deathhare

With my 48x16 gearing maxed out and a van pulled out in front of me last night. If not for my front brake i would have t-boned them i think. I almost hit them anyway. Absolutley no way to have skidded and not hit them. Since i was hauling ass when i nailed the front brake i ended up over the bars. Very messy, long crash but i lived. Wrist is apparently fractured and some bruises. Will have to see.
If i had hit the van i would be VERY hurt im sure.

Be careful.

Aves

Glad to hear you're alright, hope you have a quick recovery.

Moximitre

But without brakes your bike would look so much cooler.

deathhare

Good point.
Ive decided to reconsider.

dirtyphotons

oh yeah? well my buddy rode home without brakes the other night and he's just fine.

the only logical conclusion is to blame your accident on your front brake.

mihlbach

If you had been riding brakless, you would have been in mental Ninja/Zen mode and would have seen the van much earlier ;o

Moximitre

actually, while riding brakeless, I can actually ride THROUGH things. cause I'm so connected to my bike and such.

deathhare

Translation: i would have been going slow. Which is true, but not very fun.

mander

Sad but true fact about mander: I have a brake on my bike but I never use it these days because its really wet all the time and I just hate when my skinwalls get that black crap on them.

pedex

never had a brake on my fixies, dont see the point and all I do is stop and start most of the day

deathhare

There is no point.

pedex

its called over driving the conditions, in a car or on a bike, it doesnt matter

deathhare

No it isnt. If im riding on a main road and a van pulls out thru a red light its called f cked.

Moximitre

Come on... this arguement has been beaten to death, and isn't going anywhere. I'll never push my riding style on anyone else. People ride how you want. Who lives/dies? Who knows. Just be careful, and pay attention.

BuddyMike

brakes are good..... if you're a communist.

trackstar10

well....DID you ACTUALLY ride the exact situation without brakes as well? can you warp time? if you can warp time, then i guess you wouldnt need brakes anyway. my point- you dont know exactly what wouldve happened. maybe instead of going over the bars and breaking your wrist, the van mightve transfered some of your energy and you wouldve fallen easier, probably not breaking anything, or it wouldve spun you into a roll and you wouldve walked away without a scratch. who knows? i ride brakeless, and ive been riding brakeless as long as ive been riding braked. my experience has shown me that riding with/without brakes are completely different riding styles, so all these people that say "oh, i almost hit da car da otha night, id be ded without mah brake", think again. you wouldnt have even been there, probably thinking better of it and relaxing on some backroad, traffic free. there are no comparisons between brakes and brakeless. interestingly enough, ive been in about 10 or 12 more crashes in the last two years with a brake than without, simply because i feel more secure and am therefore more willing to take risks that can and inevitably will result in injury. one important note- how many crashes occur in road races, where riders used braked bikes, VS the number of crashes that occur in mass start track racing, where NOBODY uses a brake?

deathhare

Thank you. This thread wasnt started for war. Its just a story. Everyone has to make their own choice on the matter based on how they feel and ride.

teiaperigosa

you named the thread "brakes are good". On this forum, those are words of war.

deathhare

Haha..i see your point. Maybe it should have been Brakes were good.

vinnydelnegro

YEAH!!!! Why do you people hate America!

Landgolier

Totally useless comparison. Road races involve dozens or even hundreds of riders and all kinds of unexpected conditions on the road. The only unexpected stuff on a track is the other riders, and the whole mentality of track racing is "don't do anything unexpected or you'll get us all f***ing killed." Not that roadies don't try to be predictable as well, but it's a whole other thing on the track. The only comparison would be a mass start race with about 50 people, about 5 holes knocked in the track, big screens so the turns are blind, somebody emptying bags of trash in front of a big fan on the backstretch, and maybe the occasional squirrel release. Yeah, that would be fun.

luvthemas

Brakes are bad m'kayy

scotthorrigan

breaks are for people who are scared of dying...*******..

Nouia

'Sup wrist-breaking car-t-boning buddy? Sorry about the wreck, man.

lyeinyoureye

Ouch, at least you're alive. I heard on the t3x you gotz eatenz by a 2.5L poodle.