Re: So what's been happening!
 

So I chatted to Batsman about this. He smiled his smile and said that you find out soon enough which is which.

I used to think he was a good cycling coach🚲

Re: So what's been happening!
 

I remember in my childhood - cycling proficiency - that on a bike a right hand turn signal was sticking your right arm out. Turning left was not a similar signal with your left arm, but the right arm out and the forearm up (like a policeman signalling halt) and slowing down was the right arm out, slowly moving up and down.

Obviously this kept the left hand on the handlebar and if you were only going to operate one brake, that would be the back one to avoid going over the handlebars.

So that seems the reason for the back brake on the left in the UK.

Since they drive on the opposite side here and the steering wheel is on the opposite side and gears operated with the opposite hand, probably the cycling signals are the same principle but the opposite hand, hence the brakes being opposite.

http://vladsokolovsky.com/forums/pub...hew-smiley.gif

Re: So what's been happening!
 

Left turn was left arm out when I did Cycling Proficiency in the UK in about 1978.

Re: So what's been happening!
 

Mine was the previous decade. :lol:

Re: So what's been happening!
 

And yet, most road cyclists (and motorcyclists, come to that) will tell you that the maximum braking effort should come from the front brake. I reversed my brake cables on my road bike in the UK so that the left lever operated the front brake - that way, when indicating a right turn into a minor road (the most perilous position for a cyclist as you are towards the centreline of the road) I had better control of the bicycle by using only the front brake. I have done the reverse for use in Canada.

There's an interesting exposition of why the front brake should be the primary brake here Braking and Turning Your Bicycle

Re: So what's been happening!
 

I suspect the hand signals were changed a few years after flashing indicators became mandatory on motor vehicles. I learned the "left arm out" for cycling proficiency (at about the same time at withabix) but had to re-learn the right-arm-only traffic signals for driving a vintage car without turn signals (arm out, palm down, moved up and down = I am slowing down or stopping; arm out and rotating in a circle = I am turning left; arm out and stationary = I am turning right.)

Hand signal conventions are different in Canada. And I bet most drivers wouldn't have a clue what the difference is between a cyclist with left arm out and bent up at the elbow vs bent down at the elbow.

Re: So what's been happening!
 

Hmmm....I am not convinced. I don't think anyone disputes that front brake gives "maximum braking" as front brake only is sudden while back brake is gradual. I imagine a couple of reasons for that is weight is over the back wheel more so than the front and that most cyclists use the back brake more often than the front, so the back break wears more quickly, so becomes less effective.

But there's the key - MOST cyclists.

The writer refers to the skilled cyclist. Most cyclists do not develop the kind of skill that, say, professional cyclists, tourers, lycra clad enthusiasts, the mechanically expert etc develop.

Most cyclists ride to get to work or another A to B journey. Or exercise or leisure. The article appears to suggest that unless skilled, going over the handlebars is the likely outcome of front brake first.

So surely the best advice for most cyclists is to avoid using the front brake on its own or first. And also don't cycle so damned fast that it becomes a safety issue. ;)

Re: So what's been happening!
 

Just have to say that is so true ... I took mine in Biloxi, Mississippi, drove around a cone and backed into a parking bay ........ and failed ;)

I was seven month's pregnant, newly arrived in the States, so I just burst into tears. The guy relented and said that he would pass me :rofl:

Those were the days! J