Front Brakes fitted behind fork.

[RST Scout]

My new bike has the front V brakes fitted behind the fork instead of the usual in front. I have never seen this before. Can someone explain the thinking behind this. Not complaining, just curious.

Janet

[Neil Jones]

I think the idea of the brake Callipers mounted behind the forks was to reduce brake pad squeal. To be honest I've never owned a bike that had noisy brakes wherever they are mounted, although toeing them in may help as well as keeping the rim nice and clean.

I think that British Racing Green was the nicest colour that Thorn used, looks great with black, brown or honey coloured saddles and silver or black components, very versatile and classy.

Regards Neil

[energyman]

Because it's different. 

And of course it may stop the front panniers/luggage snagging the brakes but it didn't bother my bags

[mickeg]

I have ranted on this topic too much before so I will be brief.  I would have preferred that my Nomad had the cantilever posts out front like on my Sherpa and most other bikes.  Putting it in back (1) prevents a cantilever brake cable hanger from being fitted so V brakes have to be used, (2) putting it in back means that the axis of rotation of the brake arm on the post is no longer as close to parallel with the braking surface on the rim as it would otherwise be which makes brake pad adjustment much more tricky, and (3) I would have liked to be able to fit a small front rack that mounts on the cantilever posts.  I have such a small rack on my Sherpa and it comes in handy for small items I want to stow somewhere.

But I am quite happy with my Nomad overall, so the front brake mounting is one of those deficiencies that I am willing to live with.

[lewis noble]

In terms of squeal, my Ripio v bakes (rear mounted) never squealed, my Sherpa brakes (normal front position) do squeal, though not much. I agree that rear mounting makings setting up more difficult. I do think that the rear mounted brakes were marginally more powerful - not sure why - some complex leading shoe / trailing shoe interaction as on old drum brakes? All in all I don't think its a big deal either way.

Wheel choice makes a remarkable difference to the feel of a bike.

RST is an excellent choice, and I have no doubt you will be happy with it.

Lewis

[RST Scout]

Thanks All for your opinions.
I quite like V brakes, I have them on another bike. Mind you, I was always happy with the side pull brakes on my old Raleigh. Worked on some steep passes in the Lake District. I have always toed-in my brakes so maybe I won't have to any more but I like the idea of more powerful brakes;-)  I'm not so pleased that the position makes it more difficult to adjust but I'll deal with it.
Sorry Mickeg, I don't like cantilever brakes, I have them on my ATB and for me they are murder to adjust as you need (IMHO) a good bit of strength in your hands, which I don't have :-(
Neil, hadn't thought about panniers snagging on forward positioned brakes. I can't recall if I have ever done this as I use low-ridders.

Cheers,
Janet

[Relayer]

A point to note about the RST front brake ... with mine I had to park it in a confined space with the front wheel turned to the side quite a bit to make it fit in beside other bikes, this resulted in some contact with the underside of downtube and therefore a slight abrasive effect on the paintwork.

I haven't heard of anybody else here having been as careless as I was, but [just in case] be careful to avoid turning the bars fully.

I am sure you will enjoy your new RST.

Jim

[ajbenie]

Another benefit with the brakes behind the forks is that they don't clog as easily when going through mud or snow. Most of the clogging comes from the snow/mud being thrown forwards (from the top of the wheel) and then hitting the fork as the bike moves forwards. Having the brakes behind means that the mud/snow ends up on the fork and doesn't block the brake - which can be an issue when comuting in snowy weather as it tends to freeze solid before you go home Having the brake behind the fork means that you still have a working front brake.
/Andy

[mickeg]

Another benefit with the brakes behind the forks is that they don't clog as easily when going through mud or snow. Most of the clogging comes from the snow/mud being thrown forwards (from the top of the wheel) and then hitting the fork as the bike moves forwards. Having the brakes behind means that the mud/snow ends up on the fork and doesn't block the brake - which can be an issue when comuting in snowy weather as it tends to freeze solid before you go home Having the brake behind the fork means that you still have a working front brake.
/Andy

I had the opposite problem last summer on a rainy day on a gravel road with my Nomad Mk II, my rear V brake got so much mud all over that when I applied the brake the springs were not strong enough to release it.  I had to stop, get off the bike, pull the brake pads off of the rim manually.  Then get back on the bike and start riding again.  Thus, I effectively had only one brake plus an emergency brake.  Part of the problem was that I did not use fenders (mudguards) on that trip, it is an S&S coupled bike and I left the fenders at home due to the complications that fenders would have added for shipping and assembly/disassembly.

I normally use cantilever brakes, have them on my Sherpa and two other bikes.  If I had cantilevers on the Nomad, it would not have been a problem.  I initially tried to set up cantilevers on the rear of that bike but without a frame mounted brake hanger, I had some difficulties and eventually went with the V brakes that caused my problem.

This topic reminded me that I was a spectator at a cyclocross race a few years ago.  And I brought some of my good camera gear for that event.  I looked back at my photos and there were a few racers that used V brakes but the vast majority of racers used cantilevers.  This was before any races allowed disc brakes, so no photos of discs.  First photo you can see some mud buildup on the V brake areas of the bike that is closest to the camera, the second and third photos show cantilevers.  Overall the cantilevers appeared to accumulate less mud than the V brakes.

[Danneaux]

Sure some nice race photos you took there, mickeg. 

Best,

Dan.

[ajbenie]

Unfortunately what i wrote applies to the front brake. The rear brake is just a nice target for the mud/snow which is why i have a rear disc. I surpose you could get the same benefit by having the rear brake mounted inside the rear triangle. Alternatively a mudguard fixes the problem quite well for the rear, but in my experience makes the front more prone to freezing up (in snow).
/Andy

[RST Scout]

A point to note about the RST front brake ... with mine I had to park it in a confined space with the front wheel turned to the side quite a bit to make it fit in beside other bikes, this resulted in some contact with the underside of downtube and therefore a slight abrasive effect on the paintwork.

I haven't heard of anybody else here having been as careless as I was, but [just in case] be careful to avoid turning the bars fully.

I am sure you will enjoy your new RST.

Jim

Thanks for the warning.

Janet