Front brake on right or left?
 

I'm thinking of moving my front brake over to the right. As it is now, my grip is stronger with my right hand than my left, and I end up squeezing the rear brake harder than the front during quick stops. I think I might be better off if I swap the brake levers. Anyone done this? What setup do you prefer?

I run MX style. Due to a small handicap on the left hand I want all the power of my right hand going to my front brake :)

it doesnt change performance at all, but if your not use to it you could go over the bars with a big hand full of front brake. Its all about if it feels good to you.

I jumped on my mountain bike for the first time in a couple of years a few weeks ago and discovered the hard way that the front brake was on the left whereas it's on the right on my road bike. Being left handed I'd prefer it if the front brake was on the right - less likelihood of going flying over the handlebars when attempting an emergency stop. Then again being a lefty has forced me to be practically ambidextrous so I'm not worried about lack of hand power.

In Aus we have our front brake on the right.

I'm right handed but I like having the front brake on the right.

get better brakes, or set yours up better, you should be able to stop without having a death grip on the brake levers. I have a weak left hand from an operation many years ago that went wrong but I leave that as my front brake and it's fine. I prefer being able to brake left hand and shift with the right hand at cetain times, it's easier than having one hand do both.

Hmm, that would make some sense - I bought the MTB in the UK whereas I bought the road bike in the US.

Not everyone has the front on their right here but most of them fo- it's just personal preference (and maybe what 'handed' your are)

In Australia the standard is right for front. When a store builds a bike from scratch or you order brakes from a store and get them put on, they will put front brake on the right side unless asked to do the opposite.

Also I here lots of people who do MX run a right front combo.

I prefer front brake on the left (like a motorcycle, where the clutch is on the right).

Maybe I don't get this, but I don't understand why you need all that power to put on the brakes. In my experience (XC riding) it takes very little to lock the wheels. Now that I have hydraulic disks, I use only a finger.

Try being 250+ pounds going down a mountain at 45km/hr.
Or doing urban where you attempt street moves like nose picks or evena rear wheel hop...power power power. :)

I never needed more that a stiff two finger squeeze to bring things quickly to a halt and that's with cheesy promax v-brakes! I couldn't imagine grabbing a handful of brake or feeling like I have to switch my front brake lever to my strong hand... Although it has just occurred to me that grip strength varies so much and there are younger guys on this board as well. Being an ex powerlifter I can see how my two finger grip can be more than a teenagers whole hand grip.

I was humbled about a year and a half ago, I was at a party and my Ex's cousin who lays Carpet for a living among other labor filled jobs, had callenged me in a game of mercy. Well, that guy has a titanium grip! I felt some things popping as I tried to squeek out the word of defeat...meeerrrrccccyyyy.... It took more than a few months to stop feeling a decent amount of pain when gripping anything. I played my LAST game of mercy.

lol, well my bike came with the front brake on the right and when I started riding around I just though "Hey, I like this setup" so I kept it. And I'm a teenager and a weak one at that, so your hand is probably stronger than my whole body lol:D

I wish it were that easy, I don't have two fingers to squeeze with haha. My right hand is a machine (carpet laying is awesome, try drywalling, holy popeye arms) but my left will never be equal to others. :)

I tried the Front brake on the right. I'm always open to new ideas. I went over the handlebars and 4 months later my hand I landed on still hurts. I found that I had developed a keen sense of steering with my right hand and rear brake. I went back to front left shortly after that ride. And got an Xray the next day (nothing was broken)

Same in New Zealand my friend has an american bike and its the other way around

Hello !!! - Aren't all motor cycle front brake levers on the RIGHT, so it is more logical to have bicycle front brake levers on the right. OK here in the UK we drive on the wrong side, but I think we have our brake levers on the right side (dong).....Si

I have never run across a motorcycle set up that way (although I know there are some odd builds out there). The U.S. motorcycle standard is front brake on the right, clutch on the left.

As for my mountain bike, I run my front brake on the right (like my motorcycle). ON my road bike the fron is on the left (because that is how it was built, and I have not changed it yet. ON my beater single speed the front brake is also on the left, but I will change that as soon as I can get some more brake housing.

I am not sure which I prefer, and I have not had any problems switching back and forth. I find that if I forget which bike I am riding I can usually feel how the bike is braking by how it is handling, and I can correct any errors. I am traditionally a heavy front braker, though I usually am on both brakes to scrub speed the fastest.

Damn, that was stupid of me. Of course clutch is on the left for a motorcycle and break on the right (with the gas). It has been 12 years since I sold my motorcycle, but that is no excuse. :rolleyes:

Sorry about that one!

Wow. I'm from the UK and I just assumed it was a universal thing to have your front brake on the right. Are your guys drives on the same side or what then?

Our drives are on the right side. As long as you can get used to where your brakes are, whatever. I have seen some crazy fixed riders around here that use a downtube shift lever as a brake, so as long as it works, no biggie.