Good braking means stopping in a short, controlled distance without skidding or tipping forward. Both brakes together stop you much harder than the rear alone, and the front does most of the work, so the skill is squeezing both progressively, moving your weight back as you slow, and doing your braking before you turn. Filmed from the side, the app reads your braking body position: weight back and low, arms absorbing, and staying stable. Brake feel, grip and the road are yours to judge, so practise somewhere quiet and traffic-free.
Set up
Check which lever works which brake before you ride. Layouts differ between countries and bikes (in the UK the right lever is usually the front). Squeeze each lever while pushing the bike forward to feel which wheel stops.
you know without thinking which hand is your front brake.
Use both levers
Squeeze both levers together, starting lightly. A useful starting balance is pulling the front about three times as hard as the rear, because the front wheel does most of the stopping.
a gentle squeeze on both levers, more on the front.
Build the pressure smoothly; never grab. Keep the front-to-rear balance as you squeeze harder, so the bike slows steadily rather than jerking.
the bike slowing evenly, no lurch forward.
Read the rear wheel. If it starts to skid or lift, ease the front lever a little, then squeeze again once it settles. A skidding rear wheel is your signal that you are close to the limit.
a light rear skid tells you to back off the front slightly.
Shift weight back
As you brake harder, slide your hips back and lower your chest. Braking throws your weight forward over the front wheel; moving back and low spreads the load across both wheels and makes tipping forward less likely.
hips back over the saddle, chest low, not perched over the bars.
Keep your elbows bent and your arms firm. Your arms brace against the forward pull so your body stays still on the bike instead of sliding forward.
arms working like springs, shoulders relaxed.
Brake before corners
Do your braking in a straight line before a turn. Then ease off and roll through. In an emergency, choose either to swerve or to stop; don't try to do both at once.
slow enough at the turn that you can let the brakes go.
On wet, loose or slippery surfaces, brake earlier and lighter, and use the front less. Release the brakes over slick patches and reapply on good grip. On long steep descents, share the work between both brakes so one rim does not overheat.
gentle, early braking with plenty of room.
Feel it
A good stop feels smooth and steady: both levers squeezed, more on the front, your hips sliding back and your arms bracing so your body barely moves on the bike. The wheels keep rolling right up to the stop. A light rear skid means you are near the limit, so ease the front slightly. Grabbing the front, relying only on the rear, and braking hard while turning are the classic mistakes.
Fix-its
- You grab the front brake Squeeze from light to firm, and keep some rear brake on. If the rear wheel lifts, ease the front instantly.
- You only use the rear brake Add the front. In track tests on eight bikes, rear-only stops reached 0.25 to 0.37 g of deceleration against 0.40 to 0.71 g with both brakes, and the rear skids easily.
- You stay upright and forward when braking hard Slide your hips back and drop your chest as you squeeze harder, with elbows bent.
- You brake hard while turning Finish braking in a straight line before the turn, then ease off. On slippery surfaces, brake lightly and early.
- Your rear wheel skids and you hold on Ease the front lever a little and let the wheel roll again, then build pressure back up.
Drill
- Progressive stops: in a quiet, traffic-free area, ride at an easy pace, squeeze both levers smoothly to a stop, then release. Repeat several times until it feels automatic.
- Balance drill: start light with the front lever about three times as hard as the rear, then build both together until the rear wheel just begins to skid lightly. Ease off. Repeat a few times, adding a little speed.
- Weight-back stops: repeat the progressive stops, sliding your hips back and dropping your chest as you brake. Ask a friend to film you from the side to check you stay low and still.
- Front-brake limit (optional, helmet on): at walking speed, about 3 to 5 km/h (2 to 3 mph), squeeze the front lever until the rear wheel starts to lift, then release instantly. This teaches you what the limit feels like.
- Stop before the line: mark a 'turn entry' with a cone or chalk line and finish your braking before you reach it, upright and in a straight line.
Sources
- Cycling UK — A beginners' guide to brakes on a cycle (Rebecca Armstrong)
- John S. Allen — Bicycling Street Smarts, Ch. 6: Using your brakes (Rodale / Rubel BikeMaps, 2nd ed. 2001)
- Famiglietti, Nguyen, Fatzinger & Landerville — Bicycle Braking Performance Testing and Analysis, SAE Int. J. Adv. & Curr. Prac. in Mobility (2020)
- Huertas-Leyva, Dozza & Baldanzini — E-bikers' braking behavior: results from a naturalistic cycling study, Traffic Injury Prevention (2019)
- Moorhead — The effect of bicycle geometry, rider posture and rider anthropometrics on pitch-over dynamics, MSc thesis, Univ. of Colorado Colorado Springs (2015), abstract
Last checked 2026-10-26.