Trail braking?

[Motu]

(interestingly I don't recall anyone, including me, doing it on rigid frames ?).

Agree with the meaning changed,I rear wheel steer...front brake is off as I tip in.

Rigids were great,specially with a sprung seat....the bike just floated underneath you.Sprung weight....unsprung weight? Who cares,but the rear wheel was really planted - like you get on no other bike I've ever ridden.

[MacD]

Reading this, I think the definition has morphed over the years.

I agree. I certainly think of it as carefully modulated rear braking into a corner, and I also do it quite a lot. I guess it's a habit learnt from riding older, less rigid bikes. On the other hand it still seems to work perfectly well with newer bikes. It is all about learning and knowing how your bike/brakes behave. I tend to read the "I never use my back brake" posts with a touch of bemusement.

[crash99]

I agree. I certainly think of it as carefully modulated rear braking into a corner, and I also do it quite a lot. I guess it's a habit learnt from riding older, less rigid bikes. On the other hand it still seems to work perfectly well with newer bikes. It is all about learning and knowing how your bike/brakes behave. I tend to read the "I never use my back brake" posts with a touch of bemusement.

Yeah agree with most of wots been said. Old habits die hard as I found I had to keep all brakes working as late as possible on the old CB750 I had years ago as the brakes were so bad you usually found yourself going in far too fast anyway . . .

Agree that leaving some braking on front brakes can be useful as it helps steady things too by keeping front forks compressed slightly - gives a more stable feel which is needed on a standard 900 Hornet with crappy front forks (yes, Robert (Taylor) - I know, you told me how to fix it and I have yet to take your advice and do something about it )

And like MacD's comment about people who reckon they "never" use their back brakes (duh) equally there are people who say that they ONLY ever use their back brake . . .

Oh well, each to their own.

[F5 Dave]

Early on in racing I had noticed that there were times that I was at the limit of traction, cranked over, tyres protesting. - Only to be passed by someone around the outside seemingly still easily in control. How did he do this? (a couple of championships under the belt helped). But I knew I was on the limit, if I pushed harder I fell off. What was he doing differently?

Quite a bit it appeared. He wasn't still holding onto the brake like I had been doing as I progressively entered the corner faster & so ended up having to brake harder & later if keeping my original game plan. Took me years to learn this.

To me it debunked the 'adds stability' argument. That's just 'safety blanket' talk.

When the front is compressed it is less able to cope with the suspension demands a real road throws at it. Traction has to be compromised. That's why racers open the throttle to take the weight off the front.


As far as just using the front brake only, on the racebike I only tend to use the rear in the wet & around real tight hairpins to try & stop drifting out. However I recently found that the lever on my rear brake had been bottoming out, worked ok on the stand, but as soon as moving was completely ineffectual. So maybe even the touches I had thought I was giving was just for scaredy-cat feel good.

On the touring bike with a bunch more rear weight (esp with my petite pillion) I use the rear brake. On the dirtbike I use it a lot, I'd even like a thumb operated for controlling wheel-spin exiting slippery corners.

[Racey Rider]

Just bumping this thread so more people read, that this term means different things to different people.