Singlespeed & Fixed Gear - Platform pedals and brakeless

Basically, how's it done? I'm totally baffled. How do you stop, except by scuffing the back wheel?

Please enlighten me.

Skip and skid? If you're oblivious on how to do it: Put your weight forward on the bike (I usually put my chest basically on the handle bars) and use your right leg to push completely back. You have to have the right timing to do so, so wait for your right pedal to be at 9:00 and your left at 3:00. Push as hard as you can on your back pedal, and your wheel should lock up. It takes a few tries, and is easiest to learn the motions on snow, ice, or a wet road.

Running platforms, no brakes, no clips/straps is just a bad idea in every way, right?

I did it for a while (platforms, I still had a front brake just in case) and sort of liked it more than the clips I have. Mind you, my clips are cheapys with plastic toe parts, and nylon straps. I only payed like 19 dollars for them, though.

The only difference is if your foot slips, your feet come off the pedals and you eat ****, badly. It happened to me and I switched to clips.

Running platforms, no brakes, no clips/straps is just a bad idea in every way, right?

There are lots of people who claim that they can skid "just as well" with platforms, but I suspect that "just as well" for these people means getting their cranks in the right position, and putting their entire body forward, whereas the rest of us (with pedal retention systems and a modicum of skill) can skid with their feet in almost any position without leaving the saddle.

I need to masta the sit down skidz. I can do them on snow and ice, and occasionally on slick wet pavement, but still not skidzorz enough to do it on dry pavement.

This is OT to this post, but someone explain that **** to me again, some guy just said 'flex your ankles', but I'm not sure how to position my body. Do I put extra weight on the front still? or?

do you wanna know how to stop or how to skid? when i ran brakeless and platforms, i ran 42x16, didn't go fast and i slowed down early, there was rarely any skidding involved. you can't be in a hurry to get anywhere or you're gonna get screwed.

as for how to skid, put your nuts (or vulva, ladies) on your stem and lock one of your legs so that it's in line with the crank.

So who's going to be the first to say that skidding and skipping and all these other hipster tricks is suboptimal braking on a brakeless...?

i know, right? stopping is so hipster.

i know, right? stopping is so hipster.

I think you need to recromprehend what I wrote.

So who's going to be the first to say that skidding and skipping and all these other hipster tricks is suboptimal braking on a brakeless...?

It's not about optimal braking, it's about emergency braking. If you can't skid stop your bike on a moment's notice, you shouldn't be riding without brakes.

I need to masta the sit down skidz. I can do them on snow and ice, and occasionally on slick wet pavement, but still not skidzorz enough to do it on dry pavement.

This is OT to this post, but someone explain that **** to me again, some guy just said 'flex your ankles', but I'm not sure how to position my body. Do I put extra weight on the front still? or?

first off riding no clips AND brakeless and then posting this thread means you need to get your self a front brake,...seriously dude, the bus/ups van/garbage truck doesn't care that you can't stop fast enough to avoid it.

ok sit down skids: the way I figured this out was: I stiffen whichever leg, as that pedal is coming upwards, I let the pedal lift me slightly off the seat, and this completely unweights the rear wheel, and it's easy to lock it up from the
seated position or just skip it and do the same thing again as the other pedal comes around, THAT stops you going down hills WAY better than just skidding.
(theres probably a name for it, but I'm ignant :D )

I used to do "jamaican skids, mon" :D (I was told this trick here) where you hook your foot under the front pedal, and then push back on the rear, but if you run cage pedals like I do, your going to need a new pair of shoes each week, as the shoe tops just get cheese grated.

ok I HATE CLIPS,...or thought I did,..THEN I got some GOOD track pedals with steel clips, and GOOD leather straps (soma hellyers, no name clips, soma double straps), and they are just so natural and easy to kick into (you don't have to look 95% of the time) now I don't mind the clips so much, in fact I'm gettin to kinda LIKE IT :eek: as now I don't have to lug around a pair of walking shoes (I tried running clipless for a while too)

this is what got me hooked on riding fixed, I had to "learn to ride" all over again

I really don't understand, next please.

It's not about optimal braking, it's about emergency braking. If you can't skid stop your bike on a moment's notice, you shouldn't be riding without brakes.

This is even worse. You purposely **** your braking power in the exact situations you need it the most.

This is even worse. You purposely **** your braking power in the exact situations you need it the most.

Are you going to provide some insight, or continue to act like an arrogant tool?

Are you going to provide some insight, or continue to act like an arrogant tool?

he's right.
skidding the rear wheel is the least efficient way to stop in an emergency
especially the balls-on-stem version

he's right.
skidding the rear wheel is the least efficient way to stop in an emergency
especially the balls-on-stem version

It certainly takes me longer to slow my track bike from speed (say 17mph or so) to a stop by simply resisting the pedals than it does to skip or skid stop it. Obviously a brake is how one should stop their bike, but we've removed that from the equation.

My local store wrench in Vancouver sent me out to try out a brand new, blinged out $2000+ IF tarck build he had just put together. It had no brakes, clips or straps, and this was my first time riding a bike set up in this jackassed fashion. Needless to say it was sketchy. I was pretty ****ing careful but i did try a few "jamaican style" skids.

Are you going to provide some insight, or continue to act like an arrogant tool?

Let me help educate you: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anti-lock_braking_system

The same principles apply to braking on any other wheeled vehicle. Do I really need to further prove that maximum deceleration is acheived by not skidding tires?

P.S Name-calling is against forum rules. Thanks

Let me help educate you: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anti-lock_braking_system

The same principles apply to braking on any other wheeled vehicle. Do I really need to further prove that maximum deceleration is acheived by not skidding tires?

P.S Name-calling is against forum rules. Thanks

He is correct. You brake the fastest by repeatedly skipping the rear wheel, because it takes a lot of force to break the wheel free and only a little bit to retain a skid, so by repeatedly using the force necessary to skip you slow down faster.

Why in god's name would you want to ride fixed without clips and straps, or clipless?

Someone give me decent answer for this...

He is correct. You brake the fastest by repeatedly skipping the rear wheel, because it takes a lot of force to break the wheel free and only a little bit to retain a skid, so by repeatedly using the force necessary to skip you slow down faster.

That is an incorrect intrepretation. Maximum deceleration is achivied with rubber firmy planted on pavement and with the wheel JUST at the point of lockup (but not locking up). ON a brakeless fix, if the rear wheel is off the ground then it is providing NO deceleration as long as it is there.

Skid stopping, skidding is not optimal and you are doing everyone a disservice by telling them that these are good "emergency" braking maneuveurs. Anyone who has taken high school physics or a basic driving course will have learnt this. Every racecar drive in the world knows this as well.


Why in god's name would you want to not ride fixed without clips and straps, or clipless?


Convenience, or perhaps ignorance.

fixies dont have breaks

fixies dont have breaks
.

fixed.

That is an incorrect intrepretation. Maximum deceleration is achivied with rubber firmy planted on pavement and with the wheel JUST at the point of lockup (but not locking up). ON a brakeless fix, if the rear wheel is off the ground then it is providing NO deceleration as long as it is there.

Skid stopping, skidding is not optimal and you are doing everyone a disservice by telling them that these are good "emergency" braking maneuveurs. Anyone who has taken high school physics or a basic driving course will have learnt this. Every racecar drive in the world knows this as well.

Convenience, or perhaps ignorance.

I agree WHEN IT APPLIES TO A CAR OR MOTORCYCLE,..but in the real world (like SF going down oak, or 21st st., or anything down from pac heights), SKIPPING slows you down faster than skidding, or forceful controlled backpressure on the pedals, and thats with the rear wheel hopping and skidding for a foot or so every half rotation of the cranks.

so while the wikipedia regurgitation, and the racers braking physics lessons ALL apply, they don't work when you ride a fixed gear bike down a freaky scary steep hill like 21st st in san francisco (from the top,heading east, down to mission), even with a front brake, I skip it every half block or so, just to keep the speed down.


we now return you to the regularly scheduled rock throwing contest.

That is an incorrect intrepretation. Maximum deceleration is achivied with rubber firmy planted on pavement and with the wheel JUST at the point of lockup (but not locking up). ON a brakeless fix, if the rear wheel is off the ground then it is providing NO deceleration as long as it is there.

Skid stopping, skidding is not optimal and you are doing everyone a disservice by telling them that these are good "emergency" braking maneuveurs. Anyone who has taken high school physics or a basic driving course will have learnt this. Every racecar drive in the world knows this as well.


This is true for cars, but not bikes. You can't resist the drive train evenly as you pedal a bike, so in much of your stroke, your legs aren't working nearly as well to slow you down. That's especially true for people who insist on riding platforms. Car brakes (and bike brakes for that matter) don't care how your crank is oriented and so can keep you right on the verge of skidding for maximum stopping power. So in theory, sure, but in practice, many riders are going to stop faster using short skips to keep ratcheting back to the sweet spot in their stroke.

But at the end of the day, this is entirely academic. Maximum stopping efficiency obviously requires a brake. Or a sudden encounter with a big, solid object.

P.S. And seriously, full-on skids are just no good for stopping.

But at the end of the day, this is entirely academic. Maximum stopping efficiency obviously requires a brake. Or a sudden encounter with a big, solid object.


I can attest to the accuracy of both these statements. It had never actually occurred to me what would happen if the chain broke while trying to skid stop my fixed until it did at an inopportune moment (about 3 seonds before a Buick hit me). On the bright side, I had never actually gotten to ride in an ambulance before and I was a much better climber after losing 15 lbs while my jaw was wired shut. All in all though, I would say that brakes are preferable to Buicks.

I agree WHEN IT APPLIES TO A CAR OR MOTORCYCLE,..but in the real world (like SF going down oak, or 21st st., or anything down from pac heights), SKIPPING slows you down faster than skidding, or forceful controlled backpressure on the pedals, and thats with the rear wheel hopping and skidding for a foot or so every half rotation of the cranks.

so while the wikipedia regurgitation, and the racers braking physics lessons ALL apply, they don't work when you ride a fixed gear bike down a freaky scary steep hill like 21st st in san francisco (from the top,heading east, down to mission), even with a front brake, I skip it every half block or so, just to keep the speed down.


we now return you to the regularly scheduled rock throwing contest.

Nicely put...