Adding to this 'debate' I'm surprised no one has mentioned a certain element to which lever to use, left or right? I always had my front brake on the right, as all the bikes we build up nowadays in the UK have, but................when concealed brake cables came into fashion [on topic by a couple of years I think] I realised you could get a much neater cable route by the cables crossing each other, which meant having the front brake on the left [unless of course you had Weinmann 500s]
So today I always have front on the left, even on my 'retro' bikes, including Mafac's
Kevin..Time now to brave the duff weather and get out for a ride! Sayles Bridgwater Somerset UK
> Here is an interesting dilemma. I have always set up right - front. Apart
> from being an ex-pat Brit, which I don't think factors in here, when I
> started building up bikes in my teens it made sense to me to run the brake
> cable straight down to the cable-arm (on the right hand side of a front
> Campag brake when viewed from atsride the bike) and thus creating a more
> direct (at least to me) route. My Ilkeston frameset is even set up with
> the cable guides for the rear brake running along the bottom left hand
> side of the top-tube which seems to suggest a left-rear set-up - and a
> more direct route to the rear cable-arm.
>
> Now here is the interesting thing - the GB Standard brakes (1948-9 and
> definitively British) on my Carpenter are set up with the cable-arm on the
> left hand side of the front-brake (again when viewed from astride the
> bike) and without thinking I naturally set up left-front and right rear (I
> wondered why it felt peculiar to me when braking). Again it was more a
> case of routing the cables without crossing. Might have to rethink that
> though!!!
>
> I was never trained to do it one way or the other, but somehow have always
> instinctively preferred not to cross the cables. I have never known
> whether this was right or wrong!!
>
> Paul Williams,
> Ottawa, ON, Canada
>
>
>
>
>
>
> Paul B. Williams, BAH (Laurier), MPhil (Cardiff, Wales), PhD (Queen's)
> Dept. of Geography and Environmental Studies,
> Carleton University,
> castell5@sympatico.ca
> paul_williams@carleton.ca
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Jan Heine" <heine94@earthlink.net>
> To: "Jon Spangler" <hudsonspangler@earthlink.net>;
> <classicrendezvous@bikelist.org>
> Sent: Saturday, January 17, 2009 2:16 AM
> Subject: Re: [CR] Right brake-front, left brake-rear
>
>
>>>>>Now that the bar-wrap saga is almost laid to rest, may I submit "brake
>>>>>levers" for discussion...In England, since most of us rode fixed wheel
>>>>>in
>>>>>the winter and even early season time-trials, the one and only brake
>>>>>lever was on the right hand side. Various ideas of this were that we
>>>>>rode
>>>>>on the left-hand side of the road, the right hand was generally the
>>>>>stronger of the two and mainly, if a young chick had joined the group,
>>>>>it
>>>>>was easier to push her along into a head-wind. When racing on the
>>>>>Continent, the mechanic would oblige my request to switch the cables
>>>>>around but with some mirth. On emigrating to the States in 1974, I
>>>>>thought
>>>>>it best to "go with the flow" and did my brakes American and
>>>>>Continental
>>>>>style...all went well until 2 years ago on the "Sunday Bash" whilst in
>>>>>Britain....I switched bikes with a young chap who wanted to try a
>>>>>Campagnolo Record equipped bike ...with about 5 miles to go and in
>>>>>pouring rain, we went down a 1 in 4 (called Scarth Nick),,,and I
>>>>>tapped
>>>>>the wrong side lever going into a bend...The bike did a complete 180
>>>>>..I
>>>>>managed luckily to stay upright,,,but even luckier, the other guys
>>>>>thought I did the manouver on purpose and marvelled at my
>>>>>performance..
>>>>>
>>>>>So, which is the correct side? COLIN LAING ( awaiting Obama's stimulus
>>>>>check)
>>
>> The current Bicycle Quarterly "Brake Special" (Winter 2008) has a
>> discussion of brake setup. Of course, it comes down to personal
>> preference.
>>
>> One of our editorial team prefers "right front" because he considers his
>> front brake too important to be left to his less coordinated hand.
>>
>> The other member of the editorial team prefers left-front, because his
>> right hand is too important for eating, reaching for bottles, and
>> shifting, to be bothered with minor tasks like braking. (With good
>> brakes, you don't need huge hand strength to brake effectively.)
>>
>> The different national traditions also are explained in detail in the
>> above-mentioned article. Germany, Italy and Britain prefer (or mandate)
>> right-front. France and the U.S. prefer left-front. Why? The reason
>> actually is the way the rear brake is actuated...
>>
>> In the 1920s, most bikes had brakes only at the rear. Later, front brakes
>> became mandatory (except in the U.S., where they still are not required).
>> Countries that used coaster brakes then used the right hand when they
>> added a (front) rim brake. (Most people are right-handed.) Countries that
>> already used a rear rim brake (operated with the right hand) had only the
>> left hand remaining to operate the new (front) brake. (The U.S. simply
>> followed French tradition when Schwinn introduced the first mass-market
>> bikes with rim brakes.)
>>
>> So no way is right, just like riding on the right or the left of the road
>> is a matter of convention, rather than one being better than the other.
>>
>> Jan Heine
>> Editor
>> Bicycle Quarterly
>> 140 Lakeside Ave #C
>> Seattle WA 98122
>> http://www.vintagebicyclepress.com