aka Tom Reingold
Join Date: Jan 2009
Location: New York, NY, and High Falls, NY, USA
Posts: 40,498
Bikes: 1962 Rudge Sports, 1971 Raleigh Super Course, 1971 Raleigh Pro Track, 1974 Raleigh International, 1975 Viscount Fixie, 1982 McLean, 1996 Lemond (Ti), 2002 Burley Zydeco tandem
Mentioned: 511 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 7346 Post(s)
I haven't learned to skip or skid yet, and I might not ever bother. They're not important to me.
I commute to the track on my track bike. I made my front brake (my only brake) quickly detachable so I can race. Brakes are not allowed in track races. It's an hour and 20 minute ride through tons of city traffic and over the Queensborough Bridge to the track, and I'm getting the hang of it. I also understand now why messengers carry their cargo on their backs. The cargo adds to the sprung weight, so you still have the advantages of a light bike. If the cargo were attached to the bike, you'd have a lot of weight hitting the bumps on skinny little tires. Not pleasant.