Singlespeed & Fixed Gear - Hills, Brakes, etc...

The one thing that can get me to think about putting a front brake on my fixed is a hill...more specifically, the very steep kind with a busy intersection at the bottom. I live in a city that was basically built on a series of seven hills. Granted, there is alot of flat terrain on which I feel confident about my abilities, but there have definitely been some downhill moments that have shaken my guts and confidence. Any suggestions from more seasoned riders on hill tactics/technique? I haven't crashed yet, so mabye I should just stop worrying and keep on keepin' on. As far as I know, I am the only one in my city riding brakeless, so I don't have much of a support group from which to gather tips. That said, thanks for your help!

redundancy is your friend...opinions will vary.

there are alot of variables to take in when going downhill. i just try and keep my speed low either by standing and "absorbing" the force or if there is room, slalom. another thing is of course skipping or skidding, which i can't afford to do too often, because good tires are expensive. but i think practicing these type of techniques is important if you're not going to put on a brake. if the hills are really that steep maybe you should just put on a brake.

sounds like you need a brake.

Ive been riding brakeless for the past 2 months and I live in a town such as yours, hills and flat terrain. Im pretty good at keeping a slow pace down hills but I know if an emergency situation arised I would have to dodge it because I wouldnt be able to stop, which could be good or bad. My new bike is coming pretty soon and I opted to keep a front brake on. Not to use but just to have in case of a true emergency stop. I popped my chain going downhill, and brakeless the other day. Lets just say it scared some sense into me.

You can always walk too. Thats what I do when it gets a bit too hairy.

my front brake doesn't get much use really, but it has served me well in the past. there were two occasions where i lost the ability to stop using my feet while approaching busy intersections, and my brake was there.

slightly ot: i saw a bike locked up outside the bar the other day that was a breakless fixed gear with no clips. a whole new level of insanity.

I ride a lot of long hills, and I use a front and rear brake. On long hills, once my cadence gets so high that I can't maintain smooth, continuous pessure on the pedals, I'm not able to control my speed without a brake. In that situation, the front brake makes the bike more unstable, but the rear brake brings it back under control instantly. I actually use the rear brake on the fixie more than the one on the road bike.
No matter how you brake the rear wheel- back pressure, skidding or a caliper- no rear brake will stop as well as any front brake. That is just a result of the laws of physics, and there is no exemption from those laws.

EM

slightly ot: i saw a bike locked up outside the bar the other day that was a breakless fixed gear with no clips. a whole new level of insanity.

not all of us can ride broken bikes...

my straps are hella loose, don't think they've ever really had an impact on pedaling or braking. I might just not be thinking about it when I use them.

I ride a lot of hills and get plenty of use out of my front brake. I see a few people without brakes in the area and they crawl down hills, fighting the pedals. Different strokes for different folks. I like to ride fast, use 49x16 gearing and I'm too cheap to waste good rubber skidding.

i rode fixed with platforms for over a year. you get good at skids. but yeah its pretty sketch.

I ride w/o brakes, straps, chain, or shoes...I'm FREEEEEEE -eeahh!

my
slightly ot: i saw a bike locked up outside the bar the other day that was a breakless fixed gear with no clips. a whole new level of insanity.

Mighta been mine if you live in downtown Toronto ;) I like to ride the ragged edge of disaster ;) :):D :o :D

it's hilly where i live, and so i have a front brake - only because of the hills. i've been glad of that more than once.

I was hauling around a corner on the Chester Creek Trail here in Anchorage (paved bike path) and as I rounded the corner there was a big bull moose in the middle of trail. I grabbed the front brake and skidded the rear a bit and made a quick u-turn. If I wouldn't have had the front brake I would of skidded right past (or into) the big bassturd! I think mating season is starting so I didn't want to risk trying to just blow past him.

Man, I hate getting "moosed"

Typical moose. They always hog the multi-use trails. Jerks.

learn how to skid, its not that hard. i have tons of fairly nice tires i got from a local coop and i rotate it regularly so its not too bad but thats how i do it. theres a super crazy steep hill on my way to work that i have to make a right turn on halfway down so i just skid the last 10 yards and do a skid turn at the bottom. skid turns are sweet.

oh yeah and brakeless fixed down a big hill necesitates a helmet, at least in my book

In my business, failures are presumed. So call me a poseur, but I have brakes on the front and back-just in case. I'm much too heavy to be using my legs only when going downhill. I'm getting better at it, but I'll never not have at least a front brake.
.
.
.

learn how to skid, its not that hard.
One point: just imagine if the chain broke when going downhill (or if you somehow injured your knee!) A set of brakes sure would be nice at that point...

legs are brakes and bombing hills is alot of fun!

I was riding down a hill once, and my lockring stripped and came off (so the cog followed). I just put my foot on the back tire and stopped. It was a little un-nerving, but that's how we used to stop when I rode brakeless BMX. As far as skidding without clips, skipping seems to be impossible on platforms. I don't even ride my track bike without clipless anymore, clips don't seem to offer nearly as much control.

One point: just imagine if the chain broke when going downhill (or if you somehow injured your knee!) A set of brakes sure would be nice at that point...

imagine if this guys puts on a front brake and uses it as a crutch to not learn a decent skid, then the brake fails (whhich i've had happen twice on my nice road bike and ive never broken a chain) and then he cant stop. i think its the same situation. and i think no matter what the theory is if someone gets a front brake their skid wont be near strong enough to rely on, especially going downhill. but thats just my .02

I was riding down a hill once, and my lockring stripped and came off (so the cog followed). I just put my foot on the back tire and stopped. It was a little un-nerving, but that's how we used to stop when I rode brakeless BMX. As far as skidding without clips, skipping seems to be impossible on platforms. I don't even ride my track bike without clipless anymore, clips don't seem to offer nearly as much control.
yeah that way works, i had a firend with a brakeless ss that stopped that way. clipless is definitely the way to go; its good stuff

imagine if this guys puts on a front brake and uses it as a crutch to not learn a decent skid, then the brake fails (whhich i've had happen twice on my nice road bike and ive never broken a chain) and then he cant stop. i think its the same situation. and i think no matter what the theory is if someone gets a front brake their skid wont be near strong enough to rely on, especially going downhill. but thats just my .02

...which is precisely why he shouldn't do it. I have 2 brakes on mine. If one were to learn these types of tricks, sure, take the back one off, but until then I think prudence should rule the day. But then again, I actually enjoy my health...

Clipless is definitely NOT the way to go on a hand-brakeless fixed gear bicycle. They unclip suddendly which causes major pain. I have seen it happen many times. Decent laminated toe straps and cages are the way to go. Everyone I know and (many more that I don't know) that rides in SF with no hand brakes rides with clips and straps. There is a good reason for that - there are some mighty big hills here.

Clipless is definitely NOT the way to go on a hand-brakeless fixed gear bicycle. They unclip suddendly which causes major pain. I have seen it happen many times. Decent laminated toe straps and cages are the way to go. Everyone I know and (many more that I don't know) that rides in SF with no hand brakes rides with clips and straps. There is a good reason for that - there are some mighty big hills here.

i contest that statement. i ride eggbeaters and skid all the time, as i have no brake and live in a hilly place, and i have never come accidentally unclipped. maybe some pedals do it but from my experience atacs and eggbeaters dont. and clipless definitely makes a huge difference in the power of your skid

I tried eggbeaters for a week - it was scary (I unlipped). I guess it depends on riding style. Went back to clips and straps.

Not quite sure what you mean with the power of the skid. Skidding and skipping is mostly technique. If done right a skid should not require much power. It is easily possible to skid using only one non-clipped-in foot, meaning using the underside of a clip and strap pedal or simply unclipping.

If you mean power transfer when pedalling then of course clipless will outperform clips and straps when combined with converse chuck taylors. If you however use old fashioned proper cleated hard soled bicycle shoes in combination with clips and straps the performance will be equal or even greater because you are fully locked in from the bottom and top. Just look how many track racers still use clips and straps.

If you however use old fashioned proper cleated hard soled bicycle shoes in combination with clips and straps the performance will be equal or even greater because you are fully locked in from the bottom and top. Just look how many track racers still use clips and straps.
yes you are fully locked, and they are still great for the track, but most of the posts in this thread are talking about emergency stops, going down a hill into traffic. clipless on the street is no match for clips/straps when it comes to power/ease of release, unless you can reach down and loosen your straps as fast as you can unclip from clipless.

I've only unclipped once with my eggbeaters accidently and that was because I was wearing worn cleats.

To each his own. Clipless is not less safe than clips and straps, they're different. Heck if you don't cinch down your clips enough your foot can slide and you die. Lets be real, riding brakeless has its risks but then again so does riding with brakes.

Thanks for redirecting ;). For road use I skip the cleated shoes of course.
But, it is still it safer to ride with clips and straps even with chuck taylors than it is riding clipless when not having a handbrake. Clips and straps don't suddendly unclip. When a strap snaps it is a product FAILURE (or your own fault for not maintaining them). Unclipping out of clipless is a product FEATURE.

For example pitching your bike sideways is useful in emergency situations because it shortens the stopping distance (think hockey stop). However, the nature of such a move will most likely cause your foot to twist a little and maybe even enough to unlip if you ride clipless.

If you ride a roadbike or single speed or whatever else I think clipless are great, because of the ease of use and power transfer issue. I just think that they are a bad idea for fixed gear riders with no handbrakes. I also think that most long term handbrakeless fixers will agree on this.

Thanks for redirecting ;). For road use I skip the cleated shoes of course.
But, it is still it safer to ride with clips and straps even with chuck taylors than it is riding clipless when not having a handbrake. Clips and straps don't suddendly unclip. When a strap snaps it is a product FAILURE (or your own fault for not maintaining them). Unclipping out of clipless is a product FEATURE.

For example pitching your bike sideways is useful in emergency situations because it shortens the stopping distance (think hockey stop). However, the nature of such a move will most likely cause your foot to twist a little and maybe even enough to unlip if you ride clipless.

If you ride a roadbike or single speed or whatever else I think clipless are great, because of the ease of use and power transfer issue. I just think that they are a bad idea for fixed gear riders with no handbrakes. I also think that most long term handbrakeless fixers will agree on this.


I'm not so sure. Unclipping accidentally is really hard, for me at least. Thats why I think we're so divided on the subject. Heck, sometimes when I want to unclip I don't. I guess if you have a really sloppy pedal stroke then yeah, clipless would be insane. I'm just saying I've had plenty of close calls, and sudden stops and never unclipped during any of them. I'm thinking if clipless was unsafe as you are saying either myself or someone else would have had an instance where this was the case, but I'm not so sure that's the case.

maybe you're degree of disengagement wasn't adjusted properly.

Eggbeaters have only two adjustments. Depending on which pedal you put left or right it is more or less easy to unclip

I am not the only one that ever unclipped out of clipless by accident. I have witnessed it 3 times with different people so far. Everyone of them was lucky and got away with an OMG experience. I have never seen anyone accidentally unclip from a clip and strap pedal.

I am not saying it happens every day. My objection was to the statement that clipless is the way to go when riding with no handbrakes.