An improved brake system is provided for a vehicle including at least front and rear wheels. The brake system comprises a braking force generating mechanism, a brake lever assembly and a foot-operated brake pedal. The brake force generating mechanism applies a braking force to at least a front wheel or a rear wheel of the vehicle. The brake lever assembly includes a hand-operated lever and a force actuator. The force actuator moves between at least first and second positions so as to selectively actuate the brake force generating mechanism to produce a braking force. The force actuator interacts with the hand-operated lever such that movement of the hand-operated lever moves the force actuator from the first position to at least the second position. The force actuator also interacts with the brake pedal, which are coupled together by a cable. Movement the brake pedal also moves the force actuator from the first position to the second position.