unrelated

When going downhill, you need to slow down quick and locking your brakes will not help at all. How do you guys do it?

This then leads to another question asked on another thread. Disk brakes are often more powerful than V-brakes, but since locking wheels isn't the best thing to do when trying to slow, what is the point of having super powerful brakes? It's not like you need to slow down from 70mph or something. Well I hope you get what I am trying to say, and appearently I am quite a newbie to mt biking.

ions

Modulation. You need to find the point between locking and threshold braking. The point of having super powerfull brakes is that they offer more control.

Maelstrom 

Also...when going down really steep stuff don't brake. The rear key there is learning when to brake. Bottoms and tops of steep stuff etc...try braking on near vertical slick rock and you are just asking to get injured

Raiyn

Disc brakes offer more consistant braking power as they are unaffected by being wet (aside from some getting noisy) and the fact that they are out of the muck. Compared to traditional rubber brake pads they just offer better more controllable braking force.

Reggie

yeah i agree with raiyn, disc brake offer more conistent braking, this basically means that you would not experience as many slips or slide when the pads come in contact to the disc whereas v brake you can sometimes find that the brakes can loosen out under heavy braking, ie braking downhill. Note. Once your on disc your not going to experience sudden stop as there is plenty of modualtions to it.

dirtbikedude

Another thing to consider, which I am surprised Mael did not mention, those of us in the 250lb+ range are much harder to stop once we get moving. Add to that a bit of gravity on the decents and it is like a loaded down big rig trying to stop on a steep grade

dirtbikedude

Oh yeah, to touch on what the others have said, you should always try and scrub some speed before you get to the point of it being a MUST SLOW NOW situation. So do it before the you start going down or into a turn. Also, you have better control over the bike if you do not brake in a turn.

A good example of not braking on a decent, we have a wall of slick rock here that is approximately 25' high at a 75 to 80 degree angle and another that is close to 90 degrees and approximately 35' high. Any braking on those will make for some good photos and serious pain so you need to drop in slowly.

Maelstrom 

I can stop. Trees, rocks and other things slow me right down when descending.

Today is gonna be my first day up doing shuttled DH. Going be an experience. Hope my rear wheel holds up.

unrelated

Do you guys use the frony brake much at all?!

Raiyn

That's one of the main reasons I switched to discs.

Maelstrom 

80% of the time. I almost never touch the rear.

bg4533

Same here. I use the front brake almost exclusively and when I need to stop quickly I will also grab the rear for a bit of assistance. I actually switch the brakes around so the right lever controls the front brake since my right hand is strongly dominant.

unrelated

Then how do you guys avoid having too much cg shifted to the front when using the front brake? Of course I know about shifting the body to the rear as much as possible but somehow it gives me this impression that it's dangerous to use the front brake too much.

Maelstrom 

Modulation. In its simplest form...don't lock the brakes.

a2psyklnut

When descending, you WANT a lot of CG on your front tire. That's what provides traction and thus control. You want to move your body weight back far enough so you don't go ash over elbows, but you don't want to drag your butt on the back tire all the time.

It just takes practice and time.

I remember reading an article on Whistler Mountain Bike Park (I think) and they had two photos at the same location. It was a rock face and one of the local riders was doing a nose wheelie (balancing on the front wheel with the back up in the air) as he was going down. The other photo was a guy with his shorts rubbing on the back tire. It's all about knowing your bike, and your body position on it!

L8R

WorldIRC

I never touch my rear. Especially in the trails unless I am looking to slide or something to make a turn.

a2psyklnut

I tap my rear brakes often. A quick little grab and go will help you when you need to change your line. But when descending, I'm about 70/30 F/R.

L8R

unrelated

Ok, this is really new to me. Gotta practise when given the chance!

Maelstrom 

Betcha that was either World Cup downhill or Shcleyer (sp). World cup is straight and kinda long and the shcleyer one is a turning slick rock a lot of great riders do turning nose wheelies on. We have a lot of trails here with that type of slick rock. Dang scarey in the wet.

Today I rode some really steep sections on really sketchy terrain. Becuase of this thread I tried to track how I rode. I did 2 things. I would tap the rear brake and hold the front brake (this technique a buddy taught me). I have the lever short enough where I can almost pull it to the handlebar without it engaging. This allows me to keep my finger on it and simply flex when I need some more torque. I also noticed anytime I came to something steeper (on the steep part like drops or rolldowns) I fully let go and rode it out and then broke again afterwards. My rear brake I would use more to whip the bike around corners...

Maelstrom 

To give an example

https://www.whistlerblackcomb.com/bike/

Look at the little flash picture under the menu bar. It will move and show a ride at the middle of this steep section.

Oh well can't find an exact pic. That steep section is on the new Garbonzo line. An extra 2200 ft to play on.

Maelstrom 

A-line rock drop. If you can't drop it you gotta roll it. No brakes here thats for sure.

https://www.pinkbike.com/modules/phot...ew&image=93407

You might have to hit refresh to get it to work.

Dannihilator

During the last week I have not used a front brake at all, frigged up from that crash that has me in a cast.