Not that I really want to test out my brakes at high speed, but tonight I was compelled to. I was starting to accelerate my Bacchetta Giro 26 up to about 23-25mph down a wide stretch of a lakefront bike path in Chicago when I noticed a dog on a leash stretched out to my left and crossing my path, and its owner to my right, and I just hit the brakes, fearing the leash would remain taut. But the owner reacted by dropping the leash making me realize I need not have braked so suddenly. Anyhow my bike slightly skidded out from under me for a few feet, and I held onto the bars, and I stood upright in a crouch. So I was fine, as was the owner, and the dog.

Any suggestions on how to brake more effectively when on occasion forced to do so?

Andrea

I feel better with hard braking on my bent. though I have a limbo and it is setup different i cna stop in 10' or less when I am at 20mph. but I also weight about 210. I usualy use more front brake then back on my bent. though I can't lock up the back but I can sure use a lot of front without any issues.

Hmm. Not to be a troublemaker, but 20 mph is 29.3 feet per second. I'm NOT going to do the calculus on that, but at a guess I think stopping in ten feet would be a deceleration of about 2 Gs, which is well beyond the traction capabilities of a bike tire, and enough to flip you out of your seat even if you didn't endo the bike.

Most people, including me, don't use enough front brake when stopping hard. The usual figure I see quoted, which is meant for DFs, is 75% of braking force on your front wheel and 25% on the rear. This means you can use 3 fingers for the front and 1 for the rear brake lever and be at about the right ratio. The exact ratio depends on weight distribution and center of gravity for your bike, so don't take my numbers as gospel. They will, however, get you in the ballpark.

One good thing I've noticed on bents. Unlike light braking, when you brake a DF hard in a curve, the bike will 'pop up.' You'd better hope you can get slowed down enough before you're in the trees! With a bent, braking does not affect your line in the curve nearly as much; in fact, the effect is almost non-existent on my lowracer.

well the speedomoder takes a bit to catch up so I could be going slower. I can sure stop faster then on my road bike. usualy when I finish the stop I am flung a bit forward. if nto careful I lift the back wheel up.

How would that braking work on a trike with dual discs up front? With two wheels sharing the load, would you be able to decelerate that fast, or would you also skid out?

Jell-o: You still have two braking wheels just like a DF or standard recumbent. Your advantage would be near impossibility of an endo, and much more stability in a skid.
Bike brakes can almost always lockup the wheel, at least at sub 25 or so mph, maybe not at an uncertain higher speed depending on the hill, rider weight and intangibles like the grip of the brake pad on the rim/disk. Once the wheel locks up, which is what happened to the Chicagoan, braking depends on rubber friction against the road. On a DF this friction can be enough to allow the bike to rotate on the front axle as the rider pitches forward, or even sometimes if the rider doesn't pitch but slides off the seat backwards to compensate and do an endo. Steve

I did a test today I was going 20mph Peddling at the tiem I stopped in a todays standard car length and about 3' to the next car. I may have been able to knock a bit more off but I had full control and a hell of a brake squeel at the end (G) the spedometor still showed 14mph when I was stopped 9G)