12 ms·

I kind of agree with you (see my edits), but it is harder to decelerate on a bike than in a car, especially going downhill - you run the risk of going over the

I kind of agree with you (see my edits), but it is harder to decelerate on a bike than in a car, especially going downhill - you run the risk of going over the handlebars.

jusben1369 13y ago
In all fairness that depends a great deal on the skill of the rider too.
tomrod 13y ago
I'm going to show my lack of cycling knowledge here, but I really don't understand what you're saying. Why wouldn't one just use the rear break and set their body, like when one rides a bus and has to stand?
- jackowayed 13y ago
  Well, the front brake has ~70% of the stopping power (both on bikes and cars), so while that will work (assuming you don't skid in the back), it won't be the fastest. You can get quite a bit of stopping out of your front brake without going over, you just have to be precise.
  - aaronblohowiak 13y ago
    Even so, your center of gravity is much higher than in a car so you are not going to be able to brake as fast without flipping.
    - jtheory 13y ago
      Your mass is far lower, though.
    - dasil003 13y ago
      You can adjust your center of gravity on a bike.
      - emn13 13y ago
        It's still nowhere near as stable as a car with 4 wheels and all that metal close to the road.
    - dredmorbius 13y ago
      You've got a lot more ability to shift your weight on a bike than on a car. The only time my rear wheel has left the ground while braking is when I've tried to do it intentionally. And I've made plenty of hard stops in thousands of miles of riding.
  - at-fates-hands 13y ago
    You also have to keep in mind road bikes don't have disc brakes so precision is not part of road bike brakes. Those are most likely caliper brakes, which actually lock up fairly quickly when pressure is applied to the brakes.
    - gaadd33 13y ago
      I think a lot of higher end road bikes do have disc brakes these days. I'm not sure how prevalent or good they are though.
      - matthewowen 13y ago
        That isn't generally the case, partly because higher end road bikes are concerned with weight reduction, and disk brakes are substantially heavier.
      - JanezStupar 13y ago
        Modern road bike brakes are plenty powerful enough with adequate modulation. The real limiting factor on road bikes is traction. Disc brakes on road bikes might give a distinctive advantage, even with greater weight. Disc brake rims need not have a braking surface and thus can be lighter having less angular momentum.
- goblin89 13y ago
  It might be easy to go into a skid and lose control. I guess it depends on road surface, and maybe it's not an issue for the pros, but I nearly got into an accident once trying to suddenly stop using rear brakes while going a bit downhill.
- darkarmani 13y ago
  In addition to the other explanations about braking power, the reason why you have little breaking power is that most of your weight is over the front tire -- especially going downhill. Locking the back wheel up, means it just skids across the road.
alistairSH 13y ago
Not really. While I'm sure you could grab the brakes hard enough to launch yourself over the bars, there is a LOT of braking power to be had before that point. I ride close to 6000 miles/year, most road cycling, racing criteriums and road races. Going over the bars because I simply grabbed the front too hard isn't even the top-20 things I worry about.
- nashequilibrium 13y ago
  I had something similar happen, while coming downhill a car popped out of no-where and instead of just breaking, i also turned sharply and flew over the handle bars, luckily on the good side! The way we react in a split second of panic is not the way expect we will usually react. One question though, her IQ was 173? Einstein's was between 160-180.
  - tokenadult 13y ago
    Einstein appears never to have taken an IQ test. See https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=6415373 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=6415373 (posted earlier in this thread) for more about the late Amazon executive's IQ score.
  - AYBABTME 13y ago
    How do people actually get to know their IQ? Are they so full of themselves that they go and get tested so they can know just how superior they are? Or is it something standard in some part of the world?
    - ballard 13y ago
      I think the point was to speak well of the dead: their acheivements, humanity and even their attributes. She was quite beautiful as well.
    - saraid216 13y ago
      I got tested as part of an entrance exam to my elementary school.
snowwrestler 13y ago
Bikes are so much lighter than cars that even careful braking will stop a bike much faster than a car, even going downhill. The same is true of motorcycyles, which is why you should allow greater following distance behind a motorcycle than a car, if you're in a car.
- emn13 13y ago
  That's not my experience at all - cars stop a lot faster than both motorcyclists and certainly than plain cyclists (I cycle almost every day multiple times). The thing is, in a car you can basically be unprepared, then mash the brakes when somethings wrong. It's possible that'll cause you to lose control, but in general an emergencey stop whether controlled or not will stop the vehicle very quickly without causing any direct injury. By contrast, on a (motor)bike if you mash the brakes you'll slip or even tumble head over heels. You're not wearing a seatbelt; and furthermore your vehicle loses control a lot less gracefully. If you're prepared, it's a different story since you can rearrange your center of mass, and get a good grip beforehand, but in an accident situation... a car stops much more quickly.

I kind of agree with you (see my edits), but it is harder to decelerate on a bike than in a car, especially going downhill - you run the risk of going over the handlebars.

jusben1369 13y ago

In all fairness that depends a great deal on the skill of the rider too.

tomrod 13y ago

I'm going to show my lack of cycling knowledge here, but I really don't understand what you're saying. Why wouldn't one just use the rear break and set their body, like when one rides a bus and has to stand?

jackowayed 13y ago
Well, the front brake has ~70% of the stopping power (both on bikes and cars), so while that will work (assuming you don't skid in the back), it won't be the fastest. You can get quite a bit of stopping out of your front brake without going over, you just have to be precise.
- aaronblohowiak 13y ago
  Even so, your center of gravity is much higher than in a car so you are not going to be able to brake as fast without flipping.
  - jtheory 13y ago
    Your mass is far lower, though.
  - dasil003 13y ago
    You can adjust your center of gravity on a bike.
    - emn13 13y ago
      It's still nowhere near as stable as a car with 4 wheels and all that metal close to the road.
  - dredmorbius 13y ago
    You've got a lot more ability to shift your weight on a bike than on a car. The only time my rear wheel has left the ground while braking is when I've tried to do it intentionally. And I've made plenty of hard stops in thousands of miles of riding.
- at-fates-hands 13y ago
  You also have to keep in mind road bikes don't have disc brakes so precision is not part of road bike brakes. Those are most likely caliper brakes, which actually lock up fairly quickly when pressure is applied to the brakes.
  - gaadd33 13y ago
    I think a lot of higher end road bikes do have disc brakes these days. I'm not sure how prevalent or good they are though.
    - matthewowen 13y ago
      That isn't generally the case, partly because higher end road bikes are concerned with weight reduction, and disk brakes are substantially heavier.
    - JanezStupar 13y ago
      Modern road bike brakes are plenty powerful enough with adequate modulation. The real limiting factor on road bikes is traction. Disc brakes on road bikes might give a distinctive advantage, even with greater weight. Disc brake rims need not have a braking surface and thus can be lighter having less angular momentum.
goblin89 13y ago
It might be easy to go into a skid and lose control. I guess it depends on road surface, and maybe it's not an issue for the pros, but I nearly got into an accident once trying to suddenly stop using rear brakes while going a bit downhill.
darkarmani 13y ago
In addition to the other explanations about braking power, the reason why you have little breaking power is that most of your weight is over the front tire -- especially going downhill. Locking the back wheel up, means it just skids across the road.

alistairSH 13y ago

Not really. While I'm sure you could grab the brakes hard enough to launch yourself over the bars, there is a LOT of braking power to be had before that point. I ride close to 6000 miles/year, most road cycling, racing criteriums and road races. Going over the bars because I simply grabbed the front too hard isn't even the top-20 things I worry about.

nashequilibrium 13y ago
I had something similar happen, while coming downhill a car popped out of no-where and instead of just breaking, i also turned sharply and flew over the handle bars, luckily on the good side! The way we react in a split second of panic is not the way expect we will usually react. One question though, her IQ was 173? Einstein's was between 160-180.
- tokenadult 13y ago
  Einstein appears never to have taken an IQ test. See https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=6415373 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=6415373 (posted earlier in this thread) for more about the late Amazon executive's IQ score.
- AYBABTME 13y ago
  How do people actually get to know their IQ? Are they so full of themselves that they go and get tested so they can know just how superior they are? Or is it something standard in some part of the world?
  - ballard 13y ago
    I think the point was to speak well of the dead: their acheivements, humanity and even their attributes. She was quite beautiful as well.
  - saraid216 13y ago
    I got tested as part of an entrance exam to my elementary school.

snowwrestler 13y ago

Bikes are so much lighter than cars that even careful braking will stop a bike much faster than a car, even going downhill. The same is true of motorcycyles, which is why you should allow greater following distance behind a motorcycle than a car, if you're in a car.

emn13 13y ago
That's not my experience at all - cars stop a lot faster than both motorcyclists and certainly than plain cyclists (I cycle almost every day multiple times). The thing is, in a car you can basically be unprepared, then mash the brakes when somethings wrong. It's possible that'll cause you to lose control, but in general an emergencey stop whether controlled or not will stop the vehicle very quickly without causing any direct injury. By contrast, on a (motor)bike if you mash the brakes you'll slip or even tumble head over heels. You're not wearing a seatbelt; and furthermore your vehicle loses control a lot less gracefully. If you're prepared, it's a different story since you can rearrange your center of mass, and get a good grip beforehand, but in an accident situation... a car stops much more quickly.