At 02:52 PM 16/01/2009 -0800, Colin Laing wrote:
>
>>From Colin Laing
>
>Now that the bar-wrap saga is almost laid to rest, may I submit "brake
levers" for discussion...In England, since most of us rode fixed wheel in
the winter and even early season time-trials, the one and only brake lever
was on the right hand side. Various ideas of this were that we rode on the
left-hand side of the road, the right hand was generally the stronger of
the two and mainly, if a young chick had joined the group, it was easier to
push her along into a head-wind.
>When racing on the Continent, the mechanic would oblige my request to
switch the cables around but with some mirth.
>On emigrating to the States in 1974, I thought it best to "go with the
flow" and did my brakes American and Continental style...all went well
until 2 years ago on the "Sunday Bash" whilst in Britain....I switched
bikes with a young chap who wanted to try a Campagnolo Record equipped bike
...with about 5 miles to go and in pouring rain, we went down a 1 in 4
(called Scarth Nick),,,and I tapped the wrong side lever going into a
bend...The bike did a complete 180 ..I managed luckily to stay
upright,,,but even luckier, the other guys thought I did the manouver on
purpose and marvelled at my performance..
>
>So, which is the correct side? COLIN LAING ( awaiting Obama's stimulus check)
This has been brought up several times in the past by many people, including myself. I began riding in the UK as a young teenager and remember having the front brake on the right. When I got back into it many years later in Canada, I was confused by all the bikes being sold with front brakes on the left. At first I thought it was a Japanese thing, but later learned it was a decreed by the U.S. CONSUMER PRODUCT SAFETY COMMISSION and their lawyers, who maintained that the rear brake should be the primary brake (probably harking back to the traditional American balloon tire bikes with coaster brakes). They must have reasoned that the front brake was dangerous, in that it could flip you over the bars, so they relegated it to the weaker (left) hand. Of course, with good brakes you can easily lock up the front wheel with an insensitive, uneducated left hand. Obviously the people who drafted that rule were not cyclists, but lawyers.
Personally, I have the front brake on the right on all my bikes because it just makes more sense in many ways. I would much rather have my right hand available for the most effective brake while making hand signals with my left hand. Of course, if someone has grown up doing the opposite, that's fine with me too. Trying to change them would be like forcing a child to use their right hand when they're genetically left-handed.
John Betmanis
Woodstock, Ontario
Canada