Forum menu
Yes always – its the way you are taught and every motorcyclist I know does this
Strange, not what my IAMS training said.
Why would you not want the best braking you can have available all the time?
Because you dont need to brake all the time and the less efficient braking from the hoods is still sufficient.
. Why would you not want the best braking you can have available all the time?
I want braking which is appropriate for the situation: on 25mm tyres the power I need is provided by decently set up brakes applied from the hoods. I don’t need brakes which provide more power than the tyres can cope with.
sufficient in power and feel to have a maximum stop? You must be very skilled I prefer to make my braking easy, powerful and with a lot of feel. I certainly do not want to have to move my hands to grab the brakes
Strange, not what my IAMS training said.
very strange - my advanced instructer noted I did and recommended it
Then ride in the drops - I know some people are arguing you can brake just as well on the hoods (which I disagree with) but it doesn't make drop bars a less valid setup.
decently set up brakes
So how do you set up road calipers to have more power?
tjagain
most of the drop bar fans on here admit braking is not as good unless you are on the drops.
How come you are reporting that like a Sun editor? 😆 And trying to skew it to support your position. You seem to be ignoring what most of us are saying, which is that it's entirely sufficient. You only really need the full extent of braking power on the drops when you are caning it downhill at 40/50mph.
And tbh I'll rarely go above 40 that much, so don't really need to go into the drops all that much anyhow.
Brakes are ridiculously good these days. Hence 1 finger braking and the like, brakes these days are much more about modulation than anything else... It really doesn't take much POWER!!!! 😆 to lock them up. I can easily endo/skid the road on the hoods if I want.
So the biomechanics argument went out the window about a long time ago.
No I am not ignoring what most of you are saying. Several folk agree with me that braking from the hoods is not as good which is obvious if you look at the leverage ad the biomechanics. why have power and feel than you could have - sufficient does not cut it for me. the best possible is the only thing good enough
tjagain
Member
sufficient in power and feel to have a maximum stop? You must be very skilled I prefer to make my braking easy, powerful and with a lot of feel. I certainly do not want to have to move my hands to grab the brakes
You should probably slow down a touch if you are that out of control you need to grab handfuls of the brakes and regularly perform emergency stops. Seems you are riding beyond your comfort zone and more than a touch on the reckless side! 😆
tjagain
Member
No I am not ignoring what most of you are saying. Several folk agree with me that braking from the hoods is not as good which is obvious if you look at the leverage ad the biomechanics. why have power and feel than you could have – sufficient does not cut it for me. the best possible is the only thing good enough
But I can blinking endo the road bike from the hoods, much more power do I need? Jebus TJ, it's not the 90s, brakes are alsorts of awesome these days! 😆
We've moved beyond shiny polished steel rims and cheap plasticky rubber brake blocks! 😆
Strangely I just can't get on with flat bars. I'm constantly moving around and flat bars just feel so uncomfortable. I'm really not at all flexible after breaking my back, but still couldn't envisage not riding drop bars. Don't spend vast amounts of time on the drops, but hopefully that may change with future purchases.
Biomechaniss is about how your hand and wrist work and where the best power and feel is. Nowt to do with the brakes efficiency - only the position of the lever in relation to your hand
Seosamh77, stop talking sense. Elf and safety in it.
Forget the fact that there are a lot of experienced road racers on here who do well over 10k per year, riding all over Europe, we’ve been doing it wrong all these years, should be on flat bar hybrids.
I’ll regularly ride at over 40mph using my hoods to give me sight above traffic, no problems braking. Braking on the drops is better, but hoods work fine as well.
And correctly set up brakes can be as simple as having the correct cable length to new pads and clean rims.
Do people not mountain bike downhills because it’s a bit dangerous?
I’d give myself a 6 for my mini rant, not enough swearing.
I haven't done an emergency stop for a while - but I want the best possible braking available instantly and continuously as that is the safest. Primary safety comes first second and third
don't agree with me - fine but don't make up stupid things that have nowt to do with anything being discussed.
Braking on the drops is better
so why adopt a position where you have less than the best brakes available?
Much as I canny be arsed with drop bars, braking was never an issue, even from the hoods.
tjagain
Member
Braking on the drops is betterso why adopt a position where you have less than the best brakes available?
Why adopt a position of pig ignorance? 😆
Because you don’t always need the best best available.
When I’m driving my car I have my foot on the accelerator, I move to the brakes when I need to otherwise I wouldn’t get anywhere.
When I’m on the road bike I use my experience and judgement, match the speed with the surroundings. Coming down a mountain pass at a very fast speed where cars are slowing me down, I’m confident my braking will not be a problem, I may even be on the hoods if I want line of sight over the traffic.
The only time in all my cycling that I ever wanted better braking was because of the rubbish mechanical disc brakes on an old cx bike. Had zero to do with where I put my hands, everything to do with the fiddly crappy brake system.
TJ you should ride s TT bike, then you’ll realise how good the hoods are and how easy it is to efficiently move to the drops.
nice - insults now. many posters agree with me that braking on the hoods is less than optimum including the one I quoted. so why spend most of your time in a position where you have less than optimum braking?
But then - IME most cyclist have no idea how to get the best from their brakes 😉
enough - I am not supposed to get into stupid arguements any more.
woodster - what about the unexpected? Cars that pull out etc? thats why I cover the brakes and want the best possible braking at all times. safety first
And this is definitely a stupid argument.
Do you drive everywhere at 5 mph because - safety first?
so why spend most of your time in a position where you have less than optimum braking?
Because it is more than powerful, why is that so difficult to grasp? Do you run shit brakes or something?
It's not an insult nor intended to be, just a simple observation, you don't seem to be factoring in that brakes are designed these days to work with minimal effort. (Hence 1 finger braking with your index finger, bio-mechanically that isn't the strongest force you can put through your hand in a gripped position)
Seems to be the definition of wilful/pig ignorance to me....
Do you wear a crash helmet in your car when you drive to work?
I completely get your argument, it’s a risk decision. The chances of a car pulling out are very slim but possible. I reduce the factors as much as possible. But there’s risk in everything we do.
I ride around a XC course on my gravel bike, for safety I’d be much better using my full sus. I did the SDW on a road bike with 32mm tyres, I’d have been safer on my rigid Marin + bike.
The hoods are an effective way of stopping a road bike. Even my carbon rim braking setup works perfectly. Disc brakes are better than rim brakes, but that doesn’t mean rim brakes are now unsafe. In fact they’re getting better and better.
Each to their own, I ride in a group of 60 to 100 riders mm’s away from my wheel twice a week, people making strange decisions and needing fast reactions, never worried about being on the hoods.
supose I had better 'fess up - asking in another place a couple of motorcyclist friends do not cover the brakes all the time. Hmmm. Its certainly how I was taught. Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm
seosamh77
and you miss my point that you also get better feel when your hand is in a better position biomechanically!
woodster - thats something I will never do - ride in a bunch!
Riding on the drops puts more weight onto the front wheel the bike will then handle better. Braking from the drops is also better, but braking from the hoods is now so terrible anyway.
If you aren’t using them, your bike is not set up properly. Remind me why bar ends were introduced and how did people reach the brakes? Jones H bars? Everyone likes to move about a bit.
After riding wet carbon rims and rim brakes, any braking is suddenly a gift. Decent discs can stop you sufficiently on drop bars from the hoods- technique also helps rather than just grabbing brake and praying. On the drops you get more power and control of direction as the whole body is in a better position for movement- hence why people sprint and descend on the drops- it’s more aero but it’s also better for handling.
After riding loads of mtb trails on m cross bike (because it’s the best fun and great training) my speed on my MTB has increased beyond recognition- it makes you appreciate the suspension, tyres and bars far more and allows you to push what you thought was the limit wayyy more. Drops taking getting used to- it’s not comfortable to start with.
Drops give more hand positions and the longer the ride the more important that is. I don't do long rides (max 2 hours) but even for those short amounts of times my hands can get numbness on flat bars. I just put up with it though as I enjoy riding flat bars more as it makes it more fun (single track, hopping over things and just generally steering)
When I run drop bars they put me in a more serious mood and I spend 80% of the time in the drops with head down which is not really why I am riding.
What is interesting is that over various hour long loops at a highish effort the drops have proved no faster than the flats (I am riding mostly gravel, all solo) so to me have not really made any difference, guessing because sadly my speed is too low to matter
Braking is not a problem on either bars as I don't use brakes.
Anyway, was this you tj? https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/uk-scotland-49275630/determined-cyclist-makes-it-through-flood-water-in-edinburgh
I have an Arkose that I commute on through London, I rarely use the drop position. Generally on the hoods all the time, find braking to be perfectly adequate there, and regularly have to do an emergency stop. I do find myself riding with 1 or 2 fingers always covering the brake, usually middle finger, but it's a very natural position on the hoods
The only time I'm on the drops is if I was off road and downhill, I find the bumps make the hoods quite difficult to grip whereas the drops mean I can brake well without having to strain to grip
I don't cover the brakes all the time on my motorbike, but I'll often have my middle finger on the brake, which I find gives me sufficient power most of the time. That works for riding in town and spirited riding on bendy roads
Shimano's new gravel orientated groupsets move the pivot point of the brake lever to improve braking from the hoods...personally I'm pretty happy braking from the hoods but welcome the improvement as only really use drops for headwinds and downhill that I'm happy I know ...in traffic generally in the top of the bars or on the hoods covering the brakes
enough – I am not supposed to get into stupid arguements any more.
Stop starting them then!
Going from bike to bike, flat bars 700 wide to road 460 narrow is strange. I do the euro style touring flat bars and one of the last headshok 26 touring mtbs with all the rack points front and rear. Every now and then I look for drop bars race style 600mm wide, last time only from States and mega expensive. Why only 460mm max wide.
I never used to use Shimano STI Road levers because I found them impossible to use from the hoods which is why I have over 20 years of Campag Ergolever drop bar riding happiness.
4 years ago I discovered SRAM HRD and am now more or less converted to it on my best bikes, 2 of which are actually eTap which I really, really like.
To sum up I don’t have problems with riding safely on the hoods with either Campag or SRAM only with Shimano.
Sometimes I don't cover the brakes because I'm riding uphill. 🤨
Sometimes I don’t cover the brakes because I’m riding uphill.
But how do you stop yourself going backwards? 😕
I'd be amazed if Iainc hasn't gone over the bars on a climb....
🙄🤣😂