To All,
the standard story continues:
1) Men held swords in their right hand, their damsel was protected behind their shield on their left. When another knight rode along in the opposite direction they would pass each other on the left hand side of the road so that their swords, in the right hand, were able to meet any sword held against them, the lady remaining protected behind the shield at the left. This practice of riding on the left developed into driving carraiges on the left, and then cars.
2) It was Napoleon who said "I'm having none of this." And introduced driving on the right in all countries he conquered. Thus mainland Europe became right hand traffic while Britain remained driving on the left.
3) With the advent of the modern bicycle, making a left turn across oncoming traffic (in mainland Europe) ment signalling left while braking to slow down. When riding one handed one can control a rear wheal skid slightly easier than a front wheel skid, so it made sense for the braking hand (the right) to control the rear wheel.
4) Most racing cyclists even in England still connect the right hand brake lever to the rear brake, but this is simply for aesthetics, the cable routing to the front brake having a smoother line to the brake which invariably (unless Weinmann) has its brake arm on the right.
Simon
Simon & Liubov Payne, 22b Whitworth Road London, SE25 6XQ England
Tel. / Fax: +44 (0)208 6534077 Mobile: +44 (0)7960 676533
>From: Sheldon Brown <CaptBike@sheldonbrown.com>
>To: Jerome & Elizabeth Moos <jerrymoos@sbcglobal.net>,Martin Appel
><martin@camelot.de>, kim klakow
><Akimbo71@gmx.net>,kurt@fineartscrimshaw.com
>CC: Classicrendezvous@bikelist.org
>Subject: Re: [CR]Right side mounting
>Date: Tue, 10 Jan 2006 13:59:26 -0500
>
>At 7:52 AM -0800 1/10/06, Jerome & Elizabeth Moos wrote:
>>The standard story is that when swords were the primary weapons, men wore
>>swords on their left hips, making it easier to draw the sword with the
>>right hand. Mounting a horse from the right would have dragged the sword
>>or its scabbard across the horse's flanks, perhaps causing him to bolt.
>
>Not to mention the risk of the rider getting his leg tangled up with the
>scabbard!
>
>> Mounting from the left avoided this...
>
>> Likewise, there are always a few contrarian cyclists
>> about who will experiment with left hand drive bikes.
>
>Who would be that nutty?
>
>http://sheldonbrown.com/gunnar
>
>Sheldon "Sinister" Brown
>+------------------------------------------------+
>| Nobody who has anything to do with bicycles |
>| has _all_ of their marbles, and some of us |
>| are certifiable! |
>| --Sheldon Brown |
>+------------------------------------------------+
>--
> Harris Cyclery, West Newton, Massachusetts
> Phone 617-244-9772 FAX 617-244-1041
> http://harriscyclery.com
> Hard-to-find parts shipped Worldwide
> http://captainbike.com
> Useful articles about bicycles and cycling
> http://sheldonbrown.com