Originally Posted by
old's'cool
That's the best argument I've heard so far for left lever/front brake. I'll have to weigh that against trying to signal (conventionally, with left hand) while braking. Maybe I'll get over the conventional signalling part, and just signal with my right hand while braking hard when a signal is necessary. OTOH, in traffic regulations, cyclists are typically excused from removing a hand from the controls in order to signal, when it is unsafe to do so, so I've been getting by on that up to now.
Maybe it's just me, but I don't feel safe if I try to take one hand off the bars when braking hard. I'll likely signal and coast, then put my signal hand back on the bars and do most of the braking late before the turn. I've also given up on signaling left hand=right turn because nobody seems to remember it anymore, so half the time I would be using only the front brake anyway.
Originally Posted by
gmt13
Thanks for the advice. To answer some of the comments: Yep, brakes are set up right with minimal clearance to the rims. Other than drum brakes there are no better options for a 35 year old bike, so I am sticking with the current set-up.
In addition to the suggestion to make sure you're pulling the lever as far as you can from the pivot (gaining leverage), I'll suggest trying to readjust your setup so that the pads sit
farther from the rim.
Yup, really. When the pads are very close, your fingers don't have to pull the lever very far -- but they also don't get to curl very much around the lever, either, so you may only be able to pull with your fingertips. If you set the pads farther from the rim, you get more travel in the lever, and you can pull on the lever harder. Just make sure that you can still "bottom out" the levers before they hit the handlebars.