# hand position for brakes



## PoorCyclist (Oct 14, 2010)

Hi, what is the best way to press the brake lever when the hands are on the brake hood?
Do you use the 2, 3 or 4 fingers to squeeze the trigger?

Also, is it recommended to keep your fingers on the lever at all times? I found the transition from grabbing the bar, to change to grab the lever be very slow. I think I would only grab the bar only if there are miles of road ahead with no traffic.


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## frpax (Feb 13, 2010)

Of course this is all personal preference. You ride how you ride and what's comfortable for might not work for you. Also different situations require different hand positions.

But, when I'm riding on flat terrain, I ride with my hands "on the hoods" about 50% of the time. I use 2 fingers to brake, whether I'm on the hoods or down in the drops. If I'm not on the hoods, then my hands are slightly back a bit "on the bends" about 30% of the time, but can move forward in a flash to get on the brakes. The remainder 20% is spent in the drops.

In traffic, I'm on the hoods probably 75% of the time; on the bends maybe 20%; and in the drops 5%.

When climbing, I'm "on the tops" 90% of the time, except when I'm out of the saddle.

When descending, I'm pretty evenly split between being in the drops and on the hoods.


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## JCavilia (Sep 12, 2005)

> Also, is it recommended to keep your fingers on the lever at all times? I found the transition from grabbing the bar, to change to grab the lever be very slow. I think I would only grab the bar only if there are miles of road ahead with no traffic.


For your first question, the answer is simply to practice, and figure out what works for you. You'll find a variety of ways.

But for the question quoted above, the answer is emphatically "no." You don't need to ride with fingers on the brake levers at all times. Practice getting to the brakes from various hand positions, and that perceived slowness will go away. It's not as slow as you think, anyway. 

If you insist on keeping your fingers on the brake levers all the time, you will get very uncomfortable, and unnecessarily inhibit your bike-handling. With practice, you will learn to get on the brakes from any bar position in a very small fraction of a second. There will be situations where you keep the fingers on the levers, because you know you'll be braking repeatedly, or because there are obvious hazards nearby.

Your approach would mean never riding with hands on the tops or bends unless you have "miles" of clear road ahead. That's totally unnecessary. Learn to move your hands from one position to another quickly, and to get on the brakes from any of the 4 basic positions. Practice will make it quick and secure.


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## [email protected] (May 14, 2010)

agree with j.....there may be times when you do want to ride with finger(s) on the brakes (i.e. like when you're cornering with a group), but generally speaking it's not necessary. also, as to how many fingers, kinda depends on the quality of your brakes...higher end brakes (i.e. dura ace) really only require 1 finger for most braking situations


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## Keeping up with Junior (Feb 27, 2003)

*Stop It*

Thumb and palm hooked over the hood and two fingers on the brake levers when slowing/stopping. Typically I ride much like *frpax* although prefer the drops in sketchy situations which usually occur because of other riders rather than traffic.



PoorCyclist said:


> ...I think I would only grab the bar only if there are miles of road ahead with no traffic.


While being able to stop or slow is important I think you are giving it too much importance. Often times there are better ways to avoid an incident than slamming on the brakes (accelerate, steer around, bunny hop, sit up in the wind...). When you practice braking remember to practice shifting your weight back by lowering your torso and sliding your butt back because these will be necessary skills in an emergency stop so you dont go over the bars.


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