I bought a fixed gear bike almost a year now, and my question is their an unwritten rule about a fixed gear not having a brake? cause some of my 'friends' think im lame because im still not used to doing skid breaks and whatnot. and they keep saying that what is the point of having fixed gear if i have some break in it? i mean for me i do it for exercise i just dont get the point of them teasing me. I mean i just want to bike safe. (sorry for bad english)

Your "friends" are the lame ones. You will get the last laugh when one of your buddies ends up in the hospital.

no, it's not wrong

The only rule about not having a brake is on the track.

can't beat physics. Stopping with a front brake will always be faster than stopping by locking up the rear tire.

The only guy I know who I feel like can truthfully safely ride brakeless is a guy who's been riding FG for years, and even he will admit its not the safest thing to do.

My city has a giant weekly critical mass, and everyone who knows anything knows that you never bring out your nice bike because you're going to get hit by some brakeless fixie hipster whos riding without any foot retention. I can easily say 75% of the accidents on those rides are due to people running brakeless or not using their brakes when trying to stop.

Basically, its like me driving my car without brakes, while using the transmission to stop. sure its possible, but not safe for me or others at all.

To make me sound like a mr no fun, I do have a brakeless FG bike, but i only exclusively use it on the local tracks and trails where there is no car or pedestrian traffic, and lots of run off room in case of an emergency.

And a personal note, after riding one of my bikes and having a chain brake with only a cheap front brake to try to stop me, I made sure that on all my bikes have top of the line braking components.

Don't let the peer pressure get to you. Run a brake and let them be the idiots.

Can you ride brakeless? Sure. Plenty of people do, some are pretty good at it. Others? Not so much.
Don't let it get to you, there's no shame in riding with a brake.

but but but ZEN!

As I have always said "if you don't skid your tidy-whiteys why would you skid your bike?"

Brakes are important in areas where everyone is doing something different. On the velodrome everyone is going in the same direction doing the same thing so a brake in that case could actually be dangerous but on the street they are extremely useful. Skidding your bike might look really really cute and you can show all your friends all the sick skid marks on your tires and how you had to spend more money on another pair of tires in under a month but it isn't effective stopping.

Don't worry about what those lame-o's think worry about what you think and what makes most sense. Bikes are neat to look at but if they don't function well for what you are doing, those looks don't matter.

Plus keep in mind when they are slightly older they will have some ankle and knee problems and you will be just fine because you didn't lock up them thangs all the time in an effort to attempt stopping. It is almost like these folks are trying to make orange juice and instead of using a reamer or citrus juicer which will get more juice they want to try and squeeze them with their hand leaving the orange with plenty of juice left.

Brakeless belongs on the track, not on the road. Do people ride brakeless on the road? Sure, and some of them even live long enough to reproduce. But that doesn't make it a Good Idea.

they are not your friends if they have no concern for your safety. put on both brakes, and wear a helmet while you're at it.

I have front and rear brakes on my FG. Since I usually take this bike on long rides in the country, I rarely use the brakes, but when I need them, I need them.

It is better to have the brake and not need it, then to need it, and not have it. Just because you have one on there doesn't mean you need to use it. Nice to have it when you do need it though, like in an emergency stop where a skid just won't do.

For some reason I can't picture riding bikes with adult friends and having anyone make fun of each other for going brakeless/full brakes.

Seems kind of teenager-ish really.

Rear brake on FG is a big mistake

Why is this a big mistake?

Dude I've had a few adults say the same thing almost in a condescending way a few years ago. The funny thing is I don't even think they ride bikes anymore. Just do your own thing, don't listen to anyone else. And don't let anyone pressure you to take a brake off your bike. Let them ride around in traffic with wet ground and no front brake.

This thread should of been started in 2007, I bet the replies would be way different.

Ride what you ride, just make sure to drop your friends next time you ride.

Real big mistake, I am sure. You know being able to actually stop without going through tires and ruining your legs is a huge mistake...NOT! I have been running a rear brake on my fixed gear for a long time and have had zero problems (other than normal brake wear issues you get on any bike) and never thought I had ever made a mistake. I still cannot find any mistakes unless I set up the brake like a moron or used improper parts but I wouldn't do that.

There are webpages dedicated to skid patches as if running through tires on purpose because "can't stop won't stop Premium Rush fixie swag" is actually a good thing!

If you're used to running a rear brake fixed that's cool I just wouldn't recommend it. If you're doing 35 mph descents yeah it comes in handy. I've seen people thrown, probably their own dumb***fault, but unless you're experienced I don't think it's a good idea.

I personally use front brakes and have for many years.

I would be very interested to understand the mechanism by which a rear brake throws a rider.

I always ran a front brake on my fixed gear. No rear wheel brake will stop as well as a front wheel brake. That's just physics, and the laws of physics are always strictly enforced.
I'm also running a rear brake now. Once I moved to a hillier neighborhood I found that I could descend faster when I had the rear brake to keep control of my cadence. Without the brake, if I spin up to the point where I'm bouncing in the saddle a little I have a very hard time getting it back under control.
The rear brake on my fixie wears out much faster than the rear brake on my freewheel bike.

em

Skid and lose control, perhaps?

I wouldn't call it "a big mistake;" it's just kind of pointless. You already have a rear brake on a fixed gear: your legs. Since the effectiveness of the rear wheel brake is limited by friction with the road, your not likely to get any better braking performance by adding a caliper. At best you just redistribute the effort between your hand and your legs.

Once I spin up to where I'm bouncing on the saddle, I don't have much ability to brake using the pedals. That's pretty frightening on long downhills. I really want the rear brake.

em

If you feel you need one then leave it on. There's nothing wrong with riding with or without one. It's all personal preference. If your friends can't respect it, that's on them.