Ever ridden a bike with no brakes? The whole idea just scares me. I use my brakes quite a lot, probably too much when mountain biking but I’m sure most people like having brakes, right? How important do you think this bike skill is?
How to Use Your Brakes Correctly
Which brake lever controls which wheel? Most bikes have the right hand to front brake and left hand to back brake set up. But please check.
Back brake is for speed control, front brake is to stop. So let’s think this through. When going down a hill to control the build up of speed you should gently pull on the back brake to slow you down. If at the bottom of the hill there is a stop sign you will need to gradually add the full front brake until you are brought to a smooth stop.
If a car suddenly backs out of a driveway in front of you how should you use your brakes? Apply the full force of your front brake with a little back brake while bracing with your arms – you will come to a sudden or emergency stop.
Correct braking is a learned technique so don’t expect it to be perfect the first time you jump on your bike. Like all good things it may take a little time and patience on your part.
Fingers resting – prepared for braking
Full application of brakes
Fun Ways For Kids to Learn Better Braking
To follow is the story of how we “got better” by learning a bike skill – braking.
We decided that learning to brake properly would be a really good bike skill to focus on as our families are doing more and more riding in a variety of places.
- we want to minimise any potential for accidents
- it will give the kids basic knowledge of a core riding skill
- make them think about how this skill may apply to an off road environment – dirt, sand, gravel and how this effects braking
- always try to keep the track in good condition so no skids
We had some real fun at a local school playground with the kids and their bikes. We were playing games that were meant to improve their braking skills. Check out the video to see how successful you think we were!
Playground Braking Games
STOP! A simple but effective warm up. Get the kids riding around in a set area. Weaving around each other, keeping their eyes up and looking at what is around them. Randomly yell out stop and hold up your stop sign. Make sure they come to a complete stop as fast as they can. Encourage them to think about the best way to do this – should they stay seated or get down off their seat. Two feet on the ground for stopping. Then prepare for take off in their ‘Power Off’ position. One foot flat on ground opposite foot on pedal in front take off position.
Stop on a Spot. Front wheel to stop fully on circle of decreasing size. Have a disc (large), chalk to draw (medium) and a coin (small). Get them to take turns. You can do this one spot size at a time or set up a course where the circle size changes.
Stop After the Line. Give them a good distance to ride so they can get some speed up, once they have crossed the line with their front wheel how quickly can they come to a stop?
Timed Relay Race. Draw two large circles with chalk. Split the kids into two groups – one group at each circle. Time how quickly the can ride to the circle, stop, give the next rider a High Five, next rider to repeat… Can they do a faster time on their second run through?
Chalk Drawings. With a bunch of chalk get the kids to draw some traffic signs, traffic lights, roads and a bike
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