totty79 Posted June 21, 2015 Report Share Posted June 21, 2015 I was working on this yesterday, but when doing a back to back comparison of covered vs ball of foot on the peg I looped it again (when not covered). I was riding a hill with rocks on it at Warden Law, they're spaced awkwardly so you have to keep the front up. I can't get past half way with the brake covered but I've twice made it to the top without covering. I've also previously bust my ribs on it. The problems when covering the brake seem to be absorbing the rear wheel impact and also keeping in a straight line. The problem when not covering the brake is easier to understand, when I get it wrong on the throttle I can't save it and it tends to hurt. Downhill rear brake usage is not causing me any problems. Does anyone have a pic of brake pedal height and foot position? Any other advice? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
faussy Posted June 21, 2015 Report Share Posted June 21, 2015 (edited) The problems when covering the brake seem to be absorbing the rear wheel impact and also keeping in a straight line. I dont quite follow you on this line... Foot position for me is exactly the same as my none braking foot, i never move my foot forward or backwards on the peg to reach the brake, but rather tilt my foot out to the side. Its sounds like you have to move your foot forward to use the rear brake is this right? Is that because you say you ride on the balls of your feet and cant reach the pedal? (Ive always only ridden on my arches) I run my brake pedal rather low in comparison to others, so that i can have my foot over it without having to bend my ankle that much to avoid dragging the brake. This may be hard to explain but sometimes when trick riding, its impossible to always have your foot over the rear brake, and you have to catch the initial looping out with the clutch and then be super quick with your foot to control it further. Consciously having your foot over the rear brake all the time can be rather awkward. Edited June 21, 2015 by faussy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sirdabalot Posted June 21, 2015 Report Share Posted June 21, 2015 If you manage the obstacle described without covering the brake, carry on that way. Covering or lightly dragging the rear brake is sometimes beneficial, but for me it isn't required on every type of obstacle. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
totty79 Posted June 21, 2015 Author Report Share Posted June 21, 2015 Yes I'm having to move my foot forward to reach the brake. I tend to have the balls of my feet on the ends of the pegs for anything tricky, switching to my heels between sections to save my calves. I don't think I fully understand the problem so its hard to describe. I basically lose traction. I think that I don't absorb enough with my legs when covering the brake so the shock loads and rebounds making the wheel hop. I also tend to veer off to one side. I may need to react initially with the clutch as suggested, but I stopped covering it partly to stop me overusing it and partly because my control becomes poor at times due to tendon wrist and knuckle issues. I have the brake pedal level with the peg, which is far higher than I have them on my road bikes. For me this obstacle requires some form of saftey net, I've had a couple of offs on it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oz thumper Posted June 21, 2015 Report Share Posted June 21, 2015 I was working on this yesterday, but when doing a back to back comparison of covered vs ball of foot on the peg I looped it again (when not covered). I was riding a hill with rocks on it at Warden Law, they're spaced awkwardly so you have to keep the front up. I can't get past half way with the brake covered but I've twice made it to the top without covering. I've also previously bust my ribs on it. The problems when covering the brake seem to be absorbing the rear wheel impact and also keeping in a straight line. The problem when not covering the brake is easier to understand, when I get it wrong on the throttle I can't save it and it tends to hurt. Downhill rear brake usage is not causing me any problems. Does anyone have a pic of brake pedal height and foot position? Any other advice? I also ride on the balls of my feet but have for many years used the CLAKE pro which gives the safety line that you mention, in that fully pulling in the clutch applies the rear brake. That is all I use 95% of the time, however the foot brake is there on the occasions that you want to have the clutch fully engaged and pulling against the rear brake. Regularly saves me from looping the bike. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
axulsuv Posted June 22, 2015 Report Share Posted June 22, 2015 (edited) I think you need to work on foot position , you should be able to operate your brake unconsciously , just apply it , without having to move your feet around . And as stated above , your clutch is your friend . I'm just the opposite , occasionally I'll stall on a real steep short downhill turn ,You know the front end fully loaded and about to lock up kinda thing , due to too much rear brake and not enough clutch at the right moment ! But life and the sections go on , and I usually only do it once in a event , then my brain starts to function ...... Glenn Edited June 22, 2015 by axulsuv Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
totty79 Posted June 22, 2015 Author Report Share Posted June 22, 2015 For some reason my last reply isn't shown. I'll spend some time on foot position next time out. I may also try increasing damping. I've looked up the CLAKE pro, interesting product, I really like the idea but not the price, so I'll work on technique and keep it in mind. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
totty79 Posted August 24, 2015 Author Report Share Posted August 24, 2015 Finally got back out on the bike yesterday, but after so long off it I took it easy. The change of foot position is going to take a bit of getting used to, the brake needs a service as well as it takes way too much force, the heating and soaking trick worked but not for long, time to order new pads. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jacob429 Posted September 7, 2017 Report Share Posted September 7, 2017 On 6/21/2015 at 3:22 PM, faussy said: I dont quite follow you on this line... Foot position for me is exactly the same as my none braking foot, i never move my foot forward or backwards on the peg to reach the brake, but rather tilt my foot out to the side. Its sounds like you have to move your foot forward to use the rear brake is this right? Is that because you say you ride on the balls of your feet and cant reach the pedal? (Ive always only ridden on my arches) I run my brake pedal rather low in comparison to others, so that i can have my foot over it without having to bend my ankle that much to avoid dragging the brake. This may be hard to explain but sometimes when trick riding, its impossible to always have your foot over the rear brake, and you have to catch the initial looping out with the clutch and then be super quick with your foot to control it further. Consciously having your foot over the rear brake all the time can be rather awkward. Holy crap I know this is an old post but this is exactly what I'm battling with now. When doing zaps or splats, I don't cover the rear brake because it's near impossible in some situations. I have started getting better with the clutch to control the height of the wheelie on the obstacle, but still if it's a very small platform for the rear tire I have sent it a couple times because of not covering the brake. Normally I have trained myself to pick up my foot and move it into position after the 2nd throttle blip, before rear wheel impact, but this has drawbacks. I'm just finding it hard to remember to move my foot over after impact when I'm so focused on feathering clutch, throttle, etc. Then again the way I normally do it took repetition to get decent at too. The other thing that makes it harder is I cannot adjust my brake pedal low enough on this bike unless I were to bend it. It doesn't even go as low as the foot peg, and I like to have it right about level, but damn they make these high on some of these trials bikes. That's the main reason I trained myself to pick my foot up off the peg. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
totty79 Posted September 7, 2017 Author Report Share Posted September 7, 2017 22 minutes ago, jacob429 said: The other thing that makes it harder is I cannot adjust my brake pedal low enough on this bike unless I were to bend it. It doesn't even go as low as the foot peg, and I like to have it right about level, but damn they make these high on some of these trials bikes. That's the main reason I trained myself to pick my foot up off the peg. My beta is like that, I ground the bit down that goes into the master cylinder to get more adjustment which helped a little bit I'd still like it lower and wider. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jacob429 Posted September 7, 2017 Report Share Posted September 7, 2017 4 minutes ago, totty79 said: My beta is like that, I ground the bit down that goes into the master cylinder to get more adjustment which helped a little bit I'd still like it lower and wider. I think was actually the lever bottoming on the frame or something solid on the bike causing trouble on my beta too. I'll have to look at it again, I may be able to get enough clearance by a very small amount of grinding on the lever itself, along with trimming that bolt like you suggested. Thanks for the tip Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
totty79 Posted September 7, 2017 Author Report Share Posted September 7, 2017 Bottoming on the frame limits how much you can lower it, but it shouldn't bottom before trimming the bolt - if it does then it may need bleeding. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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