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Old 01-31-14 | 10:43 PM
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Andrew R Stewart
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From: Rochester, NY

Bikes: Stewart S&S coupled sport tourer, Stewart Sunday light, Stewart Commuting, Stewart Touring, Co Motion Tandem, Stewart 3-Spd, Stewart Track, Fuji Finest, Mongoose Tomac ATB, GT Bravado ATB, JCP Folder, Stewart 650B ATB

Originally Posted by Jax Rhapsody
See, this is wrong, never lock uo the brakes on a car, it looses traction. The old car chase movies are proof. Same could be said fir a bike, but the dynamics a different. If the brakes are setup proper, I think a panic stop on a bike where it may stoo faster is a handful of rear brake and then half to half and a quater of front brake- which s sorta how cars work.
I don't know about this. I had always thought that cars had much more brake force (as in the lines) going to the front brakes then the rear. I have never seen a photo/video/description of a car doing a Dutch Wheelie (endo), ever. The weight distribution of a car is vastly different then a bike and rider so far more front brake bias can be without the possibility of rear wheel lift. The recent application of anti lock brakes are not to limit the car's endoing but to allow steering control by preventing locked front or rear wheels.

Now with bikes the center of mass is so high and the front wheel contact patch is so close to this mass center that too much front brake results in an endo very easily. Still when i stop "with anger" I apply a lot (repeat, A LOT) of front brake. My rear brake application serves as a sensor to how much front braking I can get away with. Too much rear braking and all that end does is skid or lift. The skill is to get that balance between skidding and traction at the rear wheel. This is why some practice of strong front braking is a good idea.

Part of this practice is learning the need to shift your ass behind the seat. Getting your center of mass as far backward and low as possible helps decrease the chance of the rear wheel lifting. This is one reason that tandems can stop far faster then many think they can with skilled riders. The tandem's rear weight bias keeps that end down on the road better then a single's.

Ask any skilled rider which brake they'd have, if just one only, and the vast majority will say the front. This is because the front does the vast majority of the stopping when the crap hits the fan. It's usually the unskilled, the unpracticed, the uninformed that are scared of the front capicity and instead rely on the rear brake. Sad to say this is a lot of riders... Andy.
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