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Author Topic: Front brakes on a duner??  (Read 864 times)

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Front brakes on a duner??
« on: April 18, 2013, 02:46:20 pm »
So what is everyone's opinion on this?? Do you run front brakes or no??? I rarely ever use my front brakes on the trails and it seems it would be a decent weight reduction for a duner. My only thought about keeping them is if you can't make it up a dune and have to roll down backwards.
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Re: Front brakes on a duner??
« Reply #1 on: April 18, 2013, 02:49:14 pm »
I rarely use my rear brakes.  Only in emergencies.  All i use are the fronts.

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Re: Front brakes on a duner??
« Reply #2 on: April 18, 2013, 03:10:56 pm »
Gotta have front brakes -

Especially at the drags at Silver Lake. Look at the idiots and newbs that just drive through the drag strip.
Ain't ever seen it......but I have heard it.

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Re: Front brakes on a duner??
« Reply #3 on: April 18, 2013, 03:32:32 pm »
Didn't use to use the front brakes but the last 2 years have been using them for every instant emergency, they've stopped me from having two bad crashes just in the last two trips.

IMHO must have and working good.


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Re: Front brakes on a duner??
« Reply #4 on: April 18, 2013, 03:51:43 pm »
No front brakes?!?

I'll put up with the extra weight to have that margin for safety
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Re: Front brakes on a duner??
« Reply #5 on: April 18, 2013, 05:13:41 pm »
I always use the front brakes. Rear breaks are for rest stops.
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Re: Front brakes on a duner??
« Reply #6 on: April 18, 2013, 06:06:47 pm »
When I need to use brakes out in the dunes, I use both.
Front brakes are a must for me, rear brakes hardly do anything out in the dunes other than make it easier to swap ends.
The front brakes are very effective in the dunes, the nose dives down and the tires dig deep into the sand and plows to a stop...while the rear doesn't do much except for slide across the sand like a dog's azz on linoleum.

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Re: Front brakes on a duner??
« Reply #7 on: April 18, 2013, 07:00:59 pm »
Besides you can't do Stoppies without them brakes
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Re: Front brakes on a duner??
« Reply #8 on: April 18, 2013, 07:23:40 pm »
I use my front brakes all the time in the dunes. IMO the only time saving the weight of the front brakes is only for pure drag bikes. Again IMO front brakes on a duner is a must have for rolling down dunes backwards, FAST stops, stoppies, idiots riding across the drag strip, etc....all that good stuff.
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Re: Front brakes on a duner??
« Reply #9 on: April 18, 2013, 07:56:39 pm »
I'm also a big front brake guy in the dunes...thumb on the throttle and finger on the brake all the time.  You can come in and out of the corners quick that way and stop fast (not always) for the unexpected Witcheye right over the crest of that big bowl..

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Re: Front brakes on a duner??
« Reply #10 on: April 18, 2013, 10:29:06 pm »
Yup I am a big front brake guy !! My Bikes never get used!!
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Re: Front brakes on a duner??
« Reply #11 on: April 18, 2013, 11:07:14 pm »
The only place I ride is sand & have been my entire 42yrs!!! No dirt it sucks!! Not a good idea to not put front brakes on your bike unless its a drag bike!! If you crest a dune & it drops off on the back side your gonna yard sale bad!! The front brakes will stop you way way quicker than the back ever will!!! Using both decending a dune will allow you to have control in any situation!! Also highly recomend good steering tires too!!! Sand is extreemly unpredictable!! The dunes are never the same after a breeze or heavy wind!!! Drop offs, witch eyes, razorbacks!! You can also control the bike better side hilling with front brakes!!!!

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Re: Front brakes on a duner??
« Reply #12 on: June 01, 2013, 07:04:24 pm »
Keep the brakes.  I use the rears a lot in the big bowls but coming down steep hills or cresting a razerback I always use the front brakes.  Keep the brakes and loose 6 lbs of body weight.
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Re: Front brakes on a duner??
« Reply #13 on: June 01, 2013, 07:40:01 pm »
Gotta have front brakes... How else you gonna do Stoppies?

Like I could ever do that without endoing  :))
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Re: Front brakes on a duner??
« Reply #14 on: June 01, 2013, 08:19:06 pm »
Every time I've tried a stoppie the handlebars turned straight for the low tire as soon as the rear end was off the ground and went into a turney instead.
Or rollover if you prefer the term....details, details.

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Re: Front brakes on a duner??
« Reply #15 on: June 19, 2013, 12:40:50 pm »
I don't use them on my quad, i don't like how the front end plows in to the sand if you slam in them.To each his own. In the dirt i use them but rarely. 
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Re: Front brakes on a duner??
« Reply #16 on: June 19, 2013, 01:32:53 pm »
For a hillshooter style hot dune bike, you can get away with removing them. Just remember that you are now riding a bike without front brakes (Harder to do than you think. I broke a perfectly good gas tank once from a crash that could have been avoided if I had front brakes). But on a regular duner, I would keep them.
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Re: Front brakes on a duner??
« Reply #17 on: June 19, 2013, 01:33:39 pm »
I don't use them on my quad, i don't like how the front end plows in to the sand if you slam in them.To each his own. In the dirt i use them but rarely. 

That's one of the best things about front brakes in the sand.
Regular traction concepts go out the window in the sand.
When you plow the front tires in the sand, you get a lot more stopping ability because you're pushing all of that sand forward and apart.
At times when you really need to stop, it's a life saver.
Going down a steep dune, the rear brakes can lock the tires up and not even slow you down...but light braking on the front slows you down easily.
Rear brakes alone in the dunes remind me of when I was a kid with friends trying to beat the record skid mark on a bicycle.
Lock the rear tire up and you can skid forever with the right amount of weight distribution and speed...it's almost like you're not even using a brake to begin with.

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Re: Front brakes on a duner??
« Reply #18 on: June 19, 2013, 05:49:11 pm »
Wtk: the reason i don't like the front end plowing in the sand is that ive seen some people go over the front end coming down off some steep dunes and ive almost done it my self
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Re: Front brakes on a duner??
« Reply #19 on: June 19, 2013, 05:54:20 pm »
Wtk: the reason i don't like the front end plowing in the sand is that ive seen some people go over the front end coming down off some steep dunes and ive almost done it my self

On that same hill when someone eats it 10 feet in front of you at 20-30mph and there is no place to go, what do you do then?

You need front brakes, they've saved my arse a few times last season.

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Re: Front brakes on a duner??
« Reply #20 on: June 19, 2013, 08:35:45 pm »
Wtk: the reason i don't like the front end plowing in the sand is that ive seen some people go over the front end coming down off some steep dunes and ive almost done it my self

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Re: Front brakes on a duner??
« Reply #21 on: June 22, 2013, 02:18:01 pm »
dont ride so close to the guy in front of you  :o
im definitely not saying that removing them is better, i just dont ever use them
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Re: Front brakes on a duner??
« Reply #22 on: June 22, 2013, 08:27:05 pm »
If someone doesnt have enough skill to controll or modulate the brakes so as not to go over the bars they shouldnt be on a zilla-----Im just having fun.  Those type of inedperienced riders give the rest of us a good laugh and make us old farts remember when we were the inexperienced ones going over the bars.,
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Re: Front brakes on a duner??
« Reply #23 on: June 23, 2013, 06:21:49 am »
Lots of people ride without them. Just depends on your skill level, no doubt there are some benefits. The only thing that makes me reach for the front brakes  is a witches eye........ those suck.  Need not. Your not on a liter bike at  streets of Willow.

 

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