SW84

I'm wondering if anyone has installed a dual brake lever on their bike. I'm tempted to try it on my mtb. Since I'm right-handed I thought about eliminating the front brake lever on the left side.

Ironfish653

Unless you've got some mobility issues that prevents the use of your left hand in any sort of capacity; it's generally not a good idea to run both front and rear brakes off of a single dual -pull lever.

Your front and rear brakes perform slightly differently for a given "pull" of the lever; and regardless of the tropes that persist around here; braking isn't an either/or all-or-nothing proposition; you make lots of little subconscious adjustments between the two depending on factors like speed, terrain, and cornering.

​​​​​I've seen linked brake systems before, usually where some partial braking is applied to the rear when the "front" brake lever is activated, but it's generally an adjunct; the rear brake still also has a dedicated "full" control lever.

Putting both brakes on a single lever means you end up with one brake that works "okay most of the time" and one that's "not good sometimes" and you won't know which it is until you pull the lever.

​

XxHaimBondxX

I installed it once for rear disk and rim brakes on my first diy ebike project. Worked pretty well, but that's the only reasonable application I can think of. Unless you are one handed, there should be no excuse for not being able to brake with your left hand.

Caveman

In addition to the above mentioned technical issues eliminating the front brake is a bad idea because your front brake should be used for most of the braking on two wheeled vehicles.

easyupbug 

Some paracyclists have no option but to do this. The only one I have seen had one lever directly below the other, I would think modulation would be very difficult.

Kai Winters

Go ahead and do what you want to do.
Not my bike, not my circus...

mstateglfr 

Why is this tempting? What about 1 brake lever for both wheels sounds tempting to you?

Go for it, I guess, but there are probably reasons why the only time Ive ever seen it was because they were forced to due to lack 2 hands.

JohnDThompson 

Dual-cable brake levers were often used on tandems to apply the rim brakes, with a single-cable lever on the other side for a hub or disc brake. As others have mentioned, getting both cables to properly engage both calipers can be tricky, and not always satisfying. At least on a tandem, there's little risk of face-planting if the front caliper is overly applied. A common modification was to run single-cable levers for the rim brakes and a bar-end shifter for the hub/disc brake to function as a "drag" brake on long downhills, Or, give the stoker their own lever to run the hub/disc brake. I can't see any real advantage to using a dual-cable lever on a single bike, unless one of your arms has been amputated (and I have set up bikes like that for amputees).

big john

Of all the bikes to want separate brake controls on, a mountain bike would be top of the list.

t2p

big john

big john - do you recall the short lived ‘Diff-Brake’ back in the 70’s ?

https://www.vitalmx.com/forums/Old-S...Brake-sp,10039

.

tcs

...and not "duel break levers". I'm buying a lottery ticket.

big john

Sounds vaguely familiar. I do remember when Terry Cunningham and Dick Burleson ran Husky automatics in muddy enduro races. No clutch lever meant they could run brake levers on both sides of the bar leaving their feet free to balance the bike.

I've seen amputees with both brakes on one side including a guy who dropped me climbing to Onyx Summit. He started back down and waved to me with his shoulder.

veganbikes

Being right handed just means that is your dominant hand so unless you have no hand on the left side put brake levers on both sides to actuate a single brake like every other bike on the planet that isn't modified for someone for a valid reason or some dumb crap that they put on a cheap-o bike because they are dumb and don't want someone buying their bike to learn how to ride a bike like everyone else.

There has never ever ever been a situation where I have said gee I wish I had worse control of my bike especially mountain biking but really anywhere at any time. I like my brakes to function as intended with one lever controlling the front brake and one controlling the rear.

SW84

It's tempting because I'm curious as to how it would do. That, and the fact that I'm retired with nothing better to do. LOL. With adjustments to both brakes it seems as though I could get the brakes to work pretty much the same. I would do it on my mtb because it never goes off road anyway. I wouldn't try it on my older bikes because I prefer to keep them looking more original.

big john

What would be the advantage?

SW84

Don't know if there would, or wouldn't, be one. Maybe one less lever to deal with? My Mom always looked at me and said "K-I-S-S". She always knew I wasn't the brightest bulb in the room. I have no plans to do this mod but it is tempting.

dedhed

interesting until you hit some sand/loose gravel in a corner and your front locks up. Then it's way more interesting.

SW84

Good point. This is why I asked the question. It should be possible to soften the front brake if needed. I should say that I don't ride at high speeds, or off the path/road. I always slow down when approaching people, cars, and stops, well before I get to them. Whether it's a car or bike, I am a very defensive driver.

Broctoon

That's wise advice. And running two brakes off one lever is not simpler; it's more complicated. The simple way is the way 99.9% of bikes are set up: one front brake controlled by one lever, and one rear brake controlled by another lever.

If you want to try it, just out of curiosity and boredom, Problem Solvers makes devices to facilitate it a few different ways: Double Barrel Brake Lever and Cable Doubler

Racing Dan

Or go moto style. Front brake on the right. I did that to my road bike and I'm not going back. I'm righthanded too and feel like its more natural doing most of the braking with my right hand and the brake that overwhelmingly works the best.

79pmooney

If I were to do it, I might start with what I am running now on my winter/rain/city bikes except I would have to find the lever. Currently Tektro road levers, a Mafac RACER in front and a Weinmann centerpull in back. Full length rear brake housing along the top tube. The mismatched calipers work really well with similar squeezes right and left. The RACERs are stoppers! but flex quite a bit. The Weinmanns have less power but flex a lot less. Some rear flex gets put back in by the full length housing. The two bikes I have set up this way have braking so good I have to think about who or what might be behind me.

All that said, I don't keep the same hand pressure, right and left, on the levers as I stop hard. After the initial I will back off the rear in a dry pavement hard stop so it doesn't skid as the back of the bike un-weights. Or off the front when I do not trust the tire adhesion or I feel any slippage. All this happens without my conscious mind. If I could not do that I would consider the bike to have less max breaking power and need to be ridden more conservatively.

JohnDThompson 

Don't count on it. The rear brake has a much longer cable than the front, and will always be mushier to apply, making it tricky to get them "working the same."

icemilkcoffee 

Are we talking cable brakes or hydro brakes? If cable brakes it’s a non starter for all the reasons given. If hydraulic brakes I would say ‘give it a try’. Just make sure the lever has enough travel- it has to push twice the fluid now.

SW84

Cable brakes. I have a lot of time to mess with them if I decide to do it.

easyupbug 

The exact reason that paracyclists use two brake levers, one on top of the other on the good/only hand is for control which they have a lot invested in because they bravely race.