superspark79 Posted August 8, 2014 Report Share Posted August 8, 2014 Morning, i am struggling to get used to a rear foot break after riding mountain bike trials for years, has any one used a rear thumb brake or have any tips on getting used to using it Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
p@ul250 Posted August 8, 2014 Report Share Posted August 8, 2014 Practice, Practice, Practice! That's all you can do. I'm constantly swapping back and forth between bike's with the rear brake on the left and right side and find it takes about half an hour to settle in. Usually just after I have scared the SH-T out of myself on a big down hill section. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
guys Posted August 8, 2014 Report Share Posted August 8, 2014 Keep practicing is the only thing you can do imo. I've been riding bicycles/mountainbikes and motorcycles all my life, no problem switching at all. I also doubt that your thumb would be strong enough to get some decent deceleration. You would need at least a 200 to 250 mm disc or some kind of serious booster, which is impractical. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
peterh Posted August 8, 2014 Report Share Posted August 8, 2014 (edited) You could invest in a CLAKE - combination clutch and rear brake in one on the handlebars - www.clake.com.au - with settings for initiation and overlap set by different cams. Edited August 8, 2014 by peterh Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
guys Posted August 8, 2014 Report Share Posted August 8, 2014 You could invest in a CLAKE - combination clutch and rear brake in one on the handlebars - www.clake.com.au - with settings for initiation and overlap set by different cams. Yeah, that looks much easier to get used to, especially on a trials bike with constant clutch and rear brake action. sorry couldn't constrain myself Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
0007 Posted August 8, 2014 Report Share Posted August 8, 2014 Motorcycles are all the same, why not just learn to ride the bike rather than try to make it something it's not After all you learned to ride a pedal bike and drive a car etc Just ride Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mcman56 Posted August 9, 2014 Report Share Posted August 9, 2014 I struggled with this when riding a BSA after being used to a modern bike. I found that purposfully dragging the rear brake slightly in sections tended to activate the part of my brain that realized the brake was on the other side. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
billyt Posted August 9, 2014 Report Share Posted August 9, 2014 To start with....... Switch the front brake cable over to the right hand side lever on your push bike. That way at least the right hand lever is the same on both Trials bike and push bike i.e both control the front brake. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mags Posted August 9, 2014 Report Share Posted August 9, 2014 This was an issue for my wife having never ridden a motorcycle until this year. She regularly rode her mountain bicycle. She became comfortable using the clutch relatively quickly but the rear brake was a bit of an issue to get used to. I gave her an exercise that got the brain synapses used to the rear brake.... I sent her up a long hill and said "I want you to come down the hill clutch in and only use back brake, come to a stop every 2 metres for a split second and roll off again. Go down hill 4 times... for the first two times remove foot from peg and place back on before you apply brake, next two runs down just apply brake. After sessions of this every time we went to our ride area she knows where and how much brake to use now.... and has become very good at it. She did get annoyed with the repetition of the exercise at times but I insisted she keep at it.... what are husbands for!!! Mags 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zippy Posted August 10, 2014 Report Share Posted August 10, 2014 my experience was the opposite. Growing up I used the brakes on a motorcycle before having a bicycle with hand brakes. So I was used to the front brake on the right. All my bicycles have been/are set up that way. For some reason I don't have a problem switching between left hand for clutch and left hand for rear brake, but I have extreme difficulty with switching right hand for front brake and right hand for rear brake. This may be a bit extreme, but have you considered swapping the hoses for front brake and clutch on the motorcycle? This would place the front brake to the hand you are used to. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
guys Posted August 10, 2014 Report Share Posted August 10, 2014 I wouldn't change anything. I've been riding bicycles with the front brake on the left and mopeds and motorcycles with the front brake on the right all my life. Never had a problem with it, and I'm not particularly talented. It's just a matter of practicing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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