Originally Posted by DerekU2
I use whatever came on the bike. I'm not a fast rider by any means - I usually travel between 10-16MPH. There's a lot of skidding involved when I have to jam on the rear brake! I think I'm pretty good at controlling it though - dating back to my BMX days when I was a kid. I just never knew any better, I guess.
I've been forcing myself to use the front brake more, but it's become immediately evident I need to do some maintenance there. The pads are pretty thin - not from my use -- this is a used bike.
You'll notice you can stop a lot quicker with the front brake. Just make sure you unload your weight as far back and low as possible, otherwise you might flip over. It might ease the transition a little if you have the LBS swap the front and rear brakes so your right hand operates the front brake. Just make sure you remember not to squeeze too hard. On the plus side, there's no transition when you're riding a motorcycle.