Brakeless Deathwish
 

OK, I respect people who ride fixed and brakeless. You guys (and gals) got a lot more balls than me on my SS. But how about someone riding geared and brakeless? WTF?

I was riding down Chestnut, and got passed by some guy on a black bike with flop and chop bulls. I figure it is a fixie, and don't really pay any mind. Then a cab pulls over to stop in front of the kid, and he damn near rear ends it and has to jump up on the sidewalk. Now it was by no means a graceful hop up. Both feet hit the ground, boys about a half inch from the top tube. Gets back on and cruises down the sidewalk out into the intersection. So I pull in behind him, and that's when I hear the derailer clacking away as he is trying to shift from a dead stop. I start looking at the bars, and no brakes. At the next intersection I see him stopping by rubbing the shoe on the back tire. And this guy was by no means in control, weaving all over the place, in-between cars. Deathwish?

Maybe he won't be riding for too much longer???

yeah thats a little nuts...you don't have control...Thats the difference between fixed and this nutter...we're in control..

Funny enough I was at a LBS the other day with a few other Bikeforums guys...there was a wrench there, who had a SS MTB that he rides brakeless too...He jams his shoe between the wheel and the bike to slow down....like we did on our BMX's when we here kids!

ted shred rides a freewheel pista w/o brakes. his brakepads are the soles of his slip-on vans (stuck up on the rear wheel). there was a short on him in the bikefilmfest this year...

that film was pretty entertaining - i was wincing watching him bomb down some of those SF hills... i wouldn't be surprised if his vans are consumed by flames in the near future.

ted was surprisingly good at footdown as well.

HA! that's exactly who i thought of when i was reading the posts. I rode with him and a bunch of other kids in one of the scenes for the trailer of the bikefilmfest. He's bad ass. He also skids to a stop by kind of kicking his seat stays.

i was going to say "THATS CRAZY" but that's what most people say about fixies...so I'll just say "YIKES"

Holla!

This kid was no Ted Shred.

I passed him at one point, and then thought what if he rear ends me at a stop light? So I let him get by me and watched him for about five blocks.

This wil be the new bike of choice for hipsters in the future...mark my words!

On brakeless SS content, I ride a brakeless SS bike in the snow.

Wasn't Kevin Bacon riding a brakeless SS in Quicksilver?

SS coaster brake, me thinks.

His bike only has a freewheel during certain scenes (i.e. those involving jumps, and a few others, I believe) - most of the time it's fixed. I'm assuming the filmmakers figured people wouldn't notice. Either way, there are no brakes to be seen the whole time.

I was riding behind Ted on Sat. and had never heard of him before. We were being flanked by scooter cops, common sight these days. This one cop is watching him come to a stop at a red light standing on the rear wheel. The look on that cops face was priceless.

any video clips available online?

i was in the parade, too.. one of the peeps in the funny white blow-up suits (http://www.aeolian-ride.info). it was so weird watching him in situ, i must have had a puzzled mug too...

I was rockin the orange netting. Was there to make my statement about permits and whatnot, but had a good time. Thanks for the link. I was wondering about the suits.

Edit: I just checked that i'd rather be doing thingy and have the same ride. Except mine is not an SE and it is covered in tape. '02 gold Fugi Track.

Although through the whole movie there is this superimposed sound of a clicking freewheel when he's riding or walking his bike...

there is one scene with brakes: when he's going down a flight of stairs... he's in the drops, freewheeling and squeezing both front and rear brake levers. it's easy to miss, i had to pause and rewind a couple of times.

that there's what we in the biz like to call foley. :D

Pardon my ignorance, but what is "footdown"? I've read the term on here before I think

You can also see a hint of a brake hood in the scene when kevin bacon and "voodoo" get ready for their big race on top of that nasty hill.

how did this thread devolve into yet another discussion about quiksilver?..

That would be my fault. Should we establish some sort of standard punishment for that?

am i the only one that got actual shivers from reading this? it was like watching a suspensful movie for me.

Dude, it never suprises me the amount of crazy bastards in philly, never mind on bikes. I saw a guy riding around with no seat the other day. Somehow the bums are always getting sweet 3 speeds too.