Originally Posted by
FBinNY
I have absolutely no problem getting enough brake force to lift the rear wheel off the ground if I want to. Naturally this isn't desirable, but that represents the absolute maximum possible stopping power.
All right... I was thinking of skidding the front tire, not doing a partial endo. So I amend my statement to say "it's all but impossible to SKID the front wheel unless you're on ice or something." Which is what I understood Myosmith to be talking about.
There has been a lot of discussion of this in the commuting and fixed gear forums because some jurisdictions have a statement in their bike rules that "A bicycle must be equipped with a brake that enables the operator to make the braked wheels skid on dry, level, clean pavement."
Now that's obviously a stupid law written by somebody who doesn't understand bicycles or the physics of braking, but since there's virtually no way anyone could meet this requirement with a front brake only (as common with fixies) it has sometimes been interpreted (by fixie haters) to mean a bike must have a rear brake.