I know people who switched to front brake/right lever for urban riding, the
better to signal turns while braking with.
David Feldman
Vancouver,WA
> I have a different theory: In Germany and Italy, coaster-braked bikes
> were the norm. On those, you have one brake lever only. So you put it
> on the right. If you add a second lever (for a rear brake), you put
> it on the left.
>
> In France, coaster brakes never were populer. So they have the
> inverse set-up - probably for no good reason, except they may have
> started with rear brakes only! So the rear goes on the right. Don't
> know about the U.S... Probably adapted the French model.
>
> For riding, it really doesn't matter. No good brake requires more
> strength than a left hand can provide, and anyhow, the variation in
> hand strength from rider to rider is greater than between hands of
> the same rider.
>
> The funniest thing I've ever heard is that cyclocross might have
> something to do with it - you want to feather the rear brake when you
> have only one hand on the bars. If you do that, you probably won't
> stay upright!
>
> What do you think?
>
> Jan Heine, Seattle