I took great interest in this article after a high speed wobble crash last summer. I recently read an article by sheldon brown who mentions that he recommends braking with the front brake only 90-95% of the time. And Park Tool’s website says “Adjust height of right pad to strike lower edge of braking surface. Adjust height of left pad to strike the upper edge of braking surface”.
Wondering if Slowman or anyone else has an opinion on front braking and brake pad adjusting…
Another good tip on descending around curves is to always make sure and look where you want to go, not where you don’t want to go. This is also a good tip when riding a motorcycle and or driving high speeds on a track.
If you are going around a bend and are starting to worry that you are going to run out of road and run off the berm don’t stare at where you think you are going, because if you are fixated for instance on a guardrail halfway around the bend and stare at it you will tend to gravitate towards it. But if you are looking around the curve to where you want to go you will find it easier to hold a good clean line through even a high speed curve. It can be hard, especially if you are nervous but it does make taking big high speed corners easier as your body will follow your eyes to the correct line.
That is partially true…that was very true with center caliper brakes, such as the Record REAR brake. If you look at the closing caliper you will see that one arm rotates in an upward motion, the other in a downward motion…adjusting the pads to be at the proper position of the rim will make sure that if you have an emergency grab of the brakes that the pad does not squeeze in and deviate off of the brake surface of the rim.
I almost never use my rear brake…not on the bike…not on motorcycles. Good examples of this being the case on all vehicles is that the front rotors on cars and motor cycles tend to be much larger than the rears - and the reason that Campy has the lighter single pivot brake on the rear…
I’d thought about this, too, when I got my fixed-gear and was talking to a guy at the bike shop about how to brake most effectively and he said that you have most stopping power, actually, when your front brake is engaged just enough that your rear wheel is basically bearing zero weight. So really, locking up (or whatever) the rear brake shouldn’t be gaining you any stopping power. Why don’t the weight weenies then just take off their rear brakes? I’ve been tempted…
Seems like a good front brake should be all you need. Right?
fyi, that strange advice about brake pad adjusting is for dual-pivot brakes (vs. single pivot brakes, now becoming more rare).
you actually want the pads to strike the wheel rim at the same heights, but since the caliper arms have difference radii for their movement, the pads appear to be of different heights when they are away from the rim.
Not with side pulls 
never seen a caliper go over or under the rim however. Seen a Record Delta somehow twist and send a pad over the bead somehow…
actually,
yes, with dual-pivot side pull brakes.
but
no, with single-pivot side pull brakes.
or else you need a new mechanic.
Despite my username I do admit I am forced to use my brakes sometimes! As an addict of high speed motorbikes I agree braking with front brake is more effective, with the caveat that you are moving a straight line. Braking with the front brake while cornering is a recipe for gravel rash as a front wheel slide is very hard to control compared to a rear wheel slide. This also needs to be considered if the road surface is less than ideal - e.g. wet, sandy or gravelly.
If you do have to brake while cornering its best to use the rear brake and shift your weigh backwards as you do.
Also, you have to be a bit more cautious with the front brake on a cycle compared to a motorbike as a motorbike has front suspension. This enables its front wheel to stay in contact with the road surface better as you go over the rough road surface so you can be a bit more aggressive with it.
Totally agree with the poster above who says look where you want to go not where you don’t want to go. I always look a long way ahead most of the time with just quick close range scans to check for pot holes etc. Same tactic works really in skiing, snowboarding and motorbiking
Yup…you are right…been a while since my studies at Barnetts.
Single both calipers move on the same axis, dual pivot they dont.
As I grow older, I am trying to learn to accend faster, and decend slower.
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I’ve got to agree with Nobrakes: whenever a surface is slippery, for whatever reason, so long as the front wheel can roll, and you can keep it balanced, you shouldn’t go down, as I have discovered cycling to work in the prairie winter. Simple rear braking is something I do very rarely, but sometimes it it the best option. If I wish to slow a fast descent, first I sit up to make a sail (as Dan writes) then gently feather both brakes, with the front getting most of the attention. I’m more afraid of an endo on my tri-bike than on my road bike, so I would hate to develop a habit of getting close to your theoretical maximum braking on one bike, only to find it was too much for the other! (Might be a good skill for someone who trains an races on exactly the same bike though?)At slow speeds, on a dependable surface, I mostly use the front brake on its own. And as Dan suggests, I rehearse in my mind which brake affects which wheel, leaving as little to chance as possible. j
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Chest makes a great sail…even spreading your elbows out wide can scrub just a tad of speed. I often “elbow brake” on the Keene hill at IMLP. This is great - advanced roadie skills for Tri folks…next thing you know we are going to be looking for natural breaks for speed…trees, large buildings, and what not…