Braking on a Bicycle

Braking is one of those things you do without really thinking about. You might learn to ride a bicycle, but you never really learn to brake. You just push on the levers and hope it’s going to stop you (preferably without sending you over handlebars.)

Bicycles generally need little maintenance, but I strongly suggest checking these aspects of brakes.

• Pulling break levers actually stops the front and back wheel.
• The pads are aligned to the rims (and not the tyre)
• There is no grit stuck in the pads (you will hear a grating sign when braking)
• Make sure oil doesn’t get on the rims (you can clean with some washing up liquid)
• There is an equal distance between two brake pads.

Rear Brake / Front Brake.

The brake on the front wheel will give the strongest stopping power. Applying the rear brake gives a slower stopping power. However, relying on the front brake can make bike less stable, and if you press too hard too quickly the back wheel can start to lift up.

Control With Front Brake

For situations where you do need to make an emergency stop, it is the front brake that is most powerful. To avoid ‘going over the handlebars’,

• Use your arms to resist against the force of quick stop.
• Move your weight towards the rear of your saddle. This keeps the bike balanced and prevents the rear wheel lifting off ground

It is worth practising on some deserted road. Slam on the front brake and notice the point where the back wheel starts to lift off the ground. As it does let go and shift more weight to the back of the bike.

In slow city traffic, it is fine to rely on front brake. I often use both brakes together. Generally, I vary rarely need to make very quick stop. I try to anticipate where need to brake and avoid the situation.

Situations where Rear Brake is preferred.

• Wet. A rear wheel skid can be recovered from. A front wheel skid is more difficult.
• Very rocky terrain. If you go over bump and land with front wheel locked in braking position it can send you over handlebars. Though this will mainly apply to MTBs

Some tips for Braking

Anticipate situations

When cycling be prepared for a situation where you will need to brake. Have your hands over levers and begin to slow down your momentum. In the city centre, this involves:

• anticipating cars which don’t signal.
• Pedestrians that don’t look for traffic

It may sound intimidating the idea of going over handlebars and rear wheel skids. But, there’s very rarely a need to brake like this. Most of the time, my braking is nice and gentle using a bit of both front and rea.

Long Descents

On long steep descents, you need to be careful that brakes don’t overheat. It is often advised to allow the brakes to go off and on. i.e. give them chance to cool down. When braking I don’t keep brakes held down for too long at once. For long descents also use your body as windbreak to help reduce wear on brake pads.

Correct Line

A lot of braking is related to taking the best ‘racing line’ on a descent. If safe and feasible, move out to the middle of left lane for sharp left hand turns, this enables you to take a wider sweep of corner and will reduce the need for slowing speed.

See also: 10 Tips for fast cornering

Don’t Panic.

Sometimes, the best tip is just to lean into the bike into a corner and don’t panic by forcing the brakes.

Feathering the Brakes

The term ‘feathering the brakes’ refers to the process of lightly applying the brakes to give gradual control. This is good technique for when riding in groups and prevents sudden stopping. When braking try avoid ‘emergency stops’ where you suddenly grind to a halt. Start by applying gradual pressure and increase this as necessary. A good tip for ‘feathering the brakes’ is just using the rear brake as there is less braking power.

Slowing Down without using the brakes.

There are quite a few ways to slow down without using the brakes.

• Firstly anticipate corners and freewheel. Sometimes it is nice to keep spinning the pedals in a very low gear so hardly any pressure is created.
• Sit up and allow your body to take a big section of the wind. If you take your hands off the handlebars and wave them in the air, it can feel like a parachute effect! Mind you – this isn’t necessarily advised when you are descending Fleet Moss at 50mph.
• move out of someone’s slipstream

Losing Control

At high speed, if you slam on the brakes you can lose control of the bike. You have to be travelling pretty fast and put on the brakes pretty hard for this to occur. On a few occasions in races, I’ve felt the bike shuddering a little, you take this as a sign to reduce the power of brakes. But, it does show you need to anticipate corners, you can’t leave everything to last minute and be able to reduce speed instantly. To some extent you need to learn the kind of speed and braking capacity your bike has. Bear in mind different bikes will have different tolerances. For example, generally my time trial bike is a little more cumbersome for braking and travelling around tight corners than my road bike.

If you have hydraulic disc brakes you will have better braking power, especially in the wet. Though most people who buy hybrid bikes would not be pushing their brakes to the limits. But, for downhill MTB’s braking is everything.

10 simple checks for bike

Brake Pads at Wiggle