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From: fritzz@sdcc3.UUCP (fritzz the Zebra)
Newsgroups: net.bicycle
Subject: ATB: brake lever positioning.
Message-ID: <2385@sdcc3.UUCP>
Date: Fri, 19-Oct-84 14:14:16 EDT
Article-I.D.: sdcc3.2385
Posted: Fri Oct 19 14:14:16 1984
Date-Received: Sun, 21-Oct-84 14:20:12 EDT
Distribution: net
Organization: U.C. San Diego Zoo
Lines: 47


	Most mountain bikes sold today have the handle bar gear set up
for a nice ride to the store. As an example of what I mean, take a look
at the picture on the cover of the Sept/Oct Issue of _Bicycling_
magazine. For those of you that haven't seen it, it is a picture of some
guy coming off of a rather steep hill and into a creek. His brake levers
are set up the way the way most dealers build them: on the outside of
the shift levers, and slanted down between a 30 and 45 degree angle.
This is really nice for street riding, and anything that doesn't count
as rough ground, because it causes the hands to be at the same angle as
the arms are, so there is no unneccessary bending of the wrist. This is
not how they should be during rough riding. The guy on the cover has his
wrists angled back so that the tops of his hands are parrallel to the
ground. He is not using his brakes at all, but if he had any desire to
he would have to rotate his hands forward so that his fingers could reach the
levers.(Now to the point): After some counseling by a friend of mine
that has done some serious MX racing, I have reangled the brake levers so that
they are parrallel to the ground. This seemed uncomfortable for about 15
minutes, but now I am so used to it that I have trouble riding bikes
with them any other way. The difference is especially noticable on steep
downhills, where not only do you have apply a lot of pressure to the
brakes, but you have to support a lot of your weight on your hands. This
arrangement lets you get your thumbs way underneath the grips, so they
are less likely to be jarred loose. (If you don't think this matters,
try it sometime.=) The other problem is that, with the way the levers
are built, the center of the brake mount would be about 1/2 in. to the
inside of the shifters if one wanted to comfortably use the first two
fingers to do the braking. The way I have seen most people ride them is
with using either their middle two , or the outer two fingers. This
works OK, but does not quite afford the control for uncoordinated people
like me that the first two fingers have. By moving them to the inside of
the shifters, I get better control, although it is difficult to get the
positioning right because on one side you can't reach the levers
(obviously a stupid move,) and on the other you get stabbed in the
sensitive area between the thumb and the index finger by the shifter.
This article has gone on long enough... so to finish off:
I hope I didn't sound to snobby, or to confused. I just tried to relate
a simple change that has made a marked difference in my riding style and
offroad ability. I hope that it helps someone else too.
			Have a happy day-
-- 
ihnp4--\                                        fritzz the Zebra
decvax--\	Now, for $15,000, name a 
akgua----\	small sea animal:
dcdwest---\		Shrimp cocktail.
kgbvax-----\	
ucbvax-------- sdcsvax -- sdcc3 -- fritzz