Braking in corners

Can I brake in corners to alter the cornering of my bike like I can in my
car? Say I wasn't going round a corner as tight as I'd like, could I slide
the back wheel by braking, or am I liable to fly off the bike? I can
remember doing plenty of skids as a kid, but at much lower speeds than I'm
thinking of . Can I brake up to corner apexes, or is bike braking meant to
be in a straight line?

Doki wrote:

Can I brake in corners to alter the cornering of my bike like I can in my
car? Say I wasn't going round a corner as tight as I'd like, could I slide
the back wheel by braking, or am I liable to fly off the bike? I can
remember doing plenty of skids as a kid, but at much lower speeds than I'm
thinking of . Can I brake up to corner apexes, or is bike braking meant to
be in a straight line?


Mountain bikers occasionally do this on loose downhill surfaces, but it
takes a lot of practice. I recall an article in a UK MTB magazine year
ago what showed how it was done, but it was a bit advanced for me.

Zog The Undeniable wrote:

Mountain bikers occasionally do this on loose downhill surfaces, but it
takes a lot of practice. I recall an article in a UK MTB magazine year
ago what showed how it was done, but it was a bit advanced for me.

Mountain bikers shouldn't do it on loose surfaces. Skidding is frowned upon
as it helps erosion and shows a lack of control.

Tony

Can I brake in corners to alter the cornering of my bike like I can in my
car? Say I wasn't going round a corner as tight as I'd like, could I slide
the back wheel by braking, or am I liable to fly off the bike?

You can use your front brake while cornering - using the rear brake is what
causes you to skid.

I hardly ever use my rear brake since I read this:
http://www.sheldonbrown.com/brakturn.html

d.

in message , Doki
') wrote:

Can I brake in corners to alter the cornering of my bike like I can in
my car? Say I wasn't going round a corner as tight as I'd like, could
I slide the back wheel by braking, or am I liable to fly off the bike?
I can remember doing plenty of skids as a kid, but at much lower
speeds than I'm thinking of . Can I brake up to corner apexes, or is
bike braking meant to be in a straight line?

Generally a two wheeled platform doesn't do simultaneous braking and
cornering nearly as well as a four wheeled platform. If your front
wheel skids it will almost certainly go sideways towards the outside of
the turn (unless the bend is highly cambered or bermed) and you are
going to come off with a clattering bang. The usual advice for people
riding off road is to get your deceleration in before turning, and in
the turn only brake enough to keep the speed steady. However, as you
will know from riding off road, there are occasions when you suddenly
need a *lot* more deceleration when cornering. And, as you will also
know from riding off road, sometimes you get away with it...

--
(Simon Brooke) http://www.jasmine.org.uk/~simon/

;; MS Windows: A thirty-two bit extension ... to a sixteen bit
;; patch to an eight bit operating system originally coded for a
;; four bit microprocessor and sold by a two-bit company that
;; can't stand one bit of competition -- anonymous

"Doki" wrote in message
...
Can I brake in corners to alter the cornering of my bike
like I can in my
car? Say I wasn't going round a corner as tight as I'd
like, could I slide
the back wheel by braking, or am I liable to fly off the
bike? I can
remember doing plenty of skids as a kid, but at much lower
speeds than I'm
thinking of . Can I brake up to corner apexes, or is
bike braking meant to
be in a straight line?



I have done this (deliberately) on ice on my fixed wheel
machine - T junction with sharp RH corner, Ice on junction,
scared that if I attempt to lean or turn the bars the front
wheel will get away, so slowed well down, locked the back
wheel to slide it left and "recovered" to head in the
correct direction. It was a totally successful manoeuvre.
--
IanB

In article ,
says...
I have done this (deliberately) on ice on my fixed wheel
machine - T junction with sharp RH corner, Ice on junction,
scared that if I attempt to lean or turn the bars the front
wheel will get away, so slowed well down, locked the back
wheel to slide it left and "recovered" to head in the
correct direction. It was a totally successful manoeuvre.

A friend has successfully used this technique as an emergency maneouver
when faced with an impact. It can be used at speed to *very* rapidly
change direction, although for obvious reasons it is an emergency
procedure, not a normal cornering technique. There is nothing cool about
sliding on your side down a road.

The other time when this can be useful is if you are about to impact
with an object (car?). It allows you to hit it side on, which will
reduce the likelihood of a major head impact.

Jon

You can use your front brake while cornering - using the rear brake is
what
causes you to skid.

I just realised I misunderstood the question. You *want* to skid, right?
Can't help you there.

Way back when, I used to skid my BMX all the time but always found I needed
one foot on the floor to keep from falling off, so I would guess it wasn't
really an option on a road bike. And of course, you're talking about going
that bit faster than I would have been going on my BMX, which complicates
matters further. I think you're asking for trouble, really.

d.

I hardly ever use my rear brake since I read this:
http://www.sheldonbrown.com/brakturn.html


Don't believe everything that you read :-)

Can I brake in corners to alter the cornering of my bike like I can in my
car? Say I wasn't going round a corner as tight as I'd like, could I slide
the back wheel by braking, or am I liable to fly off the bike? I can
remember doing plenty of skids as a kid, but at much lower speeds than I'm
thinking of . Can I brake up to corner apexes, or is bike braking meant
to
be in a straight line?

The dynamics of braking on a two wheeled vehicle are very different to that
of a car.

By all means try what you've described but remind yourself before attempting
the aforementioned manoeuvres on a bike that you can not fall off a car
unless you're a Morris Dancer......