Easiest Fix to Ride Better - Bike Brake Lever Position For Beginners

[@DirtRoadRemedy]

Thank you! I found this video because I found myself wanting to break with the middle finger since the lever feels so far away from the bar. I never knew that was such an easy adjustment.

[@TheLoamWolf]

That’s awesome to hear and hope it helps!

[@PaulMoody]

Great video - you even included the best brake lever tip (8:30-9:00) tighten just enough to keep lever from moving, but loose enough to rotate in case of a crash. All of my friends had theirs torqued down, and several have bent or broken levers on the lightest of crashes.

[@TheLoamWolf]

With experience comes knowledge...haha or something like that. Glad you caught that tip. it's a big one.

[@bphif3]

Looks like my levers are set right. Ready for the next video to help uncover why I suck

[@AUSTIN_RIDES]

Something you may want to try that I have learned from my moto setup is running your levers inside even further makes you hold the grips more like a door knob this automatically keeps your elbows up and also prevents arm pump from death gripping.

[@mtbboy1993]

even further inside? really that makes no sense, then finger will ahve to bend to reach that will give fatigue and pain in the finger. Maybe you got confused by the clamp, clamps can have different placement relative to the lever blade. what matters is the lever blade position. everything shown in this vid is right. only thing I would change if it was on my bike is to have flat lever setup, but my bike has long enough reach asnd high enough cockpit for it.

[@AUSTIN_RIDES]

@@mtbboy1993 I understand how clamps can be in different positions and im not saying the video is wrong. You would not be stretching or bending your finger would still be pointed straight in relation to your palm, you are rotating your entire hand.

[@drumerboy456sx]

Makes total sense, especially for cornering on flat surfaces where you want to keep your elbows up/open so that you can lean the bike and still be able to reach the opposite side/lower side of your bars.

[@mtbboy1993]

@@drumerboy456sx I am not sure what you mean by trcahibg the other side of the bar. But I have no issues running the levers flat, but I ride a Geometron G1 with high cockpit.

[@chriskelley2075]

Great video! I did this a while back and it made all the difference in my control, I'd rather be Fidgeting Fool!

[@ryansteiger6960]

Great video. I do it exactly the same way: adjust until you can reach with one finger straight 👍

[@RIDEON909]

Great info!Im going to make sure I setup my new bike correctly before I take my first ride out 👍

[@TheLoamWolf]

Congrats on the new bike and hope the tips help! Enjoy

[@BikeandSkiGeoff]

I use my phone to measure the angle of my brake levers as well so that the cockpit feels the same no matter which bike in my fleet I'm taking out and/or I can set up a rental/demo bike with the same feel.

[@TheLoamWolf]

Very cool thanks for sharing

[@Paulthenutter34]

Same, 33 degrees down on every bike...

[@timothydubber549]

Glad I’m not the only one! 34 degrees here.

[@SoGoMTB]

Thanks!

[@TheLoamWolf]

Thank you so much for the gift, we appreciate it greatly!

[@StefsMTB]

Great video! I wish I could send this to my ride group but they would get bent out of shape. LOL

[@TheLoamWolf]

All the more reason! What else are ride groups for than to help and give each other a hard time! Haha

[@jmyers6175]

Good idea to do a video on this subject. Teaching the basics on every part of the bike. I first started mountain biking I didn't know one finger braking. Time my shifting before a hill or rouph part of a trail and not for the bike to shift under pressure. Also, thanks for the interview with Chris Cocalis about the switchblade. Question..Have you ridden the trails at kokopelli outside fruita Colorado?

[@Christmylife78]

This was great! I’m embarrassed that so many of us get this wrong including myself. This should be 101 for shops and on the trails. What about the set up of the shifter levers? There are MisMatch available too… Different ways to approach shifter lever alignment.

[@RockMumbles]

One of my first steps setting up my cockpit is to move brake levers in for one-finger braking!

[@SoGoMTB]

Amazing tutorial. I learned a lot!

[@TheLoamWolf]

Thank you and glad to hear it.

[@bigpondonly]

Great video!!! What about the angle of the lever? Thanks!

[@mtbboy1993]

I have commented on this. ''Great guide, but one thing you did not mention is how reach and stack height effects the setup, my bike has a long reach and i have a high cockpit, so this allows me to run the brake levers flat and relax my arms, and handle, hand just rests on the grip. Shorter reach= steeper brake lever, loweerr cockpit = steeper brake lever. but when it gets to a certain point it will be uncomfortable. So correct frame size is important.'' So you if you have short reach you just have to test see what works for you.

[@i_like_toytles]

A long time ago when I was less particular and less knowledged, I borrowed a friend's full-sus for a trip to my first bike park. I had the brakes set up this way and used two fingers the whole time. The two fingers on my left hand were rendered useless for about three months after that one day of riding because of the stress I put on those tendons. I am a guitarist and couldn't play for a couple of months. It sucked. One year later I returned to the park with my own bike and the right one-finger setup and had a great time. So, this really does matter if you are trying to do any serious riding.

[@TheLoamWolf]

Thanks for sharing and glad you're hands are back to normal

[@liwx]

can you please make a video of how handlebar pitch / roll would affect the steering quality ?

[@TheLoamWolf]

Yeah we will work on that!

[@julioorozco801]

Nice video. By any chance do you still have any Victory Circle Guards with the custom Loam Wolf graphics.

[@mtbboy1993]

Great guide, but one thing you did not mention is how reach and stack height effects the setup, my bike has a long reach and i have a high cockpit, so this allows me to run the brake levers flat and relax my arms, and handle, hand just rests on the grip. Shorter reach= steeper brake lever, loweerr cockpit = steeper brake lever. but when it gets to a certain point it will be uncomfortable. So correct frame size is important.

[@johnparrish336]

Great video!!!

[@TheLoamWolf]

Thank you very much. Glad you enjoyed it.

[@killgates9890]

I like lifting the brake levers, it stops attacking the nerv in the hand and it feels nice...

[@johnwilkins3995]

I just noticed and want to adjust this on my new Roscoe. Issue is there’s like a brace that wraps around the gear shifter sleeve so I have to also move the shifter inward. Any advice?

[@TheLoamWolf]

Take the grip off slide the brake and shifter off and swap the orientation so the brake is inside the shifter and you can move it freely.

[@mtbboy1993]

What I see a lot is kids riding with all in one mechanical brake & shifter, so you can't get that to work ergonomically. Another thing I see even more iss shiffter and brake not really being compatible with each other, so you can't get the position right, so if you want to be able to shift eassily braking is compromised, if you want to brake, shifting is compromised. basically shifterr and brake need to be ghosted, which is not feasable. this is very common on thhe bikes most of the smaller kids ride. Another issue I see is clamps torqued way too hard, so hard levers will snap, shifters will be destroyed. But I try to fix it for them, but I always prirotise the brake position.

[@captnhuffy]

yep. and the angle: straight wrists while riding

[@terryl.johnson4336]

Thanks

[@TheLoamWolf]

You’re Welcome

[@tonym6633]

The only issue is reaching the shifter. I have them mounted on one clamp as they do in the video.

[@zackbone1327]

Why do you like enve bars over one ups?

[@TheLoamWolf]

Can’t say we do, we’re just testing them out. We are fans of OneUps carbon EBar that’s for sure!!

[@billryan8721]

Give your levers a little extra sauce with some grip tape.

[@OverTheHillMTB]

Yes on a large group road ride though, a guy had an oval chain ring w/ large Ceramic-Speed pulleys and a gold SRAM eagle MTB chain, this damn thing was hopping an inch off the gears w/ every pedal stroke....i couldn't take it so i dropped him and did so any time he came up near me...on MTB its always people w/ their seat too low and they are all cramped up with their legs never getting to extend to that ideal angle, makes me cry for their knees!

[@markbuttery2790]

Are you supposed to set your brakes sitting on the bike !!!!!! not standing next to it?

[@mtbboy1993]

For the angle that defenitly would be wise. but on my bike levers are flat, but I have the reach for it.

[@Destanom2]

Dislike is for the looong video for a quick tip that could be told in half minute.

[@porroco]

If is a shiftmix gear lever get father away too.