Singlespeed & Fixed Gear - Thinking of losing my rear brake

Mainly for comfort. Stem is a bit long. When I ride on the brake hoods, I'm a bit stretched out.

My plan is to take off the rear brake and replace it with a Tektro inline lever that came with my Trek 1000.

Will that work?

That way, I can ride on the bar tops and have access to a brake. Also, I can tilt the handlebars down more and make riding the drops more comfortable.

Now if I go back and ride freewheel (which I do from time to time) will I miss my rear brake? Also, with fixed gear I don't use the rear brake any less than on my road bike. So is getting rid of it a bad idea?

"Front break better than rear brake. Hulk SMASH rear break!"
-Hulk

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party hulk hates rear brakes but loves sparkly patriotic boas.

you could just get a shorter stem that fits you.

Just make sure you are used to using the front. Ideally when you go riding, the front is the brake you should be relying on for stopping power because it will not lock up your front wheel (as easily as the rear, anyway).

I suppose riding without the rear and a freewheel is a little more risky, simply because you lack the ability to slow the rear wheel. If your front brake goes out you really have to get into some emergency stopping procedures.

I don't get why you would have a rear brake on a fixed. At least I find it impractical.
Take it off, ride it. See what you think.
Also my road drops are tilted downward a bit, I really dig it. My wrists feel real comfy on the shoulders that way.

**** a break!
and a brake!

party hulk hates rear brakes but loves sparkly patriotic boas.

"Hulk come out closet today. Hulk looove USA, and wearing eyeshadow.":D

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"Stupid hipsters tease Hulk for exploring Hulk feminine side...:cry: Hulk feelings hurt! Hulk leave stupid midwest for Williamsburg, meet nice guy. Mid -west boring anyway, Hulk put house up for sale!! E-mail Hulk for price. Hulk out!"

This is messed up, after reading this thread I was no longer certain that brakes are the things that stop you. I had to look it up on dict.org to check.

reading this forum DOES lower your intelligence!

I don't get why you would have a rear brake on a fixed. At least I find it impractical.
Take it off, ride it. See what you think.
Also my road drops are tilted downward a bit, I really dig it. My wrists feel real comfy on the shoulders that way.

Emergencies.

i'd only leave a rear brake on a suicide hubbed bike. otherwise, you have a reliable way of stopping the rear alreadt simply by virtue of the fact that you have a fixed gear.

i'd only leave a rear brake on a suicide hubbed bike. otherwise, you have a reliable way of stopping the rear alreadt simply by virtue of the fact that you have a fixed gear.

But he wants to ride with a freewheel sometimes too. And a rear brake is a superior stopping method to pedal pressure and although it only really matters in a few situations it sound like the OP prefers to stop that way anyway so he should probably keep the brake.

The only reasonable suggestion so far is to buy a shorter stem. That's probably a good idea. But the obvious quick fix is to use the inline brake lever you plan to purchase as an ]INLINE brake lever. They are meant to be secondary levers and since you already have real levers you can just add the inlines inline so you can also brake on the tops of the bars as well as on the hoods. This also won't **** you over if you are in the drops and need to brake.

Ideally you should buy a shorter stem since you will have much better control on the hoods then you would on the tops of the bars and they will be more comfortable. You can still get inline brake levers anyway.

Also, with fixed gear I don't use the rear brake any less than on my road bike.

I'm not entirely sure why you're riding a fixed gear if you use you rear brake as much as you would with a free wheel. A friend of mine had this set up and after riding it around for a bit I found the rear brake extremely disruptive to the whole fixed-gear experience; the sense of one-ness with the bike based on expending effort to stop, the feel of constant pedal pressure on my feet no matter what I was doing.

I submit, it might suit your riding style more to switch to a free wheel and keep both of your brakes.

As far as lever position goes: put your levers where you put your hands. If you spend most of your time up top, then put an inline lever up top. Else, keep your road brake, but consider moving it, adjusting your bars, changing your stem, so you can find a comfortable and safe position.