PoopinFresh

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Got my Kilo TT last Friday; I've been using a walmart Mongoose Paver for the past 3 months or so, though I've never done all that much riding (distance wise) with it; some bike path riding (8 miles round trip), occasionally used to visit the girlfriend (6 miles or so round trip).

Got a job in Park Slope, Brooklyn, which is approximiately 3 miles away from my house and jumped right into commuting with the Kilo. I love the fixed gear, drive train feel, blah blah blah, and the bike is quite literally less than half the weight of my previous one. Here's what I've learned so far:

1. Biking, no matter where, is not to be taken lightly. Being a dumbass on two wheels will get you hurt.

2. Add NYC traffic to the equation and you can change "getting hurt" to "being killed."

3. BRAKES. How the hell does anyone live in NYC and not run Brakes! Even then, ride slower than you think you need to; cars, trucks and buses will always win that battle.

4. Confidence is key; know how to fix and work on your bike so that when you take it out you know that things are tight, where they should be, greased, and working properly. Having quality tires, brake pads, and well adjusted parts make a huge difference.

5. As much as it gets hated upon, I might buy myself a top tube; I find myself shouldering my bike pretty damned often. I'm constantly going up stairs with it, walking it down extreme slopes, walking it while I drink a coffee or puff a stoag or cigar.

6. Finally- for now- the lesson responsible for this thread's title: The first time you forget to roll your pant leg up will be the last- one way or another.

I was in a rush, didn't roll up, and had a nice pair of khakis eaten up by my drive train; the pants ripped, and I was extremely lucky that they did so like butter, because that allowed me to stay upright on the bike instead of biting pavement, smashing my head into a parked car, or worse, being crushed by an oncoming car.

I will NEVER, EVER, forget to roll my damned pant leg up again.

Please share your lessons; feel free to flame my newbness, but please offer some advice or a funny- or not so funny- anecdote about your own dumbassery.

solbrothers

cliffs?

getting your pantleg stuck in the chainring/chain sucks on a fixed gear bike because you cant stop pedaling. i really twisted my ankle doing so when i first started riding fixed. lesson learned. now i wear skinnier pants and roll my pantleg up, high.

tdot-miele

lesson-> never ride with cheap plastic clips...

roastbeef

after a few months on a fixed gear i was definitely drinking the "run a front brake" kool-ade, but it wasn't until recently that i perfected my skips and fine tuned my skids. not to open a can of worms, but those two things, combined with resistance and a reasonable gear ratio (46/16 for me) make riding brakeless surprisingly simple.

i guess what i'm trying to say is don't knock it untill you've tried it.

[edit:] but it's a hell of a lot more work.

matt wisconsin

truth. I'd rather ride in the city brakeless. You will find yourself watching further ahead and riding, essentially, more carefully and more aware.

droobieinop

sorry, i'm new to riding fixie, but what do you mean by 'skip'

roastbeef

a skip is when you bring your rear wheel an inch or two off the ground and lock it up while it's in mid air. when it reconnects with the pavement it works essentially the same way as a skid and slows you down. works best when you've got some decent speed behind you.

2new2this

Dude, I was under the impression that the kilo came with a top tube. Do you ever run into any structural problems while riding? The stand-over clearance must be amazing on that thing!

Sorry, I had to do that. On topic, as ugly and ridiculous as top tube PADS are, they do serve a purpose

PoopinFresh

Thankfully no, no structural problems. I've been riding without a top tube for far too many years now for it to worry me. I usually just brace the fork with my right foot while pedaling with my left; thank god for toshi doubles.

But seriously: Touche.

hnsq

I am sorry, but riding brakeless just isn't too smart. I tried it for a few months and ended up putting a front brake back on. It isn't a question of skill, it is simple physics that you can stop in a shorter distance using a brake on the front wheel than the back wheel. Most of the time I don't use my brake, but there have been emergencies when it has definately saved me from having to bail. Always have an escape route, and being able to stop in half the distance of what you can by skidding is another one of those routes.

bad news hughes

fixie

tall&lanky

I was riding in an alleycat and the guy right in front of me was brakeless. we came to a sharp corner going fast, and he dove straight into a bush... needless to say I passed him as he used said bush as a brake.

PoopinFresh

And the long downward spiral into the thread killer known as brakes vs. Brakeless begins... I should have just not put that bit in my first post.

devilshaircut

I don't think anyone is saying brakeless is too hard, or not fun. I am sure it is fun, or else people wouldn't be doing it. And if it was hard, you wouldn't see so many brakeless riders.

But I do think it is a weak argument to say it is superior ... I've ridden both brakeless and with a front brake and with a front and rear brake ... and depending on the situation, riding brakeless is at best only as feasible as riding with a brake.

Now, you live in NYC, which is a hell of a lot flatter than many other cities so you have an ideal environment to ride brakeless in. Other situations aren't as amiable to brakeless riding and personally, since I do use my bike to commute, I can't afford to ride slow unless I wake up early for some reason. With just a front brake, I can, even in the rain, book it down a steep hill and stop 30ish feet short of an intersection. Brakeless, I'd have to resist rolling the entire way or I'd fly through the intersection.

Anyhow, IMO people should ride brakeless if they get joy from it ... but it's silly to say brakeless is superior. I ride fixed, but I don't say it is technically superior to derailleurs. Do what makes you happy.

Adam G.

It absolutely is all about skill. Obviously bushman had no clue about handling a bike. Riding a bike requires skill, you have different levels of skill.

devilshaircut

What that poster meant is that, given two people of equal skill, the one riding with a brake will be able to brake faster, this result being a product of the laws of physics.

(Conversely, given a situation where there is a more experienced cyclist riding brakeless, and a less experienced cyclist riding with a front brake, there is no guarantee the more experienced cyclist will be able to brake faster.)

Gyeswho

I had two of my favorite pairs of pants ruined by the same thing

Meepers

i was going for a ride last night after work and my friend called me as i was getting outside. so i hoped on my bike while talking on the phone. well i forgot to roll my leg up. i rolleda few inches and almsot fell over. it was funny.

ternitoff...

lulz

veganwar

Extreme slopes? In Brooklyn?

MONGO!

Lesson: When you're hauling ass down hill at 29-30 mph and you see a small obstacle and try to bunny hop it, don't stop pedalling. Yeah.

beatlebee 

I use a rubber band that I always wear. Gotta make use of those broccoli bands.

PoopinFresh

Yeah man, like the one down into the parking garage in which I park my bike. Very angled, with a sharp turn and a gate at the end= me walking my bike down with it on my shoulder, coffee in hand. If I can think of any more examples I'll be sure to PM you for approval.

sp00ki

dorkiest thread ever.

uke