Originally Posted by 46x17
Yeah well, but how come riders riding without handbrakes in mixed races still very regularly place on the podium if there is such a disadvantage? Could it be that the riding without handbrakes somewhat forces you to make your riding style more fluid? I use to think handbrakeless was slower but I no longer do so. I think it all averages out.
In direct response to your first question, I think lots of the people in the messenger scene gravitate towards a brakeless fixed gear because it's a cultural thing as well as simply having less parts to break. There are always fast people on all sorts of bikes. Some people are so fast they'd school you on a mountainbike with knobbies. Serious roadies, given equal skills, would stomp the **** out of the field in most alleycats. Fixed gears, by nature, are slower than an equivalent road bike. Shifting was invented because it helps you go faster.
Philosophy and feelings don't change the laws of physics.