Anyone Using Foot Brakes?

5

5-7HEAVEN

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Today I rode "The Iron Dragon", my twin-engined monster six miles east to the bike shop, then five miles west to Home Depot and Checkers for an electric roto-rooter and sparkplugs.

Last night I installed a Cateye speedo so this was the first time I recorded speeds. Since sunday traffic was very light, I used the highway mostly.

36.8mph tops on level ground. Maintaining traffic speed at 31-32 mph.

Stopping at the lights became a problem. Front and rear brakes started fading until I started rubbing the front tire with both of my rubber-soled steel-toed boots.:unsure:

It worked GREAT!! especially along with front and rear brakes. I started using foot brakes at every traffic stop.

Boots look fine. No damage to front tire. Rubber on rubber. All is good.

Switching to front chain drive this year, so disc brake is not an option.

Anyone else using foot brakes?:D
 
Ah, shades of Fred Flintstone...:D Seriously though, the only time I've tried to use foot braking was on my '46 Columbia, before I added a front drum brake. I lost the nut and bolt that anchor the coaster brake arm to the frame, and I was going down a slight grade at about 20mph. I was lucky, and that incident got me to add a front drum brake to the bike. Since then, I've had enough stopping power that I don't need to use foot braking.
 
Mabman, I don't see foot braking as a joke. I see it as extra braking power. I'm not gonna stop doing it because naysayers think it's funny. You go ahead and crash when your bike's brakes fail. Me, I'm applying foot brakes.

It works for me and it makes sense to me to do that than to experience brake fade and hit something.

This is how I rationalize it. If you travel on the sidewalk at 3-5mph or the shoulder at OCCASIONALLY 20 mph, your vee brakes should serve you well enough with good maintenance. When I claim the traffic lane I need to maintain 25mph in town and 35mph highway. At high speeds I need disc brakes or higher-quality vee brakes, good maintenance...and foot brakes.

When I ride on the street or highway, I will NOT ride on the shoulder alongside 5,000lbs of steel and inattentive drivers. When traffic is heavy I wait for the cars to stop at the lights. I wait at a safe spot 50 feet ahead of the light. When the cars stop, I take off. When they catch up, I pull over and wait for the lights to stop traffic again. If traffic is very light like today, I claim the lane and keep up with traffic.

Motorized bikes with only coaster brakes are accidents waiting to happen.

I've had coaster brake with front vee brake and the coaster locked at speed.

Dual vee-brakes work MUCH better than front vee and coaster.

Dual vee brakes WITH foot brakes work MUCH better than dual vee brakes.

It might seem like "ghetto" but it works great for me.

Since the brakes faded, I will upgrade to better pads, but I'm still dragging my foot brakes.

If things work well for me, I keep doing it regardless of naysayers.

When you go fast you need maximum braking. On my next push trailer, optimum speed is 40 mph.

That'll be with dual vee brakes, trailer drum brake...and foot brakes.

On every run, when I get close to home, I turn off both engines so as not to bother the neighbors and coast slowly downhill about 150 feet. For practice, I use only footbraking and that's good enough to bring the bike to a complete stop.


Like we use to say in the 1970's, don't knock it until you've tried it.
 
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Good one. My only adventure was parking in the driveway with my 56 PU truck and forgot
the parking break. Skidded down the driveway in my sandles hanging onto the window frame
screaming the "F in himer". Stopped it in about the middle of the street. Lucky there wasnt traffic.
Nothing to report on my bikes.
 
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LOL That was all I had on my 1st in the 7th grade. I INVENTED stoppies around 1949.
there wasn't a clutch either, but 2-3 legs along and it was running again. A very mild reliable Briggs and Stratton off a washing machine with a suction carb and horizontal sparkplug. A WI as I remember. About 5/8 hp but it got me to school 10 blocks each way every day for a year. All I had was a choke cable for a throttle. Talk about basic transportation ! KW
 
I've used my foot as a brake on the top of the rear tire before, but never on the front. Be careful you don't accidentally lock that thing up or you'll be doing the superman.
 
I like your description, 5-7, of the way that you stagger yourself to be away from traffic.
kudos. "Share the road" they say. That's doing it in a way that works for every one. It's bound to build good will.

I've often considered converting to a single speed, coaster brake with hand brakes front and rear. That ought to get some pretty decent, double redundant braking.

I haven't made the swithch because I only have one grade in my neighborhood that is too steep for two handbrakes. And there are ways around it; longer distance, but less steep.

but it sounds like a good idea for you.
 
Yeah Bluegoat, ya can't make the drivers mad. It'd be so easy for one of them to take me out. All they have to do is gently guide me into the gutter/post/pole/whatever and nonchalantly drive away.

Staggering is much safer, especially if I fall. That way the guy behind me doesn't squash me like a toad.
 
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