Singlespeed & Fixed Gear - First Brakeless Ride In 6.5 hours

My first real brakeless ride will be from my house to work (14 kms) tomorrow.

I'm psyched and ready. It'll be sunday morning (no traffic) and i'm looking forward to it.

Any advice?

Pay attention, watch your downhill speed. Give yourself a safe stopping distance. Imagine you are driving a big Caddy with very small drum brakes. Keep your cadence steady and don't skid unless you need to. Tires are not brakes. I chose to ride without a brake because I like the extra workout. I don't ride like a maniac. I stop at stop signs, at least most of the time unless its at night with no traffic. I suggest a modest gear ratio. Riding a big gear without brakes is stupid. The road is not a track.

Any advice?

Put a brake back on.

Ignore the lemmings and use a brake.

Don't give in to the whole "brakeless vs brakes" thing. Just do what you think feels good!

The road is not a track.

http://www.uhusnest.de/blog/media/o-rly.jpg

don't mess up?

advice?
riding "brakeless", effectively, is not only stopping without a handbrake...
it is seeing obstacles ahead and around and finding alternate routes so that it's less likely you'll have to stop

Don't die.

When in doubt, use your emergency parachute.

When in doubt, use your emergency parachute.

Didn't do her much good (http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,20867,21120195-2703,00.html)

Make sure you can throw a mean skid, otherwise you're making a bad decision~!
Freewheel brakeless like Ted Shred, now that's the dangerous thing of the future.

I chose to ride without a brake because I like the extra workout.

...if you had a brake you could go faster, seeing as how you'd be able to stop sooner.

Umm, if you had gears you could get a better workout for that matter. Or if you got off the bike and just ran...

my advice is don't ask this question while there's a 4 page b!tch session about how everyone who doesn't use a brake is a moron.

if you're nervous enough about riding without a brake to post a ****ing thread on bikeforums you're probably not ready to ride without a brake. Quit overanalyzing ****.

.....

my advice is don't ask this question while there's a 4 page b!tch session about how everyone who doesn't use a brake is a moron.

You're not a moron. There are those who know what they're doing and can handle brakeless and those that take off the brake just to be a hipster.

Ignore the lemmings and use a brake.

Just curious as to whether the bike in your avatar has a brake.

Just curious as to whether the bike in your avatar has a brake.
it's got a coaster, seriously

Deep-V

Just curious as to whether the bike in your avatar has a brake.

Well, when I was racing Voodoo, it was mostly fixed. but there was that scene going down the stairs when it was obviously freewheeling. And it switched back and forth quite a bit while being chased by Gypsy.

I arrived at work safe and sound.

Very enjoyable. I don't think I'll make a habit of it just yet, but nice to do early on a sunday morning in fine weather.

This wasn't a snap decision, I've just noticed I use the brake less and less.

I'm not a hipster, and have male-specific jeans only in my wardrobe.

why does monster track require no brakes then? is it moronic?:eek:

It's a whole different skill, that's why.

riding brakeless making you ride safer, is like not wearing a helmet making cars stay a few inches further from you...

basically just make sure you feel safe. check tension everyfew days if you dont already, figure out the quickest way you can stop.

Ignore the lemmings and use a brake.
Says the man using this avatar...
/edit: oops, late again

Got home. No dramas. It was fun too.

I lost the track bars and tried chopped risers too, put the drops back on though. Nice to experiment. I want some bulls and then I can re-invent my bike every few days.

What a busy day. Must be beer o'clock.

Transitional setup:

Run a brake without enough tension in the cable to make the pads touch the rim. You'll figure something out the first time you grab the lever and nothing happens.

silly as it sounds, that's kinda how i transitioned to riding brakeless. i had a cheapo nashbar inline lever, and the crappy plastic clamp gave way at the hinge. the lever stayed in place, but whenever you pulled it the clamp flared and the whole assembly moved, rather than the lever alone. which meant it had no affect on the cable or the brake. by that time i was comfortable with skips and skids and so on, so it kinda weaned me off feeling i needed a brake.
riding brakeless is a whole different skillset though. it's not simply about knowing how to stop; it's about a far more aware approach to riding. i've ridden bikes all my life - never not been a cyclist - but i've learned more in two years of brakeless fixed gear riding than in all the rest of that time

i started out with a brake...which everyone should do.
after a few months i started getting comfortable with skids/skips/hops and real effective backpedaling...that brake stopped getting used but i left it on.
i swapped parts over from one frame to another and the brake didn't make it...it wasn't a nervous type of "oh no, i don't have a brake now." feeling because i never used it at that point anyway...
if someone thinks twice about whether they should have a brake or not then they probably should have a brake...it is safer.