I got a new bike for Xmas and just noticed the right hand lever operates the rear brake.

The bike was via mail order, do I have to send it back or do you think I can get it sorted locally and get the seller to pay?

Or is this not classed as a fault?

Posted 2 years ago

What are the brakes, some just swap sides by unbolting them

Posted 2 years ago

Just ride it, you’ll adapt pretty quick…

Posted 2 years ago

If the bike has say,Guides, you can just unbolt the levers and swap them over as they are ambidextrous.

At worst a lbs can sort it for you if it needs the hose swapping over/ bleeding. Though you well be charged for this….

It is hydraulic, right?

Posted 2 years ago

some just swap sides by unbolting them

That’s my first thought too. In my experience the hoses on most brakes can easily be unbolted and swapped over at the lever end.

Just don’t squeeze the levers until you’ve got the hoses bolted back in place properly though.

Posted 2 years ago

SRAM ultimates.

Are these swappable?

Posted 2 years ago

Oh and to add, mail.order first port of call is the retailer. I think to sell in the UK it should be the correct way round. They should be the ones to sort it out for you.

Posted 2 years ago

Yep sram. Is just swap over, might need to unbolt the shifters if it’s all run together

Posted 2 years ago

@mikesmith

Aye, I was just checking to see if I’m unreasonable/it’s a fault.

If it’s that simple I might bundle it all together with going tubeless and sorting the travel etc.

Posted 2 years ago

Probably less hassle than going tubeless and sorting travel mate.👍

Posted 2 years ago

As far As I recall it’s against the law to sell a bike in the UK with the brakes the wrong way round. Quite rightly. Some pillock in Keswick bikes did it on my ibis. As they were Avid POS brakes it was 50 seconds to swap them round.

Just ride it, you’ll adapt pretty quick

No No no non no

Posted 2 years ago

It’s not rocket science. How do you think the rest of the world cope?

Posted 2 years ago

It’s not rocket science. How do you think the rest of the world cope?

Well those who ride on the other side of the road have dangerous left turns rather than right ones. Downhill right hand road junctions on wrong way brakes is crap.

Posted 2 years ago

In fairness to the op he simply didn’t know how big an issue it was to change them over. Without that knowledge it might have been “rocket science” to someone not used to swapping hoses etc over….

Edit: Unless you meant adapting to the difference as Mike mentions? Even so, the “rest of the world” are already used to that configuration so cope well I would think.lol

Posted 2 years ago

………..Well those who ride on the other side of the road have dangerous left turns rather than right ones…….

depends…some US states use the same hand to signal both left and right turns:

and here down under but only in Victoria (I think) you don’t have to signal a left turn when cycling…ridden rental bikes with US/EU brakes and not died actually surprised how quickly adapted but then again i squeak like a mouse if its technical…supplier should have sorted should have been obvious to them unless you opted in accidentally or had delivered to EU address for shipping on

Posted 2 years ago

in a bike shop this would have been checked & corrected in the pre delivery inspection. did it come via a shop or direct sale on the cheap. if yhe later its probably the reason it was cheap as they probably had it direct from the importer & didn’t even open the box. I’d be checking everything else too.

Posted 2 years ago

When I used to use brakes I always had the right hand lever on the right. In my BMX days I just used a rear brake and I am right handed so it felt better. Moving to MTBs and Road bike it was just natural to then have the front brake on left. Can’t ay it made a blind bit of difference when riding on road, indicating etc, but guess I was used to it.

Posted 2 years ago

Or is this not classed as a fault?

It’s pretty common when you buy online that brakes are set up Euro/US style. As above, some levers can be swapped easily, others need the hoses swapped between the levers. Fairly minor job, at the worst you’ll need to bleed the brakes but I’ve always managed to get away without bleeding.

Posted 2 years ago

When I used to use brakes I always had the right hand lever on the right. In my BMX days I just used a rear brake and I am right handed so it felt better. Moving to MTBs and Road bike it was just natural to then have the front brake on left. Can’t ay it made a blind bit of difference when riding on road, indicating etc, but guess I was used to it.

I’m exactly the same, 25+ years of riding a bmx with a right hand rear brake means all my bikes are set up this way, its never an issue as its what im used to

Only thing to watch out for is to remind people who borrow/have a go on your bike!

Posted 2 years ago

It’s easily put right as SRAM brakes can be swapped from one side of the bars to the other without having to undo the hoses . The bike should not have come out to you like that but it’s not worth making a fuss about . To those who say you soon get used to it , that might be doable but if you have more than one bike it becomes very confusing and pretty dangerous .

Posted 2 years ago

Hello, I’m back.

@rocketdog

It’s an Orange from start fitness (an Orange AD) so not a direct sale mass produced in the far East. I have a build cert from a mechanic. There was a problem with one of the brakes and I had to wait whilst it was replaced.

I got good service and updates from start like the previous times I used them.

Will give the bike a once over when not drunk but it looks properly built from the cursory inspection do far.

I’m in Europe, but the other country that rides on the left – Ireland. So it might be the mechanic being deliberate to build them that way trying to be helpful.

I’m not having one bike with different braking levers though so it needs to be sorted.

Posted 2 years ago

Pretty poor to be honest. If it came from an eu country it’s fair enough but since it came from a UK-based country it’s careless, and makes you wonder what other stuff they did wrong when building it.

Personally I’d swap the levers (it’s pretty easy) and check all the bolts etc. It’s not a huge deal by if you’re not confident to do that, you should take it to a bike shop and send the bill on to StartFitness IMHO.

Just ride it, you’ll adapt pretty quick…

That’s irresponsible advice. While there may be some people who can adapt pretty quickly, a lot of us are now hard-wired. At any rate have multiple bikes and having different setups across bikes is silly. Also while some people just use both brakes simultaneously, any decent rider will use F+R independently and subconsciously. It’s nothing to do with hand signalling btw.

Posted 2 years ago

I’m in Europe, but the other country that rides on the left – Ireland. So it might be the mechanic being deliberate to build them that way trying to be helpful.

I ordered a bike from them for delivery to France. After I’d ordered it I realised that I hadn’t made any note about brake setup in the order, so contacted them to ask for Euro setup. They told me they automatically build this way for non-UK addresses – looks like the Republic of Ireland is bundled in with that.

Posted 2 years ago

. It’s nothing to do with hand signalling btw.

Might not be the reason but it certainly helps to not be feathering the front brake when signalling for so men nasty downhill junctions

Posted 2 years ago

I have a build cert from a mechanic

You have a piece of paper signed by a monkey. What else might he have missed? Good luck on your first ride; I wouldn’t be surprised if the crank falls off

Posted 2 years ago

**** hell – did you only get socks and a lynx gift set?

Chill your beans – it’s fine and set up for a euro country, except I’m in a LHS euro country.

Posted 2 years ago

It will probably take longer to find your t25 torx key than it will go actually perform the lever swap. It’s not exactly challenging, just take them both off and bolt them back on the other side of the bars to that they came from.

Posted 2 years ago

Chill your beans – it’s fine

Seriously? From the drama queen who started the thread with “shall I send it back?” rather than reaching for the tools?

Goodness knows how the tubeless escapade will play out. Keep a firec extinguisher handy

Posted 2 years ago

The UK regulations regarding bicycle brakes do not mention (and certainly don’t mandate) which side brake lever operates which brake.

I’ve rented “Euro” style braked bikes and it’s taken me all of five minutes to adjust.

Posted 2 years ago

Sounds like you didn’t even get a lynx Africa gift set..

I’m not badger, tubeless will be grand.

Posted 2 years ago

Saccades

I’m not badger, tubeless will be grand.

A bit argumentative on here eh? Lol

Enjoy the new bike mate and forget about the pedants.👍

Posted 2 years ago