Or switch to match everyone else when they go to an international team? Just wondering like, thinking about there being nearly a proper Brit team with Sky.

Entirely personal preference. some do, some don’t. a lot of road riders use front brake on left full stop….

Be interesting for bike swaps, suspect they’d all use the same?

I’ve got two bikes set one way and one bike set the opposite way. It only takes about 2 seconds to learn/unlearn/relearn, so a bit of a non-issue.

I’ve got bikes that are set up each way and it never bothers me swapping over.

it is to do with which side of the road you ride on. so it would make sense to have them setup euro for the Tour.

the same kind of thing as LHD and RHD cars. Both work on either road arrangement, and you MAY prefer to drive a UK RHD car on the continent as you are used to it, but you equally may prefer to use a LHD vehicle on the continent as it lends itself to the road better.

Hand on the REAR brake as your other hand indicates across traffic.

If you are strongly right handed it might be worth having the rear brake on the right so it won’t matter so much when you grab it in a panic.

Plus the european riders will have it this way round, won’t they?

I would want my strongest brake on the front for road racing personally, most of the braking force is from the front…..

it is to do with which side of the road you ride on. so it would make sense to have them setup euro for the Tour.

But the roads are closed. 😕

And that would apply to the LHD rally cars used in the RAC Rally (or whatever it’s called now).

true. hadnt thought of that.

most of the braking force is from the front…..

so probably best not to use it if in a panic, was my point.

it is to do with which side of the road you ride on. so it would make sense to have them setup euro for the Tour.

So when the Tour Prologue was in the UK all the euro riders swapped to ride English style? 🙂

http://www.sheldonbrown.com/brakturn.html seems to confirm that theres no logic to the non-UK norm at all. It makes *much* more sense to have your front brake on your strongest hand. Anything else is just cultural

It doesn’t really matter on a road bike. I had a french thing setup the wrong way for ages, you brake much more evenly so it’s easy to learn one way or another.

I ridden left front for 30 odd years now. Dates back to when I started racing on the road when I was 14 – first decent frame I got was made in europe so cable guides were euro style – so to get the best cable route swapped over. Also we were all going to be big “Pro riders” on the continent so when we got a contracts would be used to the euro way. I never made it – but one of my mates did.

I came unstuck once at an MTB race back in 1988 at the Leisure Lakes near Southport – got a puncture mid race so a spectator lent me a bike. First really steep descent grabbed a handful of back brake (forgetting the non-euro way) + did a perfect sommersault still on the bike – luckily it was a nice grassy slope!

Often wondered why the difference. After all motorcycles have a universal righthand front brake.

Traditionally allows you to signal to turn across traffic whilst covering your back brake. Not an issue on a motorbike, nor in races as pointed out above.

To be honest, if you’re a competent rider it doesn’t really make much difference, its more for beginners who may try and grab a hand of front brake on a busy main road!

After all motorcycles have a universal righthand front brake.

That’s a question of having to shut the throttle down before being able to operate the brake. Same as using the right foot for braking in a car.

the same kind of thing as LHD and RHD cars.

Nope, pedals are in the same order in both.

Very hard to unlearn ‘muscle memory’ so swapping from one side to the other for front brake is just asking for a nasty accident in the heat of the moment. Right front as with motorcycles just makes so much more sense wherever in the world you ride.

bollocks after 30 min it’s fine.

I still remember my first drive in an LHD car on the right with fondness, and TheBrick is correct.

Whether LHD or RHD, all the crucial controls are operated by the same handed feet/hands. There is no issue with muscle memory.

I switched to euro style about 15 years ago.

1. I find cable route neater.

2. I’m a leftie and like having my most powerful (front) brake in my “best” hand so I can modulate better and brake harder.

3. The foreign riders I was knocking around with at the time were way cool 😳

Whilst I see the advantage of having a left hand full of “safe” rear brake whilst indicating right in the UK I also find that when teaching complete novices having everything on your left dealing with things at the front of the bike (front brake, front derailleur) and your right hand dealing with everything at the back also has an appeal.

I would suggest that for right handers having the best brake there is nice but also its the hand most of use are in more control of so for most of the time its the one we use most and most well.
The motor cycle thing is to avoid clutch and throttle with the same hand hence the reason why old foot clutch bike eg Indians had a left throttle in many case.

I find driving an automatic car really difficult. Fine right up to the point when I roll to a halt where I instinctively drop the clutch with my left foot to stop it stalling and throw all the passengers into their seat belts.

Someone did it to me on the road in London the other day (effectively an emergency stop instead of a left turn) and I ended up sprawled over her tailgate.

Do people really find that much difference in dexterity between hands!? Im a south paw and have never thought ‘hmmm, my right hand doesn’t really feel developed enough to use the front brake’. I worry.

Why do the Brits have the front brake on the right and the rest of Europe on the other way around? I was talking about this to a bunch of German friends here and one seemed to think that originally (in Germany at least) the brakes were the same way around as in the UK but were changed when the brakes became better because it was deemed that the right hand would be too strong to operate the front without going over the bars. Not sure about his explaination though. 😕

Never found it a problem when I borrowed a pal’s dad’s road bike. Braking is much more even between front and rear so never found it was close to an otb moment. It did play on my mind a bit on the fast alpine descents though.

Different story when I hired a DH bike in Morzine, switched them over after the first descent!

Whether LHD or RHD, all the crucial controls are operated by the same handed feet/hands. There is no issue with muscle memory.

All my bikes have been bought here in Spain, with LH front brakes. My motorbike obviously runs a RH front brake. It’s never been a problem.

convert – Member
I switched to euro style about 15 years ago.

1. I find cable route neater.

Really!

Most pictures I have seen of bikes with a Euro set up look a bit messy as the hose routing on many forks leaves you with a big “S” shaped length of hose
Like this

Just wish all the brands made flip-flop levers. Good to see Magura’s new ones being ambidextrous, if you can afford their bonus prices. Just the Big “S” to go (but it won’t be on the 2012 models).
Front-Left just seems wrong, regardless of which bike, although should be less of an issue on a road bike, and I’m sure you get used to it pretty quickly.

Really!

Most pictures I have seen of bikes with a Euro set up look a bit messy as the hose routing on many forks leaves you with a big “S” shaped length of hose
Like this

We are talking about road bikes here are we not – that, if I am not mistaken is a mountain bike!