Is the twist throttle offer better control than thumb?

[Offroader]

is your front brake on the left.
On motorcycles the front(most important one if your serious about technical riding) is on the right along with the throttle.

Look at any photo in an off road magazine of a rider exploding out of a berm & you will notice he has at least one finger still resting on the front brake lever. A twist grip will allow you to do that most efficiently. Top pros train to hold on with the thumb, ring & little finger. the index & middle finger are for extrainious controls.

& yes....often brakes & throttle are used simultaneously in the most technical riding scenarios.
For me its a twist every time.

Interesting, it does seem dirt bike riders do cover the brakes and use the throttle. Although some say that doing this does compromise the control.

You see a thumb throttle gives you precise throttle control and also precise braking control at the same time, and also allows you to even lift up hard on the handlebars to lift the bike while still having precise braking and throttle control.

I will have to determine if the twist throttle still allows the same degree of control when covering the brakes. Like if you didn't cover your brakes with the twist throttle, would it give you better throttle control? If you say yes, then the thumb throttle is better because it doesn't matter if you cover your brakes.

I find it really surprising that dirtbike riders can do this, and also give full throttle while covering the brakes. On my scooter if I go full throttle really quick I can not keep my finger on the brakes, but this could be just the setup.

 

[Alan B]

Some twist throttles are 60 degrees instead of 90, and you should always regrip to keep good ergo and you can cover the brake if needed. On a motorcycle you have the advantage of foot actuated brakes, many now actuate both front and rear on both the foot and handbrake levers, with different ratios. Also with slip regen the throttle is simultaneously a brake for excellent control, using this I hardly use the brakes anymore, and even then use the variable regen most of the time rather than the brake pads. The brake on the throttle side is the rear brake, not the one I really need to cover anyway, so no real value there. The slip regen throttle is already covering that. I can cover the front brake when I need real braking. No conflict.

I suspect that the advantage goes to what you've trained with, regardless of which that is. And if you want that training to transfer to other machines the thumb throttle is not so good. Heck, folks have used gearshifts and all manner of strange controls on motorcycles. You can learn to use almost anything.

I wonder why they keep thumb throttles on quads. I use them there, and they are okay, but you have to be very careful to avoid injuring your thumb. One thing about quads is they pitch and roll when hitting rough terrain so there's more of a need to hang on than with a motorcycle, perhaps why they use a thumb lever.

Anyway, I use both thumb and twist throttle on ebikes, and both on motorcycles/quads and prefer the twist.

 

[Offroader]

Alan, yeah I think it may come down what you are used to, especially if you are able to cover the brakes with a twist. What I don't know is how well you can control the twist throttle while covering the brakes.

I think maybe another advantage is that with a thumb throttle you can have a firm grip on the handlebars when you need to. When things get really rough on my ebike I grab hard on my grips and have a secure tight control of the handlebars. I'm not sure if this can be done as well with a twist.

One possible advantage of a twist is that if you stand up and lean forward, you may be able to do this more easily with a twist, as a thumb throttle will cause your wrist to stay fixed to control the thumb throttle. However, I have good flexibility and can lean forward reasonably well while still holding throttle. Leaning forward and standing is important when climbing really steep stuff to weigh down the front of the bike so it doesn't wheelie up.

It seems some expert trials bike riders do use thumb, but it may be because that is what they learned. I guess I learned the thumb throttle now and I am comfortable with that, and don't get thumb fatigue.

I think part of the reason for making this thread is that I purchased heated grips for my ebike and was unsure if I really needed a twist grip. Heated grips are easier to install with a thumb throttle.

 

[Alan B]

Good point on heating grips, could be harder with twist.

Another factor is having a good torque throttle, much much much easier to control, the crazy sensitivity of PWM throttles is just awful compared to a good torque throttle. Far more important than thumb vs twist.

There are really two issues here, or three. Precision vs independence vs covering brakes. Not just a single issue.

 

[999zip999]

TWIST.

 

[Offroader]

TWIST.

Twist will work for sure, best if used on a motorcycle where you're traveling long distances at the same rate of speed. It is comfortable to hold a set throttle position.

I find the thumb allows for a tight grip on handlebars, and precise throttle control while sitting or standing, all while covering the brakes. I can't get this level of precision using a twist on my scooter, while you can cover the brakes you don't have as precise throttle control.

For me having used both, I prefer the thumb because it simply gives me much more control for my style of riding. This may be a reason why the half twist throttle is popular, it allows you some tight control when needed, but is just a compromise to the ultimate control of a thumb.

If you're using your ebike to ride like you're doing a downhill course or you want to do slow technical things where balance is important like a trials bike, the thumb wins.

If you're using your bike to cruise on the street, then the twist wins because of comfort.

 

[rider95]

It mostly depends on your back ground me like all moto crossers would never use a thump throttle .