Originally Posted by hammye
I will start this off by saying that I have not had a brake on my bike for close to 6 years now. I don't like them and that is my choice. I have never crashed due to the lack of a brake. I have no problem with those that want to ride with them but keep in mind that I CHOOSE to not. So let the tale begin. A few years ago when I was delivering still, I had a friend by the name of Chris. Since I knew him he didn't ride with a brake, two days after installing a front brake on his fixie a ped decided to cross the street inbetween two parked cars without a crosswalk in sight and without looking either way. Well Chris being a somewhat novice brake user grabbed that lever so tight he went up and over the bars and smashed his face against the pavement. Broken jaw, missing teeth and a ped who never stopped to check if he was ok. So I ask how is it that he was safer with a brake then without?
I love to ramble sometimes.
So what you're saying is, because your friend didn't know how to use a brake, it is less safe for him to ride with one?
That's like saying pens are unsafe because I thought the pen was to be jabbed directly into my eyeball. CLEARLY PENS ARE UNSAFE BECAUSE I'M AN IDIOT.
Also, I'd like to point out something that should be fairly obvious to any who's ever taken a science-oriented class: Anecdotes are no substitute for evidence and reason.
It stands to reason that because your stopping distance is decreased drastically by a brake (when used properly), brakes contribute to your safety on a bike. They are no substitute for common sense, awareness, and agility. Your experience, regardless of how many years you've managed to ride without killing yourself, does not serve as definitive evidence that brakeless is more safe, or any crazy nonesense like that. People smoke their entire lives without developing cancer. It does not mean that smoking does not cause cancer, but rather that that person was extremely lucky.
Riding brakeless is certainly your decision to make, but let's not pretend it's more safe to do so.