24
4. Disc brakes can get extremely hot with extended use. Be careful not to touch a disc brake until it
has had plenty of time to cool.
5. See the brake manufacturer’s instructions for operation and care of your brakes. If you do not
have the manufacturer’s instructions, see your dealer or contact the brake manufacturer.
1. Brake controls and features
It’s very important to your safety that you learn and remember which
brake lever controls which brake on your bike.
!
Make sure that your hands can reach and squeeze the brake levers
comfortably. If your hands are too small to operate the levers
comfortably, consult your dealer before riding the bike. The lever reach
may be adjustable; or you may need a different brake lever design.
Most brakes have some form of quick-release mechanism to allow the
brake quick release is in the open position, the brakes are inoperative.
Ask your dealer to make sure that you understand the way the brake
quick release works on your bik
e (see figs. 12, 13) a
nd check each time
to make sure both brakes work correctly before you get on the bike.
2. How brakes work
The braking action of a bicycle is a function of the pads and the wheel
rim. To make sure that you have maximum friction available, keep your
wheel rims and brake pads clean and free of dirt, lubricants, waxes or
polishes.
Brakes are designed to control your speed, not just to stop the bike.
Maximum braking force for each wheel occurs at the point just before
the wheel “locks up” (stops rotating) and starts to skid. Once the tire
skids, you actually lose most of your stopping force and all directional control. You need to practice slowing
and stopping smoothly without locking up a wheel. The technique is called progressive brake modulation.
Instead of jerking the brake lever to the position where you think you’ll generate appropriate braking force,
squeeze the lever, progressively increasing the braking force. If you feel the wheel begin to lock up, release
pressure just a little to keep the wheel rotating just short of lockup. It’s important to develop a feel for the
amount of brake lever pressure required for each wheel at different speeds and on different surfaces. To
better understand this, experiment a little by walking your bike and applying different amounts of pressure to
each brake lever, until the wheel locks.
When you apply one or both brakes, the bike begins to slow, but your body wants to continue at the speed at
which it was going. This causes a transfer of weight to the front wheel (or, under heavy braking, around the
front wheel hub, which could send you flying over the handlebars).
A wheel with more weight on it will accept greater brake pressure before lockup; a wheel with less weight will
lock up with less brake pressure. So, as you apply brakes and your weight is transferred forward, you need
to shift your body toward the rear of the bike, to transfer weight back on to the rear wheel; and at the same
time, you need to both decrease rear braking and increase front braking force. This is even more important
on descents, because descents shift weight forward.
Two keys to effective speed control and safe stopping are controlling wheel lockup and weight transfer.
This weight transfer is even more pronounced if your bike has a front suspension fork. Front suspension
“dips” under braking, increasing the weight transfer (see also Section 4.F). Practice braking and weight
transfer techniques where there is no traffic or other hazards and distractions.
!
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
fig. 12
fig. 13
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