Originally Posted by carleton
Your dad is right.
In the hands (and feet) of the average rider, fixed-gear bikes are not as safe as freewheeled bikes.
[Ducks]
[While waiting for them to reload]
Not as safe for the following reasons:
1) when you are locked in to constant pedaling you are not able to set your pedals when cornering or when jammed up on a curb by a passing car.
2) It takes more physical skill and dexterity than required for a typical bicycle.
3) It's hard as hel* to bunny hop over obsticles in emergency situations. Bunnyhopping is the holy grail of fixie skills to me.
4) A fixie rider has "read the road" a LOT further ahead than a typical cyclist.
5) If you ride brakeless, for one reason or another, one day, you WILL be headed down a hill that you may not be able to handle.
6) Fixies can destroy your knees over time.
So, yes, with that in mind, in the hands of the average cyclist, fixies are not as safe as a "regular" bike. If you are conviced that you can learn to handle the above situations (and convince your dad of such) then you are cool. If not, hey this IS as SingleSpeed forum, too ;-)
1) is dealt with by 4. you ride smarter, you don't get smushed into a curb. If you're getting close enough to a curb to deal with pedal strike, you're probably going down anyway. And if you get pedal strike on cornering you're taking some pretty hard corners. Shorter Cranks help, yes. Ill get taken down by toe overlap way before I will with pedal strike.
2) which you learn really fast.
3) uhm... you just sort of hop. It's no leg over the handlebar skid... If you're positioning in the pedals isnt right, do a quick skip before you need tot jump.
4) which is good. if the stupid moutnain biker who ran into my leg this morning in my commute had been paying attention, i wouldn't have had to cuss him out.
5) which is why you learn how to stop by jamming your foot into your tire. or how to skid with your feet not in your pedals. I've slipped out in some monster hills, and I'm not dead yet. If he has a front brake I don't think its an issue.
6) so get a bike that fits you.