Do you usually use your front, rear, or a bit of both? I tend to use my front brakes more than my rear though I do use both at times. For sudden stops, ie. deer running out in front of my bike, I seem to generally reach for the front brakes 90% of the time. Tell me what you do in regular riding and stopping as well as emergency stopping. Thanks.

hb

I'm an old 'boomer biker. Lots of the bikes of that era had no front brakes. I brake with the rear brake--of course, slowing down first or downshifting. I don't "roar up" on stop signs like kids do. I do use the front brake to hold the bike when stopped uphill.

This is a great subject. Most of your braking or stopping power is in the front brake. You have almost "0" stopping power in the rear. If you notice you will have only one rear piston caliper and the reason is that it will skid the tire. This is the same physics as your car. You need to be careful not to skid the rear tire so that you do not high side your bike.

The main objective is to keep control of your bike. You can slow your bike down while leaning into a corner with the front brake you just need to do this gently. A hard and fast stop in an emergency I will us both brakes applying the front first and the rear second. Like the Tourist said you can downshift too and this can help slow you down.

The best thing to do is to know your bike and its limits. Know what you feel comfortable doing in any kind of situation practice and you will be riding for a long time.

I'm on board with you for most of that argument.

However, if you need 'more' or 'full braking' for most of you riding you're going too fast--or not paying attention. I can count the times on one hand I have to lean on my brakes for unexpected reasons during the course of a riding season.

Additionally, I use the "head-rear brake-clutch" method in leaving a stoplight or picking a line through an off ramp. I never touch the front brake for those maneuvers.

Whether it's a bike or a car or a skateboard you are the one that should be controlling the motion. When you start leaning on your brakes, or are constantly picking 'escape routes' in traffic, your better plan should be to modulate speed or change lanes. When I hear a rider keep relating to 'panic stops' I wonder what he's doing out there.

I am in total agreement with you. In my everyday riding I use my front brake and very rarely use my back brake.




This is what I am talking about, the one time that you need to stop in an emergency situation. Tourist what you describe is usually what most riders encounter during a season, we all hope never to be in an emergency situation, but sh-t happens. You should know your bike and have practiced how fast you can stop it. When using the back brake in conjunction with the front it helps to take some of the weight and load off of the front end. This helps to keep the bike in a straight line and the front wheel from skidding. Know your bikes dynamics and this will help to keep you safe from the cages.

I am an old dirt bike guy and it was hard to un learn what came instantly was the back brake. I still us the back brake, but a lot less. I use the front break most of the time. it is also easier to put pads on the front than the back!! I have a dresser and it is a lot easier to work on front than the back...

I'm not really a 'braker.' I'm a 'steerer.'

I always look for a path out of or around trouble when I'm in traffic, and I avoid wolf-packs on the slab. I do this even in my truck, which is big enough to punch a hole through a problem.

Yes, I know my bike. A few years ago during a tune-up, my wrench told me he wanted to change out my rear brake pads. Being a younger guy, he seemed genuinely confused when he told me that my front pads "looked almost new."

I live outside of the big city and I can take any one of number of off-ramps and side streets to get home. Most of my riding is done during the day when most of the public is working. Once I leave the city limits I am sometimes the only vehicle on the road.

On trips like this, I never brake, at all. I either downshift to check for traffic on rural intersections and then drive through, or I have enough leisure time to coast to the intersection and just put my feet down.

This is why I've only used up one pair of brake pads on two bikes in seven years, but two tires and a pair of shocks.