Front Brake Only?

ferball

ferball

New Member
My current build realy offers no viable rear braking. I was thinking that front only brakes would be alright because 90% of stopping is done with the front brakes, any thoughts on this? Fronts will be center pull cantilever type so I am thinking I will be good, hardly used rear brakes on my last build any way. But looking for advice so I can feel better about the decision..duh.
 
Rear, or redundant brakes are always a good idea. Actually the figure is about 70% of braking is on the front but even so, it's always a good idea to have some back up. If you really want to rely fully on the fronts then try to adapt your bike to disc brakes. They are far superior to rim brakes.
Tom
 
I was also thinking of trying to adapt a coaster brake for my front wheel so I could have a coaster and rim brake on the front for redundancy.
 
you could do a drum and rim brake on the front, but it's still not a very "safe" option.

one of the reasons to have a brake on each wheel is in case of a flat tire or some other malfunction.

if you get a flat on the front, neither brake is gonna help you if they're both on the same wheel.

that's another issue i have with a "dual-pull" brake lever. if the lever snaps, you ain't stoppin'...
 
I concur with Baird said. I think the rear brake is very important. Their are some rare occasions that a guy may have no choice but to lay a bike down. The rear break would help that way.
 
I always apply rear brake before front, it makes for more stable deceleration. I've seen bikes fold the fork at 25+ from hitting front too hard , jackknife action. That's physics.
 
I got this idea from another member. Bolt a rear caliper BMX brake to the cross piece on your chainstays. If your frame has no cross piece there, use a couple steel plates on the top and bottom of the chain stays as a cross piece (just drill holes and clamp the steel plates in place). It has worked well over the past six months for me.
CIMG0305.jpg
 
Alternatively you could always have a parachute for emergencies.LOL. I had thought of this dilemma, and realised mechanical issues with the single brake system could be nasty, but i thought a properly setup quality disc brake would be very rare to malfunction. I didnt even think of what happens with a flat tyre, way more likely (in fact its already happened to me). Thanks Bairdco i will definitley not be risking a single brake setup in the future.
 
Redundancy and percentages aside, the biggest problem you will have with front-brakes-only is when you have to brake over a turn. Once the front wheel locks-up over even the slightest patch of sand, gravel, snow, you're screwed. The front of your bike will skid and you lose all steering control. Good luck trying to keep upright and in one piece.

The right way to handle a bike in that situation is to let off the front brake just enough to get the front wheel turning (and steering) while at the same time using your rear brake to slow/stop. If you lock-up the rear and things are looking grim, its much safer to bail on a rear wheel slide than a front wheel slide.

That is also the biggest reason I don't like dual-pull brakes, because you lose the ability to modulate front and rear braking power during emergency situations.
 
here's the redundant set up
Dual disc brakes up front. Drum brake and linear pull breaks on rear with dual pull brake levers up front on each side to control the two seperate braking systems. All backed up by the coaster brake

I'm only half joking

And I checked, a parachute costs too much
 
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