Originally Posted by
u235
What percentage of bikes do you think are as safe as they can be? Maybe in a cross section of this forum there is a high percentage but not everywhere else. I rode a bmx bike for years in the hills of Pittsburgh suburbs with a freewheel and no brakes at all and everyone else pretty much only had one brake in the back or front. In the end did it really matter? I wiped out just as many times with or without brakes. If you know what you have and how to use it, you ride accordingly. I am not encouraging unsafe practices at all but I don't view a single failed rotor on the trail as a OMG moment even at my current age. It would bother me and I have full confidence I could adjust and be fine to myself and those around me.
I am not saying that all bikes are safe but what I was saying is that a broken rotor is not safe. You don't typically see a rotor that has broken into fragments, it is not a normal occurrence. Sure sometimes you can get lucky and ride it out like this guy did and nobody gets hurt but there could be a time when it fails more critically and you cannot keep it together. I know we all like to think in these situations that "oh I am the best bike handler this won't effect me at all" but it can and sometimes will.
I know kids who ride brakeless BMX and I am not encouraging it or saying it is safe. Yes some of those kids are able to handle the bike but you cannot predict everything that will happen at all times and control it.