Originally Posted by
mander
That's fine, and sorry for my brusque earlier comments (have you got a jersey older than 1979?). But very few people who know what they're doing will say that it's ok to ride an ss with no rear brake, that a rear brake is only useful for tandemists on descents, and that Sheldon only thought otherwise because he was a tourist and didn't race. Every rider in the pro peloton runs two brakes, as required by both UCI regs and common sense.
Simple physics that can be taken from automobile racing: braking into a turn with only front brakes may cause excessive understeer. Understeer on a bike will probably cause you to fall down hard. Thus, a rear brake will help balance the braking forces on the bicycle, allowing for more stable braking, and less accidents. There's a reason modern cars are equipped with brake force distribution mechanisms.
But what do I know, I'm not really avid cyclist.
That being said, anyone else think $400 for a new Bianchi Pista is a decent deal?