Thread: Using Only the Front Brake
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Old 05-29-15 | 03:23 PM
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cyccommute
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Originally Posted by cale
Typically, maximum braking is defined in terms of available traction, not bike attitude. If you're skidding, you've exceeded maximum braking. If you aren't yet skidding, you're short of maximum braking. Somewhere between the two lives the true maximum braking "value".
You are right for the rear wheel. But you can't skid a front wheel on a single bicycle. The bike and rider will rotate around the front hub before the front wheel will slide. We don't have enough mass and our center of gravity is too high to reach the limit tire-to-road adhesion.

The other bit of the puzzle that people miss is that it takes some time to lift the rear wheel off the ground if you are trying to reach maximum braking. During the period the contribution of the rear tire is not zero. Not using the rear brake is throwing away about 20% of your deceleration up to the point where the rear wheel leaves the ground.
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Last edited by cyccommute; 05-29-15 at 03:28 PM.
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