After years of cursing rear tyres for not having enough grip under braking, overcooking rear pads and disks in the Alps, and front tyres that never seem to wear while rears last no time at all, I have finally come to the realisation that I am simply relying far to heavily on the rear brake and not using the front hard enough. It came to a head last night when I struggled to get around half the corners (running wide) in our local woods (pressing on over wet roots and pine needles) when it clicked that the front wasn’t turning in simply because the rear wheel was locking up and acting like an anchor! Whether it is a fear of locking the front and dropping the bike or not I don’t know, but I cannot get away from the fact I need to use the front more.
So does anyone have any idea how to learn to use/force myself to use it more? I have tried fitting a smaller rear disk/less powerful caliper but it still locks up too easy and just overheats even quicker on long descents!
For info the brakes are Zees, but I can also see the same effect while on the hardtail and the gravel bile to a lesser extent so am pretty sure it is me and not the brakes.