake on the right as well (bikes with 2 handbrakes)
4. I don't care where the tradition of left-front came from. The fact car drivers signaled out of the left window for left and right before they had blinkers has no meaning to me. Also for right and left turns and braking to me this is a wash since left and right turns are as frequent. Typically I don't have emergency brakes when I have a planned turn that I signal for. I also avoid streets as much as possible.
5. I'm in full support that the front brake is the primary brake regardless of where the lever is located. Simple physics.
6. For cable brakes the argument is that routing is better with front-left. This has no meaning to my hydraulic brakes. On the contrary, my front rotor is on the left, so a lever on the right would even be better. But again, hydraulic lines likely don't care as cable brakes.

Now I was researching to support my argument and found in Germany there is no law describing where the brakes are as long as 2 independent brakes exist (unlike the US where front-left is required at sale). But I saw most new bikes in Germany are sole with the US setup nowadays. Same controversy as here and people switch it as they like.

Now I'm doubting my decision to go front-right a bit.
1. What I read is downshifting is harder since when you brake the shift lever would be at the same right hand as my primary brake.
2. When I sell this bike I probably have to switch it back for legal and liability reasons.
3. When I borrow a bike or, or pass this bike down to my wife, this will be confusing when using other bikes
4. It definitely is harder to come by hydraulic brakes for the front-right setup. At least in the US. I actually ordered my brakes from an Irish store that offer that option. So committing on non-standard setup has its challenges.

I have searched, but didn't find some of the above addressed. Switching also isn't as easy as with cable brakes. I still have to shorten my hydraulic lines (the brakes come with 1 m brake line). That would be the time to switch back to the US standards (front-left), but obviously I don't want to switch forth and back to try out. So once I get my rear brake and ready to shorten the lines this is my one-time shot to get it right.

I apologize if this is one of the threads that deserves the "search, this has been discussed 1000 times" response. I did research without conclusion. I'm looking for some actually helpful advice or opinion to help me decide to keep the way I started, or to switch.

jbell_64

I've been considering switching mine as well. Since I ride a motorcycle, i'm accustomed to using my right hand for braking. I find that it hard to get my brain to switch back and forth according to what 2 wheeled object i'm riding.

ridelikeaturtle

The front derailleur shifts with the left shifter (STI, Ergo), and the rear derailleur shifts with the right shifter. To be consistent with this, the left brake lever (which is part of the FD shift lever) should actuate the front brake, and the right brake lever (which is part of the RD shift lever) should actuate the rear brake.

This should also be consistent with what predominates your geographic region (US, continental EU): front brake on left, rear brake on right.

If you were in the UK or Ireland, you could reasonably put it the other way around, front brake on right, rear brake on left, as traditionally this has been the setup. But with STI/Ergo levers, even this is changing.

ridelikeaturtle

I always found it weird that I've never had a problem, as I too ride both a lot. It may be related to having a clutch on the left lever, and foot lever for the rear brake, and my body just adapts in the same way that you wouldn't get confused going from a motorbike to a car...

Scarbo

Why mess with tradition and what works? I see no reason for it really.

I also ride a motorcycle; but it's a different beast entirely and I am never confused about the braking.

Who knows why the front brake on road bikes is on the left. It is the more effective brake--the one that will throw you overboard if you are not careful. Maybe it has something to do with the whole mano sinistra thing. Who knows?

fietsbob

Touring bike, for those really steep get off and push hills, it was good to have the rear brake on the left,

to hold the brake on while i'd catch my breath , & let my heart rate relax.

Coaching Cyclocross Racing, Simon Burney,, Author, of several book editions on racing CX,
suggests left rear scheme too, as that lets you brake at the last moment,
while on just the left pedal, before getting off, running, and lifting the bike to leap barriers , etc.




...

jbell_64

May also make a difference that I'm riding a flat bar bicycle vs drop bars.?.?

ridelikeaturtle

In my experience trigger or grip-shift (on a flat-bar, on MTBs) has always had FD shifting on the left, RD shifting on the right, and the brake levers set to match.

The only place it would be potentially different (i.e., inconsistent with brake levers) would be DT shifters, stem-mounted shifters, or bar-end shifters.

jgwilliams

In the UK the front brake is always on the right. I'm so used to it now that I don't want to switch but it strikes me that logically that is the wrong way around. The front brake is the one with the best stopping power so if I have to have one hand off the bars for signalling then ideally I'd want to be braking front wheel only, not back wheel only. Obviously when signalling a turn you could have either hand off the bars but, since we ride on the left over here, I feel it is more important to signal right turns than left ones so therefore I would want to still be able to use the front brake when turning right. For those who ride on the other side of the road it would be the other way around.

My first recumbent had been put together the other way. Initially I thought I'd get used to it but after an emergency stop when I put the bike into a lurid slide because my reactions were all wrong I decided it made sense to keep all my bikes the same and swapped them over.

John

BlazingPedals

In the US, the right is generally for the rear derailleur and brake, the left side is for the front derailleur and brake. But there's no rule saying it has to be that way. In my early cycling days I ran the brakes both ways and they worked equally well.

kcblair

I,ve been using my right hand for ever, to shift both FT & RD, and when my hand is on the shift levers, I brake with left and front brake. Just seems natural. KB

Trakhak

I have three track bikes, all with front brakes, two with the lever on the right and one with it on the left. All my road and mountain bikes have the conventional U.S. bike brake arrangement. No confusion occurs.

italktocats

while i also never confuse bikes/clutches/brakes a weaker left hand makes it easier not to flip in a panic and more control over a skiddy rear brake

reppans

I switch all my bicycles to front-right as a motorcyclist. I tried to leave my latest bike front-left, as it was a pain to switch, and it was fine for normal riding, but it made me uncomfortable in the case of needing to panic brake (when you don't have the presence of mind).

In your case, I'd stick with what is most common of other bikes around where you live, buy, borrow, or share.

trailangel

Panic stop.... go to your left. Clutch and rear brake on the left( British Moto). Front brake and gears on the right.
It does not compute in my brain to have rear gears and rear brake on the right. Never even thought of this until somebody brought it up.

How many pages will this go?

JanMM

Try this great trick to keep your brain active!
Randomly/independently swap brake levers and shifters back and forth from left to right and back again, etc. Forcing you to THINK every time you need to brake and/or shift. It's a Brain Booster!

corrado33

I've ridden dirtbikes and ATVs my whole life (front brake on the right hand) but all of my bikes are setup the opposite (traditional US way, front brake left, rear right.)

It doesn't confuse me. Two completely different activities.

Go with what you want, whatever is most comfortable.

Repack Rider

My bikes are set up with the front brake on the right. It does not matter to the bike how you do it. Years ago we had a photo in the shop of a sprint finish in the World's, five riders in the photo. Two had the brakes one way, three had them the other.

I can ride a bike with either setup. It's just a bike, and they are just brakes.

HerrKaLeun

Thanks for the lively discussion. and thanks for not just telling me to use the serachfunction as if I would have asked for the best chain lubricant :-)

I should add I have upright handlebars and don't intend to ever have drop bars. I also have my shifters the regular way and intend to keep it that way (front derailleur on left, rear on right).
The shifting is a concern since when slowing down i downshift. I have a SRAM (with the 2 thumb knobs for up and down), but in the future may have a Shimano (seems they are for index finger too). I guess my best bet is before I make any changes to the hydraulic lines I leave the long lines coiled up and ride the bike with front-right and see how it goes. I haven't had hydraulic brakes before and need to feel how strong they are and how well I can modulate them.

I really don't understand how turn signals matter. whne i make a right turn, i slow down and hold the right arm out. This takes it away from the right hand brake. for left turns the opposite. I don't see the one happening more frequently than the other. So ther eis a 50/50 chance to have access to the "wrong" brake whne signaling whether you are in the UK or the USA. For turns I signal I'm also prepared in advance, so an emergency braking isn't in order. It is not like a bicycle is ridden like a Porsche that one fully accelerates before hard-braking just for the heck of it.

I also wonder if Sheldon's advice on right-front is partially based on older cable brakes requiring the stronger right hand? I noticed a lot of the Internet opinion is based on cable brakes.

Well, I already have my right-front brake, so I have no choice than to order a rear-left brake. Since the store has them on backorder, I just have to wait. which also shows me going against the standard is expensive / inconvenient.

OldTryGuy

I would much rather have my predominant hand, RIGHT, apply more panic pressure to the rear than have a brain fart and have it be applied to the front instead.

wipekitty

I do front-right on my fixed gears and front-left on my geared bikes. I never questioned the position until I started riding fixed a lot, and it made sense to have the primary hand brake aligned with my dominant hand (I'm right handed but left footed). I am using cable brakes, and the only time I use the rear brake on the fixed gear is on long descents on hot days.

Same logic kind of applies on my geared bikes. I think it makes sense to keep the brake and shifters aligned (e.g. front brake with front derailleur, rear brake with rear derailleur) especially with an STI system. On a geared bike, I'm shifting the rear derailleur more than using either the front derailleur or front brake, so I keep that with my dominant hand.

I'll be interested to hear how the setup works out!

italktocats

or gets you ran over, like switching from regular brakes to coasterbrakes and you grab into air

fietsbob

On my motorcycles the rear brake was a foot pedal.

Playing the mandolin & guitar for decades, my left hand and right are equally strong..

kickstart

I have set up bikes to mimic the right front brake setup of a motorcycle for consistency, but after consideration I prefer to have a right rear brake because I find it more stable, and safer as it better accommodates braking on hills in the wet while signaling.

Moe Zhoost

I switched all my bikes to front-right a few years ago after a panic stop kinda didn't stop me as quickly as I would have liked. I am right hand dominant so it makes sense that the combination of better front brake stopping power and greater right hand strength was better. I am very pleased with the conversion. I liked it so much that my trike has both right and left levers actuating the front brakes.