To brakes from one lever

[mcshroom]

A friend of mine has a bike with hydraulic disk brakes, but he struggles to grip hard with his left hand, and so would like to plumb both the brakes into the right hand leaver. Does anyone know if this would be possible?

I haven't seen the bike (he mentioned it to me in the car to something else) but I do know it's a hardtail Giant of some sort.

Also, are hydraulic systems reasonably standardised, or does each manufacturer use their own propriety parts?

 

[the snail]

I don't think one lever would pump enough fluid for two brakes.

 

[GrumpyGregry]

seen it done with cable brakes, where you can buy levers that pull two cables, but not with hydraulics.

I know of one guy who has both avid elixir levers on one side of his bars and there is a reference to someone else doing that in this thread on singletrackworld. In the same thread is a link to an article where the same thing has been done

 

[mcshroom]

Thanks everyone

Greg - that looks interesting. It should allow a bit of choice over which brake to apply as well I'd assume.

 

[YahudaMoon]

Some polo bikes are set up with two brakes one lever. Not sure if it would be any good for normal road use though ? I'll try and find the product

 

[YahudaMoon]

Some polo bikes are set up with two brakes one lever. Not sure if it would be any good for normal road use though ? I'll try and find the product

http://www.paulcomp.com/duplexlever.html

Pauls. Not cheap though good stuff. Was going to buy some myself.

 

[Norm]

It would take some serious attention to the set up to get the balance right if you did want it on one lever, especially if it is used off road.

Is there a medical reason for the weakness? Getting him to build up the wrist muscles (something like a Powerball rather than the fnaar version) might be easier and cheaper and better in the long term.

 

[Red Light]

A friend of mine has a bike with hydraulic disk brakes, but he struggles to grip hard with his left hand, and so would like to plumb both the brakes into the right hand leaver. Does anyone know if this would be possible?

As long as the front brake is linked to the right hand lever there should be no problem - the back brakes have little stopping power anyway so the weakness of his left hand should not make much overall difference.

 

[mickle]

Best with two levers as shown in the above pic. Running two brakes via one lever is really scary to ride off road. It's impossible to feel the tyre breakaway point. Separate levers allow for proper control over both ends.

 

[Norm]

You should be able to pull both, there's a few (motor)bike racers who have hand or foot injuries which mean they have had to put two brake levers on one side.

 

[mickle]

[QUOTE 1572061"]
True but still a wee bit dangerous, after all you can only apply one brake lever I presume? Pull the wrong brake, and you have to release to pull the correct one.

Not to mention brake fade going down a long steep hill.
[/quote]

Actually, set up like they are in the pic allows easy two finger control - one finger on each lever, or two fingers on one lever and one on the other.

 

[andrew_s]

It would take some serious attention to the set up to get the balance right if you did want it on one lever, especially if it is used off road.

It's impossible to get the balance right, because the required balance varies.
If you are braking hard, or are on a steep downwards gradient, you can hardly put any power into the rear brake without locking the wheel.
You'd need computer controlled variable brake balance that could sense the front/rear weight distribution. Maybe in F1, but not on a pedal bike.

In this case, the choice is between having the rear brake on the weak hand, and having two brake levers operated by different fingers of the strong hand.
Both brakes off one lever is not road legal, the same as brakeless fixed riding.

 

[mcshroom]

Thanks again. I'll have a chat with him next time I see him and find out more. His question came s bit out of the blue on the way to a choir practice, so I couldn't think of much other than telling him to look up cyclemagic.

 

[the snail]

Moto Guzzi motorcycles have linked brakes, where the pedal operates front+rear disc, but the handlebar lever operates the second disc on the front, so you can balance front/rear braking. I think some tandems have a similar arrangement with two cables operated from one lever?

edit: some suggestions on the ctc site:

http://www.ctc.org.uk/DesktopDefault.aspx?TabID=3804

 

[GrumpyGregry]

Thanks everyone

Greg - that looks interesting. It should allow a bit of choice over which brake to apply as well I'd assume.

it would be fairly easy to brake with either or both with that setup up you just have to put the right fingers on the right levers.


not all hydraulics would necessarily work this way as one of the levers is in effect inverted. works with elixirs as the master cylinder is in-line but other designs might not respond well to being upside down.