Originally Posted by
Ridefreemc
Along these lines I practice squeezing both levers very hard and when the back starts to skid/break free I actually let up on the FRONT just enough so it (the back) stops slipping. That puts the back tire back in contact for maximum grip. That is not intuitive as you want to let go of the rear, but that doesn't work well at all.
Try it both ways and you will experience it. We (me) tend to get lazy and only use one brake at a time, but it's not a bad idea to practice.
Getting off the
front brake when the rear starts to skid is a common practice in mountain biking. However, it's not (necessarily) to improve braking but it's done to improve control. A sliding tire is harder to control than a rolling tire. Since the weight is transferred to the front wheel, getting off the front brake puts the rear wheel down where it starts to roll again.