Originally Posted by moxfyre
Hmmm... it sounds like you might not have gotten into the rhythm of the whole fixed gear thing totally? I commuted on a fixed gear for several months and started to actually feel safer on it in traffic, because as soon as I started to pedal slower my bike would slow down, there was no delay while I hit the brake. Of course, it was different on downhill sections where I had to brake continuously and still almost spin out...
In any case, I would have been pretty shook up by that accident! Hope you were okay afterwards. Single speed sounds good too. If you go back to riding fixed, you might consider adding a second brake to your fixie... the extra stopping power never hurts.
I hear you. I actually ran both of my levers into the front caliper as shown on the fixed gear gallery and really like that as the calipers are old wienmanns and are not very powerful. I still have it that way as I believe I get better stopping power by diverting both levers to the front (of course you have to be careful to avoid an endo). I try to imagine how I could have pedaled through the corner while smashed against the side of the van but I guess I just don't have those kinds of skills. Braking in time was not an option; impact was immenent. Again, I freely admit that the accident could have been avoided.