i started writing this for the 'downhill skills' thread but then realized i want more attention for this big epiphany ive had:
ok i used to be harsh to the anti-brake crowd and now i dont have one either. it makes me feel a little silly and embarrassed and i almost put one back on just so i dont feel like such a loudmouthed hypocrite. but i think i have discovered a *new* reason to go brakeless despite all the old rants about zen and whatever that i still think are mostly crap.
to understand my epiphany you have to recall the mentality of a typical recreational weekend cyclist or the average bike commuter that can barely change a flat.. ask most people or look at their brake pads and its the rear brake they always use. why? the front brake scares them. they dont want to go over the handlebars. sheldon brown is adept in explaining the silliness of this view. when the bicyclist becomes *accustomed* to only using the rear brake, the front one surprises them by the drastically increased amount of stopping power it gives. they arent used to it and endo from their own inexperience -- not the brakes fault at all. in fact, the front brake can be used effectively by itself in most situations, especially on the road. it is better for cornering, etc. you might wonder how i am going to use my praise of the front handbrake, and specifically its superiority over the rear handbrake, to make a case for a much more inefficient form of braking - skidding the rear wheel...
i have ridden for at least six months if not a year without ever in any circumstances using my front handbrake. in fact, even in emergency circumstances (and there have been a couple of those) in which it would have helped, i was much too freaked out to remember it was even there. at this point i think that if i were to use it in one of these 'emergencies' (that the prudent fixed rider vows is its sole prupose on their bike) i might as well be the freewheel amateur i described above. ok so fine i have just de-evolved myself out of understanding the use of a handbrake. but at least now i can justify it to myself, even if it means i am just dumb and championing a regression .... at least i dont feel like a hypocrite!
the other day i went down a steep hill in the pouring rain with no problems and it made me happy. i still get that subtle panic but i have learned to like it. and a little nod to the zen thing --- if i hadnt been on a fixie i totally wouldve gone through the broken glass at the bottom. but instead i saw it twenty yards away in the night through the rain and my fogged up glasses.
