(09-01-2025, 09:04 AM)GirishH Wrote: Thanks, @Flowrider for that 70/30 reminder.
Practice truly makes us better. I can’t recall if it was you, @enkei, or another rider on BikeRide who told me to enjoy the moment instead of fearing the worst.
I can't remember if I told you that. LOL, I should be telling myself that more.
(09-01-2025, 02:54 AM)Flowrider Wrote: The other technical advice that they've talked about is braking 70/30%
They say we should rear brake 70% and front brake 30%, with the rear brake engaged first, a few seconds ahead of the front.
This is obviously a skill to be perfected and depends on the terrain you're riding. And for me, off-road
Where did you come across that advice? It doesn't sound right to me, but I'm willing to learn from experts. It's normally 70:30 front/rear.
I always lead with the rear brake, shifting my weight aft as needed/possible, but use more front brake than rear, unless maybe I'm trying to break the rear end loose for some reason. Even on low-grip surfaces, the front end is generally going to be more heavily loaded than the rear, so it can handle more braking. Obviously, locking the front poses greater risk than locking the rear, hence the need for skill/experience.
Riding a motorcycle, I once came downhill into a T-junction on a cold, wet London evening (a cold and wet London? yes, it happens). As I turned right through the traffic light, I had to traverse the crown of the road, which was a mix of asphalt and embedded gravel, with yellow painted lines across it (the UK's "do not block this junction" warning). The straw that almost broke this camel's back was the slick metal manhole cover...
As the front tire hit the manhole cover (virtually impossible to see in the dark and rain, on the wrong side of the crown of the road until you were already heading for it), I felt the almost imperceptible signs of the front tire starting to lose its grip on the Earth's surface. That was problem number 1.
Problem number 2 was the steel railing that had been installed along the narrow concrete divider (between the two traffic flows) to stop pedestrians stupidly running across the road. In this tiny fraction of my life, my brain's basic understanding of physics informed me that A. I had very little runout room left and B. If I hit that rating, it would hurt. Probably a lot.
Obviously, applying the brakes wasn't a good option at this point. Luckily, I was able to open the steering angle ever so slightly, and the tire regained its purchase on the planet, allowing me to continue on my merry way home and, eventually, share this heartwarming tale with you here.
![[-]](https://forums.bikeride.com/images/flatty/collapse.png "[-]")
