Aussie vs. Canadian bikes...
Just sorted out that Australian, and, I assume, Japanese and UK bicycles are "right-hand drive" vs. Canadian / North American etc. bikes which are "left-hand drive." The brakes are opposite so that the rider's signal arm operates the front brake leaving the hand on the bars to operate the rear brake. Never considered it...Not knowing this was a major factor in the crash I had last year here in Adelaide on a borrowed Aussie bike and why my Aussie girlfriend has so much trouble on the mountain bike trails in Canada on the bike she bought there. Heaps happy to have my own Canadian bike down here this time and as soon as we get back to Canada we're gonna switch my girlfriend's brakes back to Aussie style. These things run deep and are hard to change...
Sooo, anyone heading to a country where they drive on the other side of the road planning to ride a local bicycle - BEWARE - it's easy to hit the front brake too hard and go ass-over-tea-kettle.
: )
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Tim B on -
I always thought left hand front brake was a "Euro" thing, was also told it was the correct way to do it. If you look at the front brake caliper on a road bike, it is better suited for the cable to be routed from the left hand side rather than the right.
I borrowed a bike overnight from the owner of an LBS a few years ago for a test ride as it was my size. Came barrelling down a hill toward a T junction that I do regularly, grabbed a fist full of "front" right hand brake and couldnt work out why I wasnt slowing. After a couple of increasingly panicked applications, worked out the braking, but not before flat spotting his nice Conti's a few times on the back!
Always pays to check before borrowing something........
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Permalink Reply by heather on -
Had heard this was a difference between Aus and US bicycles.
Had not thought about this before -- US drive on right, and common to drive between US and Canada, so perhaps Canadians drive on the right also, although it is British.
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Permalink Reply by Konadog on -
In Canada we drive on the left side of the car - though some of us have vehicles imported form Japan that are right hand-drive - and on the right side of the road, just like in the USA and Europe - The opposite of Britain, Australia, Japan.
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Permalink Reply by heather on
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Konadog, do you know of any studies on whether driving a left-hand drive on the right-side of the road has any effect on collision rate?
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Permalink Reply by Patrick O'Kane on -
although it is British.
Is it? I thought the canada Act of 1982 severed those ties. Is Australia British too?I think for a bike to be truly "foreign" the chain wheel, cluster etc. should all be on the left hand side, why stop at just the front brake.?
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Permalink Reply by Gary Mills on -
Australian Standards for bicycles stipulate that the left brake lever operates the rear brake, right lever the front brake.
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Permalink Reply by Tim B on
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Even though it appears that calipers were designed to take cable routing from the left hand side, as per the Euro, UK, Canadian way, I prefer the front brake to be on the right as my right hand is my dominant/strongest hand and has the best "feel".
Any ideas why Aussie standards stipulate right hand front brake. I would think that one should be using their right hand to signal an intention to stop, but that takes the hand away from the front brake which provides most of the stopping power....
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Permalink Reply by Konadog on
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That's true, but the front brake is also most likely to cause you to crash if it's applied too strongly and especially without the back brake being applied simultaneously.
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Permalink Reply by Jilden on -
I converted my mtb to left-front as I prefer to be able to brake firmly while descending towards a turn and signalling. I have disc brakes which don't bite and fling me over the handle bars.
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Permalink Reply by Frank on
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The Aust standard may state left is for rear but calipers were designed to have the right lever operate then rears and left the front!
That way, the cables are less kinked and one look at the bIke and it's layout, it's obvious though rarely adhered to. Funny how the world over calipers are made to what engineers have designed and suddenly some jock decided to change it.
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Permalink Reply by Gary Mills on
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There are some calipers made the other way, but the most makers cater for the major markets, not a couple of countries that make up a minor part of their production.
Once you take the bike out of the shop there's nothing to stop you changing the cables. It's an Australian Standard that retailers must comply, not a road rule that cyclists must adhere to and if done correctly, the brakes operate just as efficiently.
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