Right hand lever = front brake. Just a kiwi thing?

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dereksmalls
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Location: New Zealand

by dereksmalls

Is this purely a New Zealand way of setting up brakes? Right hand lever equals front brake and read derailleur and the left hand lever equals front derailleur and brake. Or is it done in other countries too? I know NZ pros that get into the pro peleton end up switching to the other way around after years of growing up with this set up.

Thoughts? And how do you have yours set up and why? Is it the same for CX and MTB?

EDIT: sorry got the derailleurs the wrong way around, fixed now :oops:
Last edited by dereksmalls on Thu May 22, 2014 10:41 am, edited 1 time in total.

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ayrej2
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by ayrej2

UK is front brake on the right lever but with the rear dérailleur.

I've contemplating swapping as the cable runs look better the other way round, but don't fancy mixing it up in an emergency stop scenario!

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austke
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by austke

Over here in Australia, we have front brake/ rear derailleur. I was heard the reasoning being what side of the road you drive/ride on to enable hand signals to be given safely. Eg. In Oz we can give a right hand turn signal while using rear brake with left hand. And then US has opposite being that they drive/ride on the opposite side of road. They can signal left to cross traffic while using right hand to apply rear brake.
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Tinea Pedis
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by Tinea Pedis

Edited: confused myself :doh:

UK is front brake on the right lever but with the rear dérailleur.

Short of gutting a lever, can't see how it could ever be anything but the RD with the right shifter...

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bikerjulio
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by bikerjulio

i don't know for sure, but I think it coincides with motorcycle useage, nothing to do with the side of the road. So someone coming off motorcycling would be used to right = front brake.

Generally in North America it's left = front.
There's sometimes a buggy.
How many drivers does a buggy have?

One.

So let's just say I'm drivin' this buggy...
and if you fix your attitude you can ride along with me.

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Dammit
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by Dammit

Ayrej2 has this right I believe- lever setup seems to map pretty closely to side of road.

It may be "Euro" but all the hire bikes I've ridden on the Continent have had the front brake on the left, whereas coming from the UK the front brake is on the right.

Unless I'm just popping to the shops I always change the cables round, then swap them back before handing the bike in.

austke
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by austke

Oh, and yes our motorbikes, and MTB and CX are the same as our roadies. Or at least as far as I am aware.
2013 Giant TCR Advanced SL 0, 6.92kg
2013 Giant Defy Composite 2 M, 8.5kg - Wife's
Azzurro Torino 8.55g
Fuji 650 10.8kg
Miele Lupa Triple Tandem 38,89kg

GT56
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by GT56

dereksmalls wrote:Is this purely a New Zealand way of setting up brakes? Right hand lever equals front brake and front derailleur and the left hand lever equals rear derailleur and brake. Or is it done in other countries too? I know NZ pros that get into the pro peleton end up switching to the other way around after years of growing up with this set up.

Thoughts? And how do you have yours set up and why? Is it the same for CX and MTB?



rh lever front brake, yes, but rh lever front derailieur ??

wasn't there something with hand signals ?

Franklin
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by Franklin

Tinea Pedis wrote:Right hand, front brake is the 'Euro' brake set up.


Errrr... really? I'm sure Pro's etc. swap it, but normally bikes here are delivered Front-Left/Rear-Right.

Rodrego Hernandez
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by Rodrego Hernandez

Front brake left was always the way to have it - just check through any old pro photos.

I'm not sure why the UK changed to having it on the right but it's the #euro and #pro way to have it on the left.

Most high end frames are made to have the rear brake on the right- smoother cable travel and no cable rub. It's also a smoother cable run for the front brake on the left, especially on smaller frames.

dereksmalls
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by dereksmalls

See a lot of the pro bikes I see in pictures have the rear brake on the right hand lever and front brake on the left. It does look like a better cable entry angle into the front brake from the left lever I have to say, more of a natural looking curve.

Yeah edited my comment about which lever controls which derailleur in my original post, confused my self there!

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Tinea Pedis
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by Tinea Pedis

Franklin wrote:
Tinea Pedis wrote:Right hand, front brake is the 'Euro' brake set up.


Errrr... really? I'm sure Pro's etc. swap it, but normally bikes here are delivered Front-Left/Rear-Right.

Nope, you're correct.

Posting before breakfast is a mistake.

I prefer my strongest hand controlling the more powerful brake. But really, I ride enough bikes with different set ups that its much of a muchness.

mentok
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by mentok

there's a wonderful photo that i've seen of merckx and moser i believe, standing by their bikes, looking terribly euro and one has right hand front brake, the other has left hand front brake. if those 2 couldn't agree on what was right, what chance do the rest of us have?

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sugarkane
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by sugarkane

I used to race motor bikes in the country dereksmalls comes from now I'm on pushies it's right hand brakes for me. I'm ok sweeping through the gears on the brakes too. Have too blip the throttle rolling into a corner when your on the brakes to assist the down shifts needed to be in the gear you need when you open it back up.. I do the same with the gear shifter when braking into a corner it feels very natural too me.
If your right handed it makes lots of sense as your right hand is Stronger and has better developed fine motor control.. Lefties tend to always be a bit on the ambidextrous side so it's less an issue for them..

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