I really don’t get it. both tires of a bike have the same tread pattern that face the same way. yet, the front brakes provide good traction when used to stop forwards movement on a bike and provide horrible traction when used to stop backwards movement on a bike.
while the rear brakes provide horrible traction when used to stop forwards movement and provide good traction when used to stop backwards movement. I am confused can someone explain
In: 2
When you push the brakes the bike will rotate forwards due to its momentum. This puts more force down on the front wheel and lifts the rear wheel up. The friction on your tyres depends on the force pushing it into the ground. So when you brake your front wheel is pushed more into the ground getting more friction while your rear wheel gets less force pushing it into the ground and therefore lower friction and is more likely to skid. When you are going in reverse the momentum goes the other way so it becomes the opposite.
Weight is what gives us traction on bikes and cars, so when you stop on a bike for example, your momentum makes your weight shift forwards. With the weight now more so on the front wheel of the bike not the back you have more front traction rather than rear. This would go the same in reverse for example.
If you want to test it, lean as far back on a bike as you can and use your rear brake and it will be much more useful (but still not as good as the front)
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