# how to brake on a road bike?



## shute (Jan 19, 2008)

Greetings! I'm a long time XC rider who has decided to try road biking this year but i was wondering how i go about braking? I keep thinking that braking with the front wheel like mountain bikes would be dangerous on a road bike. Are you pretty much screwed if you have to stop while going fast unless you want to do the superman over the handlebars?


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## ARP (Mar 7, 2002)

*Pretty much the same*

it is probably an 80/20 split front to rear as far as braking power goes. Don't ride the brakes on long descents, rims heat up too much and a potential blowout exists. I alternate front rear about 10 seconds per rim if I am doing a controlled descent. And yes locking up a front rim will either toss you over the bars or put you on the pavement.

Ride within your means and skill set and you should be fine. Panic stops at high speed? you are better off trying to steer through the danger as opposed to complete stopping, brake brake brake, steer steer steer, brake brake, steer steer. I'd think twice about doing those at the same time.


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## shute (Jan 19, 2008)

sounds to me that there is no stopping only slowing down right? man i'll have to get use to that...  and is there anything special i need to do when i use my front brakes like putting my ass behind the seat?


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## rkb (Apr 4, 2007)

You know how when you are on the trail and you get off the saddle and move your can behind the seat to shift your weight and balance?


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## rkb (Apr 4, 2007)

Well, don't do that.....I moved over to the road scene from mtbing about 2 years ago and there is a few things that are different. 

On long descents if you think you are going to want to slow down, keep control of your speed from the beginning. Don't try to slow all at once.

Road brakes are a lot better than you think. On my Heckler I have Juicy Sevens and on my road bike I have Dura-ace, I cannot tell a difference in power between the two. I have also ran Ultegra brake and they are every bit as good as the DAs. 

You can also bleed speed by coming out of a aero position. Just by sitting up ever so slightly will slow you.

Gain confidence in your bike and your self. Going 45-50mph down a hill is a blast. Just make sure your tires are at the proper psi and the rest of your bike is ready for that.


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## TheDogMan (Sep 29, 2004)

Shute:

Braking principles on your road bike work exactly the same way that they do on your mountain bike. When you and your bike are traveling forward, due to your momentum you will slow down only if something pushes back at you from the front. The brakes cause the road surface to push back on the tires, and that push slows the bike down. Because the rider is up higher on the bike, and the push is down at the road surface level, while the push slows the bike, the rider’s momentum tends to somersault him over the handlebars.

The tendency to throw the rider over the bars is resisted by changes in the forces on the wheels on the road. The front wheel carries more weight (and thus more braking power), the back wheel carries less. The stronger the braking force on the front wheel, the more weight is shifted forward. If too much braking force is applied, the lessened weight on the rear wheel causes it to try and come up instead of pushing down on the road, and the rider is launched over the handlebars.

The harder you apply the brakes, the greater the weight on the front wheels and the less the weight on the rear wheel. As long as both brakes are applied together, the rear wheel will eventually lock and start to skid while it is still bearing weight. When this happens, it is the signal to let up on the front brake (until your rear wheel stops skidding) in order to maintain a controlled stop. Shifting the rider’s weight to the rear of the saddle helps counteract the natural tendency for the rider to keep going forward, and places more weight on the rear wheel to increase its braking effectiveness.

Doing an emergency stop on a road bike is just like going downhill on the MTB. Level your pedals, and squeeze both brake levers -- the front lever about three times as hard as the rear. Stand on the pedals and shift your butt to the rear. When you feel the back wheel start to skid, let up a little on the front brake. When you get slowed enough, or come to a stop, clip out and put your foot down to complete the stop. When you're really hooking it, and need to make a "panic" stop like this one, you really want to bleed off the excess speed and do a quick turn to get out of the hazard, rather than ride it down to a full halt.

Like the MTB, it takes practice to get used to what your brakes can do for you. Get out in an empty parking lot somewhere, and set a mark. Get up to speed, and then try stopping with just your front brake, then just your rear brake, and then both brakes to come to a normal stop. This will let you get accustomed to what you can do under normal conditions. Then go back around a couple of times and practice the emergency stop as above, and lock it down as fast as you can. It's a simple skill to learn, but it takes practice.

On a long descent, you want to lightly feather your brakes, off and on, to control your speed. The friction of the brake pads against your rims converts the bike's kinetic energy into heat energy, and the built-up heat on a long downhill can damage the rims or even blow the tire. 

In a paceline or group ride where you just want to bleed off a little speed, you can move out of the draft, softpedal, or simply sit up and catch the wind with your chest (like a sail) to slow down just enough.

Good luck!

Tom
LCI #1853


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## ericm979 (Jun 26, 2005)

On long descents, don't feather the brakes. Brake hard for corners and then let the brakes off. That lets the rims cool off. But it takes a very steep and long descent with tight turns to get brakes too hot. For most normal riding it is not an issue.

Descend with your hands on the drops, not on the brake hoods. You get better control that way.

Unless you really try to do a forwards endo by jabbing the front brake hard and unweighting the rear at the same time, you won't go over the bars, even on steep downhills. Just apply the brake with a little finesse.

Road bike brakes will stop you all the way but they don't stop from speed as well as a sports car or a motorcycle. Since you can hit car-like speeds on big downhills be aware that you can't stop as fast as a car, so leave some room in traffic.


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## Mr. Versatile (Nov 24, 2005)

Practice, practice, practice. Practice makes better.

Go to an empty parking lot, ride in a straight line at maybe 12-15 mph, and practice panic stops. Grab both brakes hard, and at the same time, get your butt off the saddle. Use your legs to push you rearward, and lower your butt behind the saddle, so that it's (your butt) actually lower than the saddle. Your arms should be straight, but not locked. Do this a few times at low speeds - even 10 mph is good. When you get the hang of it, maybe pick up the speed a little. There's no way in hell you're going over the bars doing it like this, and it also helps to equalize the traction to each wheel.

IMO, every single rider everywhere, should practice this. Why? Two reasons:
1. so you know how to do it
2 so you can do it almost automatically in a real emergency.

If a real emergency pops it's ugly head up, you'll always do what you've always done.

Practice. It makes better.


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## Oldteen (Sep 7, 2005)

And remember that road brakes, like MTB V-brakes, do not stop as well when wet. MTBers used to good discs tend to forget that.


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## JCavilia (Sep 12, 2005)

*Not sure what you mean*



shute said:


> sounds to me that there is no stopping only slowing down right? man i'll have to get use to that...


Just like on any vehicle, you slow down, and eventually you stop. You can't stop instantaneously -- it's a physical impossibility. And most of the times that you use brakes, you use them to slow down and control speed, not stop outright.

All that said, braking on a road bike isn't fundamentally different from MTB, with the exception that skidding is much more common with MTB. At a given speed, a road bike on pavement can stop much faster than a MTB in dirt, just because of the greater traction.

Either way, the front brake has to do do most of the work in a hard stop. You might find this discussion by Sheldon Brown useful. He says a couple of things that not everyone agrees with, but on the whole this is a very clear explanation of how braking works on a 2-wheeled vehicle, and how to make use of those concepts.
http://www.sheldonbrown.com/brakturn.html


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## Kristatos (Jan 10, 2008)

ericm979 said:


> On long descents, don't feather the brakes. Brake hard for corners and then let the brakes off. That lets the rims cool off. But it takes a very steep and long descent with tight turns to get brakes too hot. For most normal riding it is not an issue.
> 
> Descend with your hands on the drops, not on the brake hoods. You get better control that way.
> 
> ...


I agree with all the above. I have never, in over 20 years of road cycling, seen a rider endo. I am not saying it can't be done. What I have seen, many times, is riders lay their bike down. Braking while cornering is a huge culprit, especially if you hit some water, slick paint or gravel/dirt. This is why the above advice to break before you enter a corner is key.

If you have to break while in a corner use the breaks lightly and stay off the front brake if you can.


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