Does using a the back brake instead of the front save you from flying over the handle

[outoftouch15]

I was pedalling down the road in my apartment complex when an envelope with money in it flew out of my bag . I had to make an abrupt stop, the back brake wouldn't work, so I used the front brake instead. I ended up flying over the handle bars and breaking my arm. I found later the back brake was broken to what I believe was poor assembly. It was a cheap Walmart mountain bike. I was wondering, if the back brake had been working would this have caused me from avoiding such a painful accident?

[dfear]

(07-23-2015, 02:50 PM)outoftouch15 Wrote:  I was pedalling down the road in my apartment complex when an envelope with money in it flew out of my bag . I had to make an abrupt stop, the back brake wouldn't work, so I used the front brake instead. I ended up flying over the handle bars and breaking my arm. I found later the back brake was broken to what I believe was poor assembly. It was a cheap Walmart mountain bike. I was wondering, if the back brake had been working would this have caused me from avoiding such a painful accident?

It probably wouldn't of stopped you having an accident, but probably would of made the accident a whole lot less painful.

The best technique should be: little bit of back brake (to slow the bike down), then lots of front brake (but not all!), then a little more back, then front back until you are fully stopped.

If you just slam on the front brakes, all will happen is that the front of the bike will stop dead, but you and the rest of the bike will want to keep going, thus throwing you over the handle bars.

[Painkiller]

The deal with Walmart bikes that most people are unaware of is the fact that they are not trained bicycle mechanics. There have been many threads claiming if they do not assemble 30 or so bikes a day they will be fired. This is common all across the U.S.A.
Think about this for a second. Eight hour day, 10min break, 1/2 hour lunch. (average).
So, forget about breaks and use 8 hours even. That would mean 16min. per bike. Now geared or not geared, that is crazy. Think about the time used to even cut it out of the box to even start to assemble the bike.

[outoftouch15]

(07-23-2015, 06:24 PM)dfear Wrote:  

(07-23-2015, 02:50 PM)outoftouch15 Wrote:  I was pedalling down the road in my apartment complex when an envelope with money in it flew out of my bag . I had to make an abrupt stop, the back brake wouldn't work, so I used the front brake instead. I ended up flying over the handle bars and breaking my arm. I found later the back brake was broken to what I believe was poor assembly. It was a cheap Walmart mountain bike. I was wondering, if the back brake had been working would this have caused me from avoiding such a painful accident?

It probably wouldn't of stopped you having an accident, but probably would of made the accident a whole lot less painful.

The best technique should be: little bit of back brake (to slow the bike down), then lots of front brake (but not all!), then a little more back, then front back until you are fully stopped.

If you just slam on the front brakes, all will happen is that the front of the bike will stop dead, but you and the rest of the bike will want to keep going, thus throwing you over the handle bars.

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(07-24-2015, 07:09 AM)painkiller Wrote:  The deal with Walmart bikes that most people are unaware of is the fact that they are not trained bicycle mechanics. There have been many threads claiming if they do not assemble 30 or so bikes a day they will be fired. This is common all across the U.S.A.
Think about this for a second. Eight hour day, 10min break, 1/2 hour lunch. (average).
So, forget about breaks and use 8 hours even. That would mean 16min. per bike. Now geared or not geared, that is crazy. Think about the time used to even cut it out of the box to even start to assemble the bike.

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(07-27-2015, 05:34 PM)outoftouch15 Wrote:  

(07-23-2015, 06:24 PM)dfear Wrote:  

(07-23-2015, 02:50 PM)outoftouch15 Wrote:  I was pedalling down the road in my apartment complex when an envelope with money in it flew out of my bag . I had to make an abrupt stop, the back brake wouldn't work, so I used the front brake instead. I ended up flying over the handle bars and breaking my arm. I found later the back brake was broken to what I believe was poor assembly. It was a cheap Walmart mountain bike. I was wondering, if the back brake had been working would this have caused me from avoiding such a painful accident?

It probably wouldn't of stopped you having an accident, but probably would of made the accident a whole lot less painful.

The best technique should be: little bit of back brake (to slow the bike down), then lots of front brake (but not all!), then a little more back, then front back until you are fully stopped.

If you just slam on the front brakes, all will happen is that the front of the bike will stop dead, but you and the rest of the bike will want to keep going, thus throwing you over the handle bars.

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(07-24-2015, 07:09 AM)painkiller Wrote:  The deal with Walmart bikes that most people are unaware of is the fact that they are not trained bicycle mechanics. There have been many threads claiming if they do not assemble 30 or so bikes a day they will be fired. This is common all across the U.S.A.
Think about this for a second. Eight hour day, 10min break, 1/2 hour lunch. (average).
So, forget about breaks and use 8 hours even. That would mean 16min. per bike. Now geared or not geared, that is crazy. Think about the time used to even cut it out of the box to even start to assemble the bike.

That is crazy. With the amount of money Walmart generates and they treat workers like ship breakers in Indonesia countries or Apple employees. I can't believe this has not been stopped! Although that would have made me mad already, the steel rods where my bones used to be is really making me more furious!

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(07-23-2015, 06:24 PM)dfear Wrote:  

(07-23-2015, 02:50 PM)outoftouch15 Wrote:  I was pedalling down the road in my apartment complex when an envelope with money in it flew out of my bag . I had to make an abrupt stop, the back brake wouldn't work, so I used the front brake instead. I ended up flying over the handle bars and breaking my arm. I found later the back brake was broken to what I believe was poor assembly. It was a cheap Walmart mountain bike. I was wondering, if the back brake had been working would this have caused me from avoiding such a painful accident?

It probably wouldn't of stopped you having an accident, but probably would of made the accident a whole lot less painful.

The best technique should be: little bit of back brake (to slow the bike down), then lots of front brake (but not all!), then a little more back, then front back until you are fully stopped.

If you just slam on the front brakes, all will happen is that the front of the bike will stop dead, but you and the rest of the bike will want to keep going, thus throwing you over the handle bars.

So in other words if I had had the option of using the back brake, I most likely would have just had a regular fall with usual brusies or scrapes as opposed to being thrown over handlebars and shattering my arm where bones have now been replaced with steel rods?

[Painkiller]

things probably would have turned out better if you had a back brake that worked. Though the front and rear together would have been nicer and quicker stopping. Sorry to hear how bad it ended up for you. as a rule for me, I do not work on or repair Bicycles of this nature. Many may hate me for this but I think they are dangerous no matter who assembles them.

[ajstevo]

I dont think there should be any rules applied to which brake to use and how much. The gradient, the surface your riding on, the gradient and your tyres are just a few of the variables. If you are a novice rider I would suggest finding a safe place with a consistent surface like level grass field. Then practice braking with both front and back. Then experiment with you body position, weight forward then back, while doing this apply front and rear brakes independently to see how it feels and what happens. When you are more confident try the same on different surfaces and on different gradients. Applying the front brake and crashing is not a problem with the brakes but more likely a lack of experience and skill. Practice practice and more practice. Good luck and I hope the arm has healed well. Cheers Stevo

[1FJEF]

(07-23-2015, 02:50 PM)outoftouch15 Wrote:   I had to make an abrupt stop, I ended up flying over the handle bars and breaking my arm. 

I have my front brakes adjusted on my street bikes so that maximum "Holy Sh#$t!" brake arm death grip will not lock the front tire on good dry pavement, but my back brake will just about allow skidding. Most will think that foolish, but I'm not some expert rider that can remember in a few milliseconds to modulate the front brake with the grill of some truck about to swat me like a bug.

[CharleyFarley]

(07-24-2015, 07:09 AM)painkiller Wrote:  The deal with Walmart bikes that most people are unaware of is the fact that they are not trained bicycle mechanics. There have been many threads claiming if they do not assemble 30 or so bikes a day they will be fired. This is common all across the U.S.A.

You can't even trust professional bike mechanics, as I found out after buying three new bikes from a bike shop.

Apart from assembling the bike, I think a pro should check everything out to make sure the brakes and gears are working properly. I was fifteen miles from home on a new Specialized Fatboy when the chain came off the large cog and got wrapped around the axle. It took me ages to get it out and back onto the cog. On getting it back home and up on my bike work stand, I found the derailleur limit screws were way out. Not only didn't the low limit screw prevent the chain falling onto the axle, the high limit screw wouldn't let the chain go onto the smallest cog. And this wasn't the only thing wrong with the bike. I'd had a previous fat bike from the same shop and that was botched, too.

I'm not saying no professionals can be trusted, but it seems I just got unlucky. That shop lost my business, and I had bought three bikes from them, and a load of tools and accessories.