They are Deep Vs - there is a silver and a polished silver. The shop that built them said they were not able to get the polished with the machined sidewall - what I really wanted.

Sexy.

^^^
Silly. No brakes outside of the velodrome = hipster bike.

Here's my winter commuter. On-One Inbred, rattlecan paint job.

http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5043/...26f8a5fb_b.jpg

Oh yeah, im a hipster yo! :wtf:

Thank you. I have since changed up the bike a little in anticipation to my future move to Arizona for the winter. New Fizik bartape and some Conti Ultra Gatorskins. I also removed the TT protector.

On with the nasty indoor cell phone shots.

http://i176.photobucket.com/albums/w..._picture-4.jpg
http://i176.photobucket.com/albums/w...icture_2-3.jpg

Belt drive + IGH + disc brakes + studded tires = one bulletproof winter commuter!

http://imgur.com/9NW8zl.jpg

http://imgur.com/w8cshl.jpg

That bike looks great. Did you use one of the Nashbar touring frames? If so, do you mind outlining what components you used? (crank, shifters, derailleur, etc.) I've been looking at doing something very close to that same look.

Thanks!

Deshi: Ya, I know, I'm a dunce, but I've never seen a bike with no brakes, or maybe I'm not seeing something.. is this a single speed and you use your legs to stop it? Why would you want that? No disrespect, I'm probably just not familiar with all this. The bike looks really nice, BTW.

Thanks,

Didn't say you were a hipster, just said that you ride a hipster bike. Sorry, but the lack of a front brake is nothing more than a fashion statement, a placement of form before function. In other words: silly.

This is all pretty amazing... it reminds me of when I was in High School back in the 60's (ya... I'm that old) Back then, cars were custom-izable. With a bit of mechanical intuition you could work on a car, change it, soop it up, etc. Today, you need an engineering degree, just to get into a dash panel is a puzzle. Maybe bicycle modification is the modern answer for what we used to do with cars? Back then I had a 55 Chevy, a 56, a 57 Bellair.. I did all sorts of mods to them. Installed a Hurst shifter on the floor instead of the column mount, put lifters and different shocks on them, changed the wheels to chromed wide ones with slicks in the rear, replaced the carburetor on the V8 with a 4-barrel, added dual exhaust headers with glass pack mufflers, etc., etc. And, it was all done on not that much expense, unlike car modifications today. The only limitation I can see today is taking a new girlfriend out on a date? But, then again, there are no drive in movies to go to anyway, so maybe that isn't so important... :D

I would personally install a front brake ('cause chain braking = you're gonna have a scar otherwise). Doesn't mean it's not sexy.

I think he complimented you. Wear your hipster badge with pride. ;)

Still lookin' good. For what it's worth: I've personally had slightly better luck with these than their more popular conty counterparts:

http://bontrager.com/model/00443

I ride on roads with a TON of glass and these have done me right. Anyway, something to try if you care to (conty's have done me right as well... just not quite as right in my experience... haha).

I see plenty of people riding around every day with no brakes and they somehow survive. Main issue with it as far as I can see is: you get in a crash and you're screwed as far as the law is concerned ('cause you have no brakes). It might be silly to you but it also might make sense to some.

I see people driving around everyday, stuffing their fat faces full of Taco Bell and the like and surviving, but that doesn't make it a good idea. I know a few (very stupid) folk who still drink and drive, and they use the same argument: "It hasn't hurt me or anyone else." Yet. Riding a brakeless fixie is nowhere near as reckless as drunk driving, but that doesn't mean that it's a good idea.

You can stop a bicycle faster with a fixed gear drivetrain and a front brake than you can with just a fixed gear drivetrain. Removing the brake just reduces the function of the bicycle, which is to be a vehicle that can efficiently and safely transport the user from point A to B (among other things: exciting, exercising, etc...). It needs to go when you need it to, and it needs to stop when you need it to.

Alien abduction, polytheism, healing crystals, demonic possession, and Reaganomics makes sense to some. How does removing the brakes from a bike make sense? I mean, it certainly makes fashion sense (bike looks cleaner, all the hipsters are doing it, blah blah blah...), but I don't recognize fashion as a reason to reduce function.

The only issue you see is legal liability in the case of a collision? Gee, if only there was some way to provide a safety cushion against collisions...

Doane, This bike does not have any brakes. It is a fixed gear so also no coasting. I have been riding fixed gear for about 5 years now and for whatever reason, really enjoy it. The simplicity of the bike is the best part. I will continue to ride fixed gear as long as my legs will allow me to. :D


I understand where you are coming from. I have thought about brakes and the such but this frame being a true track frame, there is no drilling for brakes front or rear. I really dont want to change the fork either just to fit a front brake. The geometry of this frame and fork combo is really nice as it sits. The fork has a very low axle to crown height. Changing the fork to one that is capable of using a front brake will have a taller axle to crown resulting in changing the overall geometry of the bike and that results in a completely different riding bike. I dont want that. I will accept the possible dangers in riding this style bike on the road and just enjoy it.

As for the tires, I didnt really just buy them. I bought these tires to replace and older set that did me very well and ended up selling the bike I was gonna put them on so the tires were in the top of my closet for a little bit. I will try these out in AZ when I head down and if they do not meet my expectations, I might look into the Bontragers.

Thanks for the kind words on the bike.

So every track bike is a hipster bike? The lack of a front bike on this bicycle is due to the fact the fork does not allow for one. I posted in another reply as to why I dont want to change the fork.

I did not post my bike here for your approval. You dont like it, great. Dont tell me I am doing for fashion though because that is not the reason.

Unfortunately, yes. Too bad that hipsters annoy you as much as they do me. :D

Plenty of people riding around on bikes with just a coaster brake and nothing in front. Fixed gears offer a lot more modulation and control than a coaster brake.

Maiden voyage into work today on this: (the only reason I didn't mind coming in on a Saturday)

http://i515.photobucket.com/albums/t...s/9c3527da.jpg

Very nice! I'm contemplating a similar build using the same Soma frameset. How are you liking it so far?

Fine, you're not running brakeless for fashion. Every other fixter might be, but not you.

Let me guess, you were also into fixies before they became cool, yes?

Well, since it was my first time riding it today, I don't have much perspective. So far, so good. Built up very nicely with no problems. They redid the rear disc brake mount so no issues getting the rack and fenders to fit. Did have to do a little bending on the front fender stays to clear the front disc brake. One thing that bugs me is the unused top tube cable stops for the rear canti brakes. I think they should have left them and the rest of the rear canti braze-ons off for a cleaner look. I mean they have a canti version of the frame if you want to run cantis. Also it looks very purple in person, so if that is going to bother you, I would try something else.

If you bothered to read my earlier post, you would know that there is no where to put a brake on this bike. Even if I wanted to, I could not.

I have my reasons for riding this bike. There is no reason in trying to explain this to you because you are so narrow minded in thinking every person that rides a track bike is a hipster wannabe fashionista.

Take your sour attitude elsewhere.

On slow bikes, cruisers and uprights. The gearing and body positioning on Deshi's bike wanna go fast, can easily go faster than any cruiser or dutch granny bike.

Yet, despite it's incompatibility with a brake, you still choose this bike as your commuter, to ride it on the road, assumedly in traffic. Couldn't find a brake-compatible fixie in your town?

Actually, I assume that some people ride track bikes because they race them, like they're designed and built to be, in a velodrome. Others, I assume, simply enjoy riding a fast bike with a fixed gear drivetrain, regardless of whether they're currently "hip". I only assume that people who ride brakeless in traffic are trend-chasing hipsters.

Fixed gear = simple, practical, enjoyable cycling style that happens to be trendy right now. Brakeless = closed-course specific race cycling style that happens to be trendy right now.

Beyond its trendiness, the only explanations I've ever heard for running brakeless are that it "looks cleaner" (form over function, fashion above sense), or that it "heightens awareness", presumably through increased risk (and just think what levels of awareness are achievable by high speed sidewalk cyclists riding counterflow to traffic, what Zen masters of cycling they must be).

Oh, and "this bike won't take a brake." Which is just silly, since you could simply choose a different bike to ride in traffic, instead of marrying yourself to one ill-designed for it.

I really dont feel like arguing with you. I dont feel the need to explain myself any further. Thank you for your opinion. Have a nice day.

The stopping power and modulation are actually about equal for either... and you need some really decent skills to ride brake-less.

With that being said, coaster equipped bikes do not stop nearly as quickly as bikes that have front brakes and neither do people who ride fixed with no brakes.