How to make brakes less powerful

[ASATKat]

My brakes are way too grabby. It stops with barely any grip. It stopped on a dime and i flew off the seat, hands off the handlebar and I fell over onto the street.
Can I adjust it to simply glide to a stop easier. Got a bump on the head today. Next time,,,

 

[fooferdoggie]

Practice breaking. learn to control them. your front is the most powerful so you need to learn to control it more. go into a empty parking lot and practice. because the brakes are pretty wimpy compared to good brakes so you need to learn how to brake. slow squeeze and learn to modulate them with pressure. dont just grab with full force.

 

[gromike]

What bike? This was my experience with a 20 inch folder: I put new brake calipers and KoolStop brake pads on a Huffy Oslo, significantly improving brake performance. I found that you have to be mindful of that front brake. I've gone over the front three times from pulling too hard on it. Though, admittedly, I was using the bike as a bar hopper on those excursions over the top. I have been forced to remember to apply the rear brake first before pulling on the front brake. On my other bikes, my front brake is what I go to.

 

[PCeBiker]

I agree with @fooferdoggie.
When I got my ebike, it was my first bike with disk brakes and hydraulic brakes.
I was amazed at how little hand pressure it takes to lock up the front wheel. I can easily skid the front tire with one finger on my 100 pound ebike.
You need lots of practice to get used to it and get it into your muscle memory so you don't lock up your front wheel in a panic situation.

It took me quite a while to lose the white knuckle "death grip" on the handlebars and the brake levers.

 

[fooferdoggie]

Plus then you need to practice Panic braking when something causes you to do a panic stop.

 

[Tars Tarkas]

You could have some sort of mechanical issue, although I agree with the others that it is most likely a matter of getting used to how much hand pressure you need to apply to the brake levers. Is this a new bike? Have you been riding long? What kind of brakes are they?

There are a lot of opinions on this, but for normal stopping/ slowing down, I use the rear brake first and hardest, adding front brake as needed, often intermittently. Regardless, only apply as much pressure as you need, no more. (If you're going over the handlebars, you're applying too much pressure!)

TT

 

[Art Deco]

You could have some sort of mechanical issue, although I agree with the others that it is most likely a matter of getting used to how much hand pressure you need to apply to the brake levers. Is this a new bike? Have you been riding long? What kind of brakes are they?

There are a lot of opinions on this, but for normal stopping/ slowing down, I use the rear brake first and hardest, adding front brake as needed, often intermittently. Regardless, only apply as much pressure as you need, no more. (If you're going over the handlebars, you're applying too much pressure!)

TT

Since my right hand control is the rear disk, my mnemonic is "Right and Lurch" ... rarely use the left control for the front disk.

 

[fooferdoggie]

Now you want tricky when we changed our tandem over 4 piston shimano with 203mm rotors the setup is so sensitive it only takes one finger on each elver to stop our 450 pound tandem on a 20% grade. it was pretty wacky breaking till I got the hang of such a light sensitive touch. but with a tandem you dont go ass over tea kettle if you brake too hard.

 

[PCeBiker]

Since my right hand control is the rear disk, my mnemonic is "Right and Lurch" ... rarely use the left control for the front disk.

I got used to riding motorcycles where my mnemonic (I had to look up that word. ) was to pull the left lever all the way in (clutch) so I wouldn't stall the engine if I locked up the rear wheel.
The right lever was the front brake and the rear brake was a right foot pedal.
(I remember stalling the engine a few times on my dirt bike but if I had a bit of momentum left, I could dump the clutch, bump start the engine, and keep going.)

I never went ass over tea kettle when I started mountain biking probably because the rim brakes took a lot of force to operate so I had a bit of time to react to a skid and reprogram my brain?

I wonder what would have happened if I went straight from motorcycling to my ebike with one finger braking?
I wonder how many times I'd go over the handlebars before I got through learning the hard way.

 

[Art Deco]

I had a similar time making the adjustment, since I learned motorcycle controls before getting my first ten speed in my twentys. Only went OTB once ... hence the mnemonic.

 

[PCeBiker]

I don't think that I'd want to have an ebike and a motorcycle at the same time.
You never know what mnemonic is going to take over until you're in a panic situation.

Maybe it's like knowing how to play a guitar and a banjo? Although I don't think that there's any panic situations playing either unless you've got stage fright.

I think @PDoz rides both?
I wonder if he's had any problems?


Actually, thinking about it, I think that if I had both an e-bike and a motorcycle, I'd swap the brake levers on my e-bike?
At least my front brake would always be on the right.
If I'd screw up on my e-bike expecting to disengage the clutch, I'd lock up the rear wheel instead of the front.
That's not just safer, but it can be a lot of fun too.

I remember having a bicycle at one point with the front brake on the right?

 

[Tars Tarkas]

For whatever it's worth, ASATKat seems to be one of those people who posts very seldom and never follows up with another question or other reply.

TT

 

[scrambler]

Having a twist throttle on the right on my e-bike, I have also put the Front brake on the right.
This is the logic I was use to on motorcycles all my life, and it also make sense as you don't want to be twisting that throttle and braking at the same time.

 

[PCeBiker]

This is the logic I was use to on motorcycles all my life, and it also make sense as you don't want to be twisting that throttle and braking at the same time.

Yes,.. and reaching for the brake lever naturally rolls the throttle off.

 

[Gionnirocket]

For whatever it's worth, ASATKat seems to be one of those people who posts very seldom and never follows up with another question or other reply.

TT

Well then I'll offer him this advice... a few drops of oil on the rotors will smooth your braking

 

[PCeBiker]

Well then I'll offer him this advice... a few drops of oil on the rotors will smooth your braking

^^^ What he said !!!

WD-40 will work wonders to loosen up those binding brakes.
Or just cut the brake line to shut it right off.

 

[teskow]

Nothing, nothing especially oil on the rotors please.
Change the pads to a less grippy material.

 

[PCeBiker]

Yes,..
We were kidding.

Here's a video showing how to replace brake pads contaminated with WD-40,..

 

[Art Deco]

Yes,..
We were kidding.

Here's a video showing how to replace brake pads contaminated with WD-40,..

@Gionnirocket never kids about bikes...

 

[Dorkyman]

Very easy and cheap to change pads (Amazon). And rotor has to be totally free of everything--use acetone sparingly.