CliffordK

According to the comments, he was using back pressure to slow down with the fixie (broken front brake, and no rear brake). The pedals would still turn unless skidding.

Paul Barnard

I'd like to take this opportunity to remind people that it's best to make sure no busses (or other things they don't want to hit or be hit by) are coming before they haul tail trough an intersection, no matter what color the traffic light is.

Paul Barnard

I have often wondered why fixies have found so much favor in the city riding environment.

gpburdell

Is there a particular "good" reason why you'd choose to have only one brake?

kickstart

That's the impression I get too. Center punching a bus in an attempt to shoot a gap is even beyond my ability to screw up.

CliffordK

Those of us that ride geared bikes may never truly understand the fixies.

On a track, one can set the gearing to best match one's maximum effort.

Many cities are relatively flat with a few overpasses, so within the city, one may never truly need to change gears. A few overpasses for a bit of effort.

The idea of decreasing effort, but never truly stopping pedaling may be a good idea.

One saves a few grams.

I'm not a fixie rider, but one should be able to backpedal to the point of skidding, so a rear brake should be unnecessary (you can't brake beyond a skid), but I wonder if one's braking power is as uneven as one's pedaling power strokes, and thus one doesn't get maximum braking with backpedaling. Undoubtedly they prefer to use the pedals to adjust the speed.

himespau 

Ouch.

Paul Barnard

I live in one of those flat cities. There's no way I would ride in the city on a bike without front and rear brakes and the ability to coast. There's certainly no real advantage to it and there re plenty disadvantages. But I am old, have bad knees and am somewhat risk averse, so take that for what it's worth.

gpburdell

Interesting. I wonder how much backpedal torque would be needed to approach locking the rear wheel. I suppose effectively the same as the forward torque to accelerate to the same degree -- at first thought I'd guess that without extensive practice most wouldn't be able to brake nearly as effectively as with a rim brake? Could be wrong though.

Chris516

At the same website. There is this link: New Study Says Driverless Cars Will Consume More Fuel Highways Industry

Hmmmmm........

CliffordK

Hmmm... I'm seeing notes suggesting leaning forward to initiate a rear skid, so perhaps the braking power is somewhat lacking.

I can break my rear wheel loose on a hill climb on wet pavement, and obviously it is easy to do on gravel, so assuming the same back pedal force, one is probably close to skidding without a weight shift, especially on wet pavement, but maximum stopping force would assume uniform braking power which it probably isn't.

CliffordK

I wonder if they will change the minimum driving age for the autonomous cars?

A 10 yr old should be able to jump into the car and be driven to school.

It is an interesting point though... will we reach a point where half the driving is with EMPTY cars? ZERO passengers?

mconlonx

It's a zen thing -- if it has to be explained, you wouldn't understand it anyway.*

1) Because you can apply backpressure to the pedals on a fixed gear bike to effect change of speed, i.e. braking. 2) On a traditional diamond frame bike, most braking and most effective braking is with the front brake, which is what the street-riding fixed gear crowd mainly favor.

There's a thing fixed gear riders do called skidding, whereby they lock up the rear wheel by slightly unweighting it at the same time, to effect a skid. Since a skidding tire produces less braking force and less controlled braking than a rim brake, I'd venture to guess that is is not as effective as a rim brake.

*Rode fixed in a city for a year, about a decade ago; gave it up because I am old.

gmm213

For me it keeps me from coasting, which helps with the exercise part which was a big reason for me to start riding. Back home I would never ride a fixie because its all hills and even the geared bike guys work there *** off to ride around. Its helps that cities tend to have the latest trends first as well as a lot of documentaries give credit to messengers for making them popular and you only find them in the cities.

\

Not really an advantage, just no need. Even when I had a rear brake I rarely used it. Isnt it like something of your breaking is 70% front brake? A lot of people go to fixies because of simplicity and that would be one less thing. Though I cant get the no brake thing, especially in San Fran. That seems just down right ********.

vol

I once slipped through a local red light while my mind was occupied with something and I became absent-minded for just a minute. I was wondering why a car next to me had stopped. After I passed and looked at the mirror I realized the light had turned red. Fortunately I rode slow (virtually "walked" through to many of you roadies) and it was a small street with no car crossing, no consequence. But I learned my lesson never to be absent-minded on the road.

njkayaker

???

He's well ahead of the intersection when the light turned yellow. And fairly well-ahead of the intersection when the light turned red.

It seems he delayed braking too late.

If he had started braking when the light turned yellow, there's a good chance he would have stopped before the intersection (even with a broken front cable).

It appears that the conditions were wet (which means braking is less effective).

Apparently, it's a fixie/whatever with only a front brake. The problem with a broken front cable might point to not having a rear brake as being not a very good idea.

mr_bill

With TomTom sending me up 17th street (17% grade) (yes, bicycle directions), I don't get one speeds. Then again, I assume it was just a Dutch oversight, rather than a Dutch joke.

I assume the locals know not to go down (or up) some streets of San Francisco.

-mr. bill

njkayaker

Apparently, it's a fixie. His legs are (mostly) always going to be moving even when he's not pedaling.

baron von trail 

Whoa...Lucky break indeed.

I use stopped cars and pedestrians as a signal for me to stop or at least slow way down. Once, at a MUP intersection, a walker stopped dead. I did too, even though I did not see anything--at first. Low and behold, there came a fast-moving little sports car out of the gleam of a distant mirage.

Camilo

I didn't see the comments in the video I looked at. I guess then my opinion would be, style over function.

scott967

I might jump a green, but never if there is cross traffic.

scott s.
.

dragoonO1

I'm glad everyone is relatively unharmed.
I've had a front brake cable snap. I immediately dropped both my feet onto the street and used the soles of my shoes as brake pads. Doing that was still much shorter stopping distance than using the rear brake alone.

baron von trail 

Wow. Never had a cable snap. Had a few pads wear down in a single ride while decending down long steep hills and noticed the cable was too long to work properly though.

Looigi

The red light is irrelevant. Just don't run into something, and try to avoid putting yourself in a position where you'll be run into.

unterhausen

I had a brake cable snap one time, I was on the way to the shop while pushing my tandem. So I had three working brakes, just none of them available to use. That was exciting, but it didn’t end up being a problem.