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Most rim brakes have some form of quick-release
mechanism to allow the brake pads to clear the tire
when a wheel is removed or reinstalled. When the
brake quick release is in the open position, the brakes
are inoperative. Ask your dealer to make sure that you
understand the way the brake quick release works on
your bike (see gs. 12, 13. 14 & 15) and check each
time to make sure both brakes work correctly before you
get on the bike.
2. How brakes work
The braking action of a bicycle is a function of the
friction between the braking surfaces. To make sure that
you have maximum friction available, keep your wheel
rims and brake pads or the disk rotor and caliper clean
and free of dirt, lubricants, waxes or polishes.
Brakes are designed to control your speed, not
just to stop the bike. Maximum braking force for each
wheel occurs at the point just before the wheel “locks
up” (stops rotating) and starts to skid. Once the tire
skids, you actually lose most of your stopping force
and all directional control. You need to practice slowing
and stopping smoothly without locking up a wheel.
The technique is called progressive brake modulation.
Instead of jerking the brake lever to the position where
you think you’ll generate appropriate braking force,
squeeze the lever, progressively increasing the braking
force. If you feel the wheel begin to lock up, release
pressure just a little to keep the wheel rotating just
short of lockup. It’s important to develop a feel for the
amount of brake lever pressure required for each wheel
at different speeds and on different surfaces. To better
understand this, experiment a little by walking your bike
and applying different amounts of pressure to each brake
lever, until the wheel locks.
When you apply one or both brakes, the bike begins
to slow, but your body wants to continue at the speed
at which it was going. This causes a transfer of weight
to the front wheel (or, under heavy braking, around the
front wheel hub, which could send you ying over the
handlebars).
A wheel with more weight on it will accept greater
brake pressure before lockup; a wheel with less weight
will lock up with less brake pressure. So, as you apply
brakes and your weight is transferred forward, you need
to shift your body toward the rear of the bike, to transfer
weight back on to the rear wheel; and at the same time,
you need to both decrease rear braking and increase
front braking force. This is even more important on
descents, because descents shift weight forward.
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