What sides are your brakes on??

Spin on planet x today and lo and behold it's set up opposite to the Treks, right lever is front and left lever is rear brake. Never noticed it was opposite to the other bikes 😃

UK law specifies that new bikes must be sold (ie: leave the shop) with Right-Front/Left-Rear brake setup, but there is nothing to stop an owner changing it (or asking a bike shop to change it after purchase) to the other way.

The reason is that, in left-traffic (UK, Irl, Aus, etc), when you're out in the centre of the road, stopping to turn right, and signalling with your right hand, you want your other (left) hand on the rear brake (ever try pulling the front brake with only one hand on the bars?). Bikes sold in right-traffic countries (US, most of EU, etc) have their brakes set up the other way because the same issue applies when stopping to turn left.

BTW, before Brexit, Irish Trek dealers used to get stock from both the UK and the Netherlands, and the bikes for the UK had the UK-specific brake-setup and one single white spoke reflector per wheel, whereas the continental ones had Left-Front/Right-Rear brakes and two orange spoke reflectors per wheel. (Now you won't be able to look at a Trek without checking...)

If you look at old English-made bicycles with roller-lever brakes, they are made with the Right-Front/Left-Rear brake setup designed in, and many cannot be changed without re-making some parts in the reverse orientation.

Left/Front (For Rim brakes) gives, in my view a cleaner/straighter cable routing from the caliper to the lever. If connected to the Right Lever, there is a significant bend in the cable, which doesn't look right!

My Trek domane is front left lever, can it be switched over easily?

I have a mbt and it's left rear and right side front brake, I'm so used of the front brake on that side. Every bike I've ever riden before is always been that way. Every Motorbike in the world is right front brake.

Got my road bike in Canada which is opposite. Mtb and other bikes from Ireland so the other way around. no issues switching between the two at all. wouldnt be interested in unwrapping bar tape switching changing legths of cables etc etc.

I have just acquired my first a la mode francais bike...

Re "so i was surprised to read that people could take days or weeks to realise."

I was surprised that so many people use their brakes in a way that finding out that they are "backwards" means they fear crashing.

Indeed, but it's prudent, before, or very early on operating an unfamiliar bike/car/piece of machinery, to have an understanding of the workings, and not leaving that until indicating and braking in such a manner that it results in crashing.

My brakes are on the right side of history.

Bit like renting a car on the continent - you adjust/adapt to the different orientation very quickly and you get on your way. To someone not actively switching between the two orientations it might sound complicated or a recipe for disaster but actually at a subconscious level I reckon our brains silently parse the motor control messages quite effectively so that you never really notice it.

My daily rothars are set up in opposing fashion and I can't say I consciously think about it at all - not even a reminder to myself, 'today my front brake is on the left' - it just kicks in silently and unconsciously.

Taking an 'Irish' bike to the continent for a race or for holidays - you'd never actually change the orientation of your brakes, yet nobody gets into trouble do they?