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Do you keep fingers on your brakes all the time ??

PB Forum :: Dirt Jumping & Street
Do you keep fingers on your brakes all the time ??
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flag plumslinger
Posted: May 8, 2008 at 13:47 Quote
DavidMakalaster wrote:
bmxracer62 wrote:
DavidMakalaster wrote:
No. In fact I try to keep fingers off as much as possible. If you have a finger on the brakes it means you're scared. Straitline made these cool custom lever blades for the Gravity Camp that say "1 finger=style 2 fingers=scared". True dat.

fingers on the levers, im not pulling them, dual fingers is for when i dont have the strength to pull tight enough with one finger, like towards the end of a 4 minute dh run thats worked you the whole way

Do some hand and forearm exercises. That'll cure that pump.

I find running you levers as close to your bars as possible helps with this. Because your finger is not as stretched, you get less arm pump. Just make sure that they dont hit your knuckles though.
flag peskindo
Posted: May 8, 2008 at 14:54 Quote
I just went riding to try hitting drops with one finger on each lever and i find ive got a tendency to squeeze the brake in the air, which for somereason keeps throwing me off balance. Also i feel like i have no control of my bike with a finger on the lever. I think im the only one with this problem...
flag DavidMakalaster
Posted: May 8, 2008 at 15:21 Quote
plumslinger wrote:
DavidMakalaster wrote:
bmxracer62 wrote:


fingers on the levers, im not pulling them, dual fingers is for when i dont have the strength to pull tight enough with one finger, like towards the end of a 4 minute dh run thats worked you the whole way

Do some hand and forearm exercises. That'll cure that pump.

I find running you levers as close to your bars as possible helps with this. Because your finger is not as stretched, you get less arm pump. Just make sure that they dont hit your knuckles though.

Yep. Grip diameter, levers in closer, etc. All that stuff has been covered and helps. In the end though the best cure is stronger hands.
flag burt-reynolds
Posted: May 8, 2008 at 15:29 Quote
peskindo wrote:
I just went riding to try hitting drops with one finger on each lever and i find ive got a tendency to squeeze the brake in the air, which for somereason keeps throwing me off balance. Also i feel like i have no control of my bike with a finger on the lever. I think im the only one with this problem...

Yeah, watch motocross riders when they go over jumps. You will notice that they use their back brake sometimes to "control" themselves in the air. As you have noticed, it can and will throw you off balance if you are not doing it on purpose. Remember which way it tends to throw you when you do this, and use it to your advantage when you may need it to save your ass.
flag neriahmair
Posted: May 8, 2008 at 15:39 Quote
I try to keep a finger on the brake as much as possible.
flag nlitworld
Posted: May 8, 2008 at 17:47 Quote
dualsuspensiondave wrote:
peskindo wrote:
I just went riding to try hitting drops with one finger on each lever and i find ive got a tendency to squeeze the brake in the air, which for somereason keeps throwing me off balance. Also i feel like i have no control of my bike with a finger on the lever. I think im the only one with this problem...

Yeah, watch motocross riders when they go over jumps. You will notice that they use their back brake sometimes to "control" themselves in the air. As you have noticed, it can and will throw you off balance if you are not doing it on purpose. Remember which way it tends to throw you when you do this, and use it to your advantage when you may need it to save your ass.

If the front wheel is really high in the air, just tap the rear brake and it will level the bike out. I actually use this a lot.
flag pong
Posted: May 8, 2008 at 17:48 Quote
brakes only slow you down ahaha
but yeah one finger is good but im ym case i have danger boy levers with lttle grips and i normally have to fingers
flag jonslater
Posted: May 8, 2008 at 17:50 Quote
Most of the time I have one finger on the lever all the time, but I'm slowly breaking the habit while riding. I find when I have a finger on there it makes me wanna slow down a lot.
flag kyle7
Posted: May 8, 2008 at 17:51 Quote
depends on what im doing. If im dirt jumping i keep one finger on the back brake all the time, but if im doing street i like barely ever use the brakes. I use my feet half the time, im just used to it.
flag dylanvarkonja
O+
Posted: May 8, 2008 at 17:59 Quote
The only times I dont have a finger on the levers is when I'm riding doen the road or going uphill. The only times I use two fingers for braking is at the end of a long day of bike park riding when my hands are tired..
flag statler
Posted: May 8, 2008 at 18:04 Quote
exetertim wrote:
I run my levers in specific positions and i hate bikes that dont have them that way.

I have them so that i have my first finger on them only, and in the best position of the lever, and the lever is at a specific angle so that i dont loose very much grip with my finger on the brakes.

I know that i shouldn't becuse if things go sketch, you immediately want to brake, which you shouldn't because chances are it will make you fall off. So now, when downhilling i try and focus on taking my fingers off of the brakes until i need them.

hypocrite.
flag Cam92
Posted: May 8, 2008 at 18:18 Quote
i try to keep my index finger on the brake, its moree comfortable and easier.
flag Konacrasher
Posted: May 9, 2008 at 0:46 Quote
I always keep both brakes covered with one finger at least , this is from my motocross riding days .
flag snook
Posted: May 9, 2008 at 0:59 Quote
I'm still running V-brakes and they're not even very good Vs so I have two fingers on the front brake and one on the back, pretty much all the time 'part from 4X.
flag iRideNZ
Posted: May 9, 2008 at 2:01 Quote
peskindo wrote:
I just went riding to try hitting drops with one finger on each lever and i find ive got a tendency to squeeze the brake in the air, which for somereason keeps throwing me off balance. Also i feel like i have no control of my bike with a finger on the lever. I think im the only one with this problem...
no way i never ride with fingers on brakes unless its steep techy downhill it feels like my hands are bent up too much and dont feel safe. but i can stop within like 2 meters off the end of a jump by just quikly grabing the front brake i think...

 


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