Advanced Driving Hub

GTR1400MAN wrote: Balancing braking on a push bike is no different to on a motorcycle. Even more so now many push bike have front suspension which increases the likelihood of the rear wheel lifting. Getting a nice balance between front/rear is the key. 70/30 60/40 etc.

I don't think of it in percentages, more like (for e-stops), when the you can feel weight in your elbows then braking as hard as possible on the front.

jcochrane wrote:

GTR1400MAN wrote:Err, fixed or not, corner with the pedal on the inside of the turn at the top of its rotation.

Maybe you're thinking of a single speed with freewheel? Freewheeling is not possible on a single speed fixed gear bike, at all times, forward or backward, if the rear wheel is rotating so do the pedals.

Gulp, yes, brain fart error. Didn't mean fixed. I was thinking of the ones where you actually pedal backwards to brake.

What are they called?

GTR1400MAN wrote:

jcochrane wrote:

GTR1400MAN wrote:Err, fixed or not, corner with the pedal on the inside of the turn at the top of its rotation.

Maybe you're thinking of a single speed with freewheel? Freewheeling is not possible on a single speed fixed gear bike, at all times, forward or backward, if the rear wheel is rotating so do the pedals.

Gulp, yes, brain fart error. Didn't mean fixed. I was thinking of the ones where you actually pedal backwards to brake.

What are they called?

'Daft' ?

GTR1400MAN wrote:Gulp, yes, brain fart error. Didn't mean fixed. I was thinking of the ones where you actually pedal backwards to brake.

What are they called?

That would be a back-pedal brake. More common on US bikes than I have ever seen here.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bicycle_brake#Coaster_brakes

Strangely Brown wrote:

GTR1400MAN wrote:Gulp, yes, brain fart error. Didn't mean fixed. I was thinking of the ones where you actually pedal backwards to brake.

What are they called?

That would be a back-pedal brake. More common on US bikes than I have ever seen here.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bicycle_brake#Coaster_brakes

My father was a pilot and brought one of these back from the U.S. for me.
It was in the days when the police would inspect bikes parked at schools, to ensure they were roadworthy.
The gentleman in blue who looked at mine refused to believe it had a brake, even when given a demonstration.

I have ridden back-pedal bikes in Holland Once you got used to it they were quite easy.

The incident that caused all this discussion in the first instance is of course a tragic one, the cyclist rightly being prosecuted accordingly.

I wonder if he would have charged IF his bike had been legal though.

I think my bike is legal, but even so there are several near misses each week with pedestrians who just don't look to their right when approaching the middle of the road - or don't even look either way because facecrap is more important... Most times I've already spotted them walking between the stationary traffic but not always if they choose to walk in front of a van or HGV (yes I know...)

On the subject of front vs rear brakes... I have disks at both ends... it is without doubt the front brake that stops you, but how come I go through rear pads a lot quicker than front ones

gannet wrote:On the subject of front vs rear brakes... I have disks at both ends... it is without doubt the front brake that stops you, but how come I go through rear pads a lot quicker than front ones

You've got the levers on the wrong (for UK) bars?!

More likely the rear disc is smaller, so a smaller surface area of pad is doing the friction/stopping.

GTR1400MAN wrote:

gannet wrote:On the subject of front vs rear brakes... I have disks at both ends... it is without doubt the front brake that stops you, but how come I go through rear pads a lot quicker than front ones

You've got the levers on the wrong (for UK) bars?!

LOL, been there done that, it hurt...

GTR1400MAN wrote:More likely the rear disc is smaller, so a smaller surface area of pad is doing the friction/stopping.

that's the case now, but only for the last couple of weeks since putting a new caliper and disk on the front.

up till then they were 160mm front and back...

now 180mm front, 160mm back...

Only reasonable thing I can think of is the weight at the back? I use a pannier

gannet wrote:I think my bike is legal, but even so there are several near misses each week with pedestrians who just don't look to their right when approaching the middle of the road - or don't even look either way because facecrap is more important... Most times I've already spotted them walking between the stationary traffic but not always if they choose to walk in front of a van or HGV (yes I know...)

now put yourself into those scenes at the wheel of a car instead of on a bike - what would your thoughts be?

Alasdair