Singlespeed & Fixed Gear - hmmmm

imagine its a nice warm summer day and you are taking a movie back to the viddy store. on the way home you are flying down the steepest hill in town on your fixie and everything is great. someone just washed their car and the asphalt is imperceptibly saturated in hosewater. as you try to skid to a stop you realize you have NO traction whatsoever.... how the hell do people ride brakeless in the rainy season, let alone on damp pavement???

you just gotta plan ahead.

I'm certainly not the resident expert, as I've only been brakeless for a few months and a few thousand miles, but it just takes a bit more care. It's not too different from how a brake-equipped rider needs to be more cautious in the rain because their braking surface is wet, increasing stopping distances.

you get a get up like this...
http://m2.doubleclick.net/viewad/844751/0806_300x250_zath_drop_bik-1088395219637.gif


hmmmmm indeed :D

Hey skitbra, why don't you try hitting on her too? I bet interpol could set it up!

lucklust howd you get the add inside your post like that? odd...

well, i was was fully seated and skidding like crazy. maybe the road was soapy too? i dunno, but it made me reconsider the no-brakes mindset. or actually just reaffirmed my conviction that it is silly.

I put a front brake on yesterday for that reason. I was playing basketball at night and it started raining. The way home was all downhills with redlights and i had catch a ride. I have never really had a problem riding brakeless until that day. Now i have the brake and i don't use it, unless im up a hill and its raining.

I usually don't have any real problems, but when it's slick out I just ride slower and try to never actually stop. If the wheels are moving, I think it gives you more control. I probably would have just kept backpedaling the whole way, and don't think it would have lost much stopping power... It seems to work pretty well on ice, so I don't see how water would make much difference. I've had times in the winter where I came to a stop and then almost fell over when my foot touched the ground, though...

yeah, i learned my lesson the hard way last friday about skidding in the rain. i came to a stoplight and had to put a foot down to keep from sliding too far into the interesction! fortunately, there were no cars coming. hmm... on a semi-related note, i was actually thinking about getting a steel fork built with shallow track rake and disc mounts. that'd go good on a rain bike...