Quote:
Originally Posted by Alex
I get what you are saying, right up until the point about using the rear brake to shift weight to the front so you can then apply the front brake. Shifting weight to the front happens much quicker if you just use the front brake to do the same thing. Adding rear brake prior will not move as much weight forward as quickly, and in fact lessens that weight transfer compared to using the front brake alone. In some cases that behavior is desired when going for smoother stops with less weight transfer. But as I think you're referring to what you'd do for maximum braking in race applications, I'm not sure I've ever heard of anybody using the technique you describe on track...
You're absolutely right, most don't use much rear brake. But even those that do aren't using the rear brake to scrub speed at all, they are using it to help settle the rear of the bike and to help control the arc through the turn when both front and rear are at the very edges of traction. Nicky used to use even more of the rear brake to help control wheelies when accelerating hard, but that's become less and less necessary with better electronics now taking care of that automatically.
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You're correct in that using the front brake will shift weight faster (for several reasons), but most folks do not have the proper skills to do this. Sometimes I get lazy and just use the rear brake to shift weight, that's all.
The oscillations while in the turn including the friction gains/losses to the rear front while maximizing speed, avoiding collision and keeping the guy behind you behind you and avoiding a low side from front or rear slide or highside makes this high speed ballet an interesting one for the bike's chassis.
The chassis design element is the one most complex and misunderstood, even for the world's experts. Since the chassis has no dampening abilities (other than the max loads of the inherent material or design), the tires have to deal with this chaotic load coming out of a turn (in most cases). Braking may help or cause a highside. Some rudimentary traction control devices are being developed to help prevent this.
Nicky is crashing and losing in part because of the electronics. He's fighting them and is not comfortable with them at this time. I hope he sorts this out by next year.