I know that most bike in the USA come with the front brake on the left hand, but being a motorcyclist I have always run my front brake on the right hand, like a motorcycle.

In England usually bikes come with the front brake already on the right hand.

How do you run your front brake?

Edit: Sorry I got that wrong the first time.

I have a felt AR4 and the front brake is on the left, as was my last four bikes. As far as I know all bikes in the US are that way.

U.S., front brake on the left.

Right is right for me........all set up that way after many years on motorcycles. I'm right handed and like to use the front brake with my more skilled hand.

There is no right/wrong, it's whatever works best for you.

This is my reasoning, In a panic stop situation, It just seems more natural for me. It is ingrained behavior from the motorcycle, reinforced on the bicycle.

Last time I changed brake cables I had them run the right brake cable to the right hand. My left hand is noticeably weaker than my right. I adjusted to it in about ten minutes, and have put on about 2000 miles with this arrangement. But I suspect that if I returned to the "normal" American arrangement I'd adjust to that again in another ten minutes. It just doesn't matter all that much.

On the right.

Yeah, right side for me too, it's just the way that I prefer it. Lol, I love hearing people try to tell me that my brakes are wrong.

I'm also accustomed the front brake on the right from riding motorcycles, however on my bicycles I actually use the rear brake more often so I keep it on the right instead. I favor having the brake I use more on the right, probably a habit from using more front brake on motorcycles.

On the right

all my bikes have it on the left. however my TT bike has it on the right...thats how it was from the guy i bought it from. Have not made a mistake on it.....yet.

On the rare occasions that someone rides one of my bikes, I have to warn them that the brakes are "wrong"

Right brake, right hood.

Right hand front.

Related to this, where can I find front brake calipers with the cables on the right side instead of the left? (view from front)
It would improve my cable routing.....


Does everyone in England also have to put up with the extra sharp bend in cables because of the caliper being wrong? (Im in USA) or do euro markets get flipped calipers?

i get the right handed thing being the instinctive reaction for a sudden stop, but what is the reason for it being on the left?

Lived in Australia and the UK before the US, so right side. My road bike bought here has the front on the left though.

Right.

Yeah, I never understood why in the USA bicycles have their brakes reversed from motorcycles.

All motorcycles sold in the USA have their front brake on the right hand, why would bicycle be different or do manufactures believe it is two completely different markets?

So...which hand shifts the gears of a motorcycle?

Left front. Never ridden motorcycles so that has no bearing. I like it on the left because I can apply my front brake and downshift the rear derailleur at the same time...like when coming to a stop light.

US perception that bikes are toys, therefore are for kids, who are percieved as lacking the finess needed to operate a strong braking device without injuring themselves, combine with US propensity for frivilous lawsuits and liability laws, results bikes all sold with weaker rear brake as primary right hand

see also: 'power modulator' devices
are these as common in euro as in the usa?

I'm in the USA, yet the first thing I did when I bought my bike was have the LBS change the cabling of the front brake to the right. (Not so easy on newer Shimano systems, because the cables run under the tape.)

As a kid I grew up with the UK system of front = right hand and back = left hand. It's what I was used to back then, and on motorcycles, and it made sense to keep the front brake at the stronger hand.

This is my experience as well. Even after years of motorcycling and bicycling, I don't ever remember getting confused, and the ability to downshift while braking trumps braking from the right.

I like the right. In addition to having read Sheldon's article, I think I switched after I did a longish offroad descent on a touring bike, from the hoods I think, and my left hand was starting to cramp up. I do feel a little better about having my dominant hand control my dominant brake.

Funny enough, I also switched the bar end shifters around on my touring bike, thinking that would be logical. I realized this was weird/silly when I realized that you could absolutely not switch around integrated brake/shifters. Going to put the bar ends back to normal the next time I retape that bike. It takes me a second switching between the two.

I had a mechanical before a group ride this last weekend, and I was lucky enough to be loaned a bike (a nice Specialized Roubaix, my first ride on a carbon framed bike), and it really took about 30 minutes for me to adapt back to left=front.

Right front on all of them and my kids and little nieces rock things the same way too.

Rode motorcycles through my 20's and 30's (and will again) and besides being comfortable with the right front, find that having my dominant hand controlling the most important brake on my bicycles makes sense.

Nice that I collect old British bikes so the routing is already done and some tiimes a right hand routing works better with a caliper that has it's cable routing on the left. Only other issue with routing might come from cable guides being a little off.

I find that I have no trouble riding reversed set ups either and did ride my bikes with a North America set up for a long time as well... I keep a few bikes as shop loaners so they have a conventional set up as most people are accustomed to this.

That's a good question. I occasionally see pics of front calipers that would work better for the UK/MC way, but I've never taken note of make/model/year of said brakes.

Of course there's always Campagnolo Delta if you want a brake that works just as well whichever lever you actuate your front brake from: