Hey bike fans, Rossey here again to touch on something I have already spoken briefly about, but I want to explore in more depth, emergency braking.
Some dirt bike riders rely on the rear brake mainly for cornering, and straight-line braking. But road bike braking is a totally different kettle of fish.
Using the rear brake only will lengthen your braking as the rear wheel will generally lock up with forward momentum. This is where you must use your front brake as the primary brake, then supplement it with the rear brake to improve stability.
Mirrors – Prior to braking, you must always check your mirrors. You don’t know what might be creeping up behind you. If there is a car right up your ginger, or a truck bearing down on you, you may need to take another course of action before coming to a complete stop… perhaps go to the side of the road away from traffic.
Brakes – After you have checked your mirrors, it’s time to start the braking sequence. Slowly apply the front hand brake by setting up. Set-up is the smooth and gentle take up of the slack of the lever, so once you’re ready to brake, you won’t grab them so hard, then after that, it’s just a further gentle squeeze to brake safely and smoothly. The set up also activates your taillight early, so the vehicle behind can see that you may be braking.
Gears – So this is an important one – some feel the necessity to change down gears and release the clutch between each gear change, and that may be ok to slow down for traffic lights or even a ‘Give Way’ sign, but for a ‘Stop’ sign and emergency braking, the last thing you have time for is that.
So, when confronted with a hazard you need to stop quickly for, pull the clutch in, and start tapping that gear lever down until you’re in first gear.
Why tap the gears down at all you ask, well, remember that truck that was bearing down at you from behind? When you come to a stop, and you hear that impending screech of the tyres behind you, you let the clutch out, and you stall and the last thing you have time for is changing gears back down to first to move off, so get those gears back to first.
Another small point, when you come to a stop, be in the ready position. The ready position is clutch in, foot on brake, and hand brake released so you have full control of the throttle when moving off. When you have your foot on the brake, it creates stability, and stops you from moving if you’re stopped on a hill.
In summary, prior to braking – Check mirrors, apply brakes (front then rear), clutch in, tap those gears back to first. Stop in ready position, so you can move off quickly and smoothly.
I really hope this short tutorial helps, and as I always say, Stay Shiny Side Up, and Ride Your Own Ride, this is Rossey, and I’m going to get you Geared to Ride.
