Singlespeed & Fixed Gear - top tube pads...why?

i'm not going to get bike snob nyc on you and start hating on people who have them, but i'm just a little confused by them because i've seen them on brakeless and bikes with front brakes

it has nothing to do with brakes. it's just fashion. practical to a point (keeps your top tube from getting marred if you're a fool and lock your bike improperly, can be helpful if you shoulder your bike a lot), but it's entirely fashion.

It's also comfy for your balls.... when you land on your top tube that is.

Like I said in another thread, I'm a child of the 1980s BMX scene. Top tube pads make me all reminiscent. :)

it's never comfortable when you land on your top tube

Good for balls-to-stem misses, helps protect the paint in a rub against the post lockup, and protects the TT from dings from track bars in case the bar ends hit it.

yeah good for skidding. also when im just hanging out id rather sit on my toptube with a pad on it.

It's also comfy for your balls.... when you land on your top tube that is.
yea, because a 1/2" piece of foam is going to keep it from hurting when you slam your balls on your top tube.

this reason always comes up when this topic comes up. i've never ever come close to hitting my balls on my top tube, how the eff would that even happen? you people are riding your bikes wrong.

it's never comfortable when you land on your top tube


:):)

yea, because a 1/2" piece of foam is going to keep it from hurting when you slam your balls on your top tube.

this reason always comes up when this topic comes up. i've never ever come close to hitting my balls on my top tube, how the eff would that even happen? you people are riding your bikes wrong.

if you've ever ridden brakeless, you'd know how this could happen. the first few weeks involve occasional bails, though i doubt a top tube pad would do anything but make the bail look that much dorkier.

if you've ever ridden brakeless, you'd know how this could happen. the first few weeks involve occasional bails, though i doubt a top tube pad would do anything but make the bail look that much dorkier. maybe if you rap your balls with the foam as well.

For those that shoulder their bikes a lot it is really helpful. I prefer the look without a pad but carrying my bike up and down flights of stairs everday makes me choose function over fashion.

if you've ever ridden brakeless, you'd know how this could happen.

Not that I'm one to agree with old sp00ki here, but he's right. I was skidding to a stop one day and my foot slipped off the pedal because it wasn't in the clip far enough and the strap was loose -- my stupid fault, I know, but I still landed balls first right on my top tube.

It was more common back when I raced BMX before foot retention, but it can happen.

I just wear a cup all the time.

I just play a cup on TV.

if you've ever ridden brakeless, you'd know how this could happen. the first few weeks involve occasional bails, though i doubt a top tube pad would do anything but make the bail look that much dorkier.
even if it does happen, like i said, a 1/2" piece of foam is going to make a negligible difference. nobody is going to hit their balls on their TT pad and say, "wow, i'm glad that was there. i don't feel any pain at all!" now, maybe if you had a nice big pillow wrapped around it, then it would make a difference. either way, i do ride brakeless and my balls have never come close to hitting my tt.

I just play a cup on TV.

shake?

and if anyone is touching their balls to the TT when they skid, they're skidding REALLY inefficiently.

nobody is going to hit their balls on their TT pad and say, "wow, i'm glad that was there. i don't feel any pain at all!"

You're right. It's more like you squeak out, "ohdeargodkillmenow," from the ground next to your bike as you writhe around in pain. It's not until later that you realize it would have hurt oh so much more if you didn't have the pad.

I can tell you this from experience: having slammed my balls into the reinforcement between the Torker 280x top tubes both padded and not, top tube pads do provide some protection.

I imagine it helps with heavy skidding as well.

I live on the 3rd floor of an apartment in NYC so I'm constantly carrying my bike up and down stairs. I'm starting to consider getting a top tube pad just because it would be a lot more comfortable.

By my count "Balls" is listed 11 times in this thread so far.

Correct?

11 including that post of yours.

balls.

12.

ha!

I imagine it helps with heavy skidding as well.

I hope you aren't leaving a skid mark on your TT protector.

hahaah, pretty good.


i havent really seen one top tube protector on a bike that has looked good and hasnt made me think "that bike would look better without that"

hahaah, pretty good.


i havent really seen one top tube protector on a bike that has looked good and hasnt made me think "that bike would look better without that"

You mean except for this Felt, right?

http://www.feltracing.com/08/images/catalog/large/8717.jpg
;)

I thought my old bike looked better without one.

truth be told, it is nice to have something to lock my knees on sometimes when i skid.


http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1401/1478870765_ebc70d36f4_o.jpg

I use for fasion, but they can also be used to cover up or prevent scratches..plus ball pillow on ruff skidds

:):)

^^ Brilliant and under-appreciated.

you can use them to play wack-a-driver?
Very similar to wack-a-mole but waaaaay more fun!!!!

I hate how they look, but I'll sometimes carry one with me to put on the bike when I'm locking the bike up, to prevent scratches or dents.