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so i have to ask... how do you ride brakeless?

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Singlespeed & Fixed Gear "I still feel that variable gears are only for people over forty-five. Isn't it better to triumph by the strength of your muscles than by the artifice of a derailer? We are getting soft...As for me, give me a fixed gear!"-- Henri Desgrange (31 January 1865 - 16 August 1940)

so i have to ask... how do you ride brakeless?

Old 04-08-14, 07:43 AM
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so i have to ask... how do you ride brakeless?

i can't wrap my head around the idea.
do people not exceed 10mph?
do they get eyeball implants on the back of their heads?

also, teach me how to do sweet skidzzz, yo. i gots to lean way too far forward to get the rear wheel to stop spinning
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Old 04-08-14, 07:46 AM
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Old 04-08-14, 07:52 AM
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Originally Posted by crinale



alright i'm done. just ride.
and maybe tweak ergos.
Actual foot retention (not stupid half-clips and no straps) helps.
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Old 04-08-14, 08:14 AM
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...https://www.bikeforums.net/singlespee...r-mishaps.html
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Old 04-08-14, 09:12 AM
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it is zen. you cant until you have reached the state of buddhist master 14.3
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Old 04-08-14, 10:35 AM
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Old 04-08-14, 01:26 PM
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I just walk my brakeless bike to the coffee shop to lock it up out front.
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Old 04-08-14, 01:39 PM
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#cantstopdontwantto
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Old 04-08-14, 02:05 PM
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I just jump off and do a barrel roll. Brakes are just extra grams.
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Old 04-08-14, 02:21 PM
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Originally Posted by SpeshulEd
I just jump off and do a barrel roll. Brakes are just extra grams.
When I was a kid riding a "dirt bike" with a coaster brake, that's exactly what I'd do because I didn't know how to stop. Just scope out a bit of grass or bush that looked softer than the rest, put my left leg on the top tube, jump, and hope my aim was good. Though that may have been more a feature of my parents buying me a bike that was too big for me so I'd grow into it more than not knowing how to use the brakes. I could slow down just fine, just not stop.
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Old 04-08-14, 02:31 PM
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Originally Posted by himespau
When I was a kid riding a "dirt bike" with a coaster brake, that's exactly what I'd do because I didn't know how to stop. Just scope out a bit of grass or bush that looked softer than the rest, put my left leg on the top tube, jump, and hope my aim was good. Though that may have been more a feature of my parents buying me a bike that was too big for me so I'd grow into it more than not knowing how to use the brakes. I could slow down just fine, just not stop.
Ha, thats awesome.
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Old 04-08-14, 06:59 PM
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What if you live in an exceptionally hilly city like San Francisco or Seattle? Do you just learn to avoid the steepest hills, or do you say **** it and coast through the stop sign at the bottom of the hill? I usually can control myself just fine going down most hills, but once I pass a certain grade it feels as if it's impossible to control my speed without a brake. Skidding down hills seems less effective at stopping you than it does on flat, too. Whenever I see someone without brakes (in my city) I think about how there are certain hills they can't ride their bike down, and I think about how stupid that is.

Has anyone here ever had to walk their bike down a hill?
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Old 04-08-14, 07:20 PM
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Many brakeless people in SF just blow through the stops signs.
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Old 04-08-14, 08:27 PM
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Pray to the tight lockring gods
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Old 04-08-14, 09:23 PM
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Just look here:

https://www.bikeforums.net/singlespee...not-apply.html

~~~Also, crash course for skids: stand up, hold onto your handlebars with your arms extended and locked rigid, lean and put your nutz 2 your stem with your legs tensed up and locked.
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