i tend to match brakes to shifters...

left shifter handles the front derailleur = front brake
right shifter handles rears derailleur = rear brake

You are misinformed. Using the front properly makes a huge difference in braking distance. I'll take you out to a downhill where we can both ride at 30 or 40kph, 20 to 25mph and at a painted line you brake with rear only, i ll use front only. The pit of hungry alligators will be x feet past the line.
One of us will be a gator snack and it won't be by 6 inches.

What you are used to ..

Moto, clutch is in your right hand , front brake on the left , rear brake is a foot pedal, shift the other peg.



since I stop with both brakes, I switch hit.

What kind of Motorcycle are you riding?

dyslexic one from my memory I guess .. do recall holding a clutch lever could be the other hand ,
it was 30 years ago ..:50:..

town is saturated with Harleys as soon as it stops raining ..

I should get a Q&A with some of those folks

I don't think this argument holds water - that is, I think the entire reason is simply tradition; otherwise there would be better correlation between driving rules and braking conventions. I've heard the "right-front" option called "Italian style" brake cabling, and they're right side drivers in Italy.

Of course once you have a preference for one or the other, you can always look for reasons that your method is better.

Misinformed...Let me say this...there is different brake types, differently set up, different tires, different rider weights...I'm at least 27 years in the saddle, year long, and I crashed once when I used front brake only. Obviouvsly my style works for me. If your style works better for you - great. I won't try to change it, or tell you that you doing it wrong. It's all personal preference.

Actually, it's physics. Front brake only vs rear brake only will result in a massively shorter stopping distance.

The video that you provided stated that 80% of stopping power comes from the front brake. I'd argue much more.

Front brake crashes are caused by improper technique.

Watch these boys deform the front carcass at 200mph, raising the rear a few inches off the deck and maintaining that balance for maximum braking. Look at 0.20

MotoGP? Motegi 2013 -- Best slow motion - YouTube

Yeah, I'm starting to have those moments too. ;)

Actually, your linked video says: "About 80% of braking power comes from your front brakes."

Yes, it's physics, but since it works well for me, I wont change it. I'm also a cyclesdale, so it may have something to do with my rear brake happy attitude :p

Yes, that's what they said. They also showed the difference in braking. I always feel safe, braking hard on any surface in any condition when using my rear brake. I guess riding for a lot of years on bikes with hub brakes shaped my preferences.

Lopec, I hear you that you are front brake wary, I guess all I can suggest is to do some gradual front brake tests, so you begin to get a better feel for front brake applying. That's really what it comes down to, is developing a better feel for it. Practising emergency braking using the front brake predominantly on your own, in a controlled environment, is really important. If you don't know how your bike behaves in a full on stop by practising, when a real emergency situation comes up, you aren't magically going to know how to stop in the shortest distance.
Your small avatar looks like you're a dad, another good reason to become more comfortable a d effective re stopping distances in an emergency situation.
Safe riding.

Yeah they did. It was pretty small too, since the guy was going about SEVEN MPH on perfect asphalt. :roflmao2:

I ride only 6 mph. Anything above that is sketchy with my training wheels.

Sounds like you won't need to buy a wheelie bar then. :)

Chuckle. Good one.(training wheel joke)
About trying controlled, gradual increasing front brake applications, I'm being serious. I recall as a young teenager doing front brake only emergency stop tests, trying to lift the rear slightly in a controlled way. I was dreaming of getting a motorcycle, I did end up on motorcycles, and did the same with them too.
The only way to develop a better feeling for front brake lever modulation is to do it over and over. On a bicycle you are not going to flip over just like that.
Yes in the wet or on gravel locking the front can happen easier, I've tossed my motorcycle down the racetrack in the wet from locking the front, I've locked up bicycle fronts in the wet and on loose surfaces too, but that's how I developed a sensitivity of front brake modulation. I always found doing this fun.

I prefer right/front, but with some brakes it causes awkward cable routing.

Au contraire mon frere. IMO the cable routing is super simple. I like the way the brake cables follow side by side with the shifter cables when the shifters aren't crossed over either.

If you're going down hill you certainly can.

Most shifting with right hand, most braking with left hand-

I'm going with that one.

On my Campy front brake the cable enters from the right side. If the cable comes from the right, the bend is much less "natural" than from the left. The rear cable enters the frame on the left side, so it's better to cross it in front of the headtube coming from the right.
Ditto for my hybrid front V-brake.
I don't know if brakes ever came in right or left-handed versions.

I'm trying to reassure the guy here, this doesnt help!! ;-)

if you are attentive to gradually increasing how hard you brake time after time of practice runs, are ready to back off, and have reasonable reactions, you can play around and work on getting the rear wheel off the ground just a bit as you brake very hard. Heck, if I could do it when I was 15 or 16, in the 70s, anyone can.
Thats the thing with purposely doing practice runs like this, you can up the amount of braking each time and see what happens. Sure the rear will begin to lift off at some point, but its a test, so you are ready to immediately modulate the lever. The first time you let go completely, the second you back it off just a bit ...etc.
Its like going out in an empty parking lot covered in snow and purposely trying to drift a car and or lose traction--its better to do it in a controlled environment where you can do it over and over and learn, rather than in a real life emergency where you've never done it before and dont know what the frack to do when your car breaks loose, or on two wheels where if you dont control an emergency braking, you can go down, or hit or get hit by something heavy like a car or whatever.

plus, its fun! (so dont make it scary, shshhhh)

Can I do it in a safety of my home on rollers?

yes, but be sure to have a camera filming it, and be right beside the big flat screen or grandmas old china, so it will make a really good youtube fail vid.

That's the way mine are too, but I like my cables short. They work fine without the crossover from the opposite side, even ultra-stiff cables supported by longitudinal instead of coiled wires. It is an acquired taste.