how come the brakes for the rear wheel of the bike have poor traction when used to stop forwards movement but has great traction when used to stop backwards movement on a bicycle

Question

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

Answer 1

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)