working today i got a call for a bicyclist hit...wasnt a fixed rider, actually an older chineese food dilivery (i think) person hit by an suv who wasnt paying attention...but i thought it was still relevant for this forum

Please, my personal plea to all of you is wear frickin helmets, and think about a front brake for "emergency stops". I know neither one rank up there in cool points, but the last thing i want to be doing at work is rushing a fellow fixed gear rider to the trauma room in critical condition.

As for the guy, he is in bellvue in critical.

Ouch!

any idea if the suv driver was at fault and/or got ticketed?

Sorry to hear, hope he feels better soon.

In regards to safety. I believe in helmets to some extent but I am still not sold on the front brake for safety thing. Without starting that tiring argument again, I think it would be really nice if we could have a sticky poll or something similar for accidents, where one could enter whether or not one had a front brake at the time of the accident and maybe some other data. That way maybe we could start collecting some hard evidence to back up or dismiss the safety argument of front brakes.

I will bet money the chinese food delivery guy was going down the wrong side of the street and not wearing a helmet.

All delivery guys ride like idiots and give other bicyclists a bad reputation.

I was almost creamed today by an SUV. I can't blame her, it was the idiot behind her who kept leaning on the horn, probably distracting her.

I'm starting to wonder if a rear brake isn't better than a front. Granted, less braking power, but after a short flight a couple weeks ago after hitting the idiot lever a little too hard, I'm wondering...

And the drive train brake IS a REAR brake!

One thing about brakes.

In NYC, we have to deal with not only SUVs but cabs. When you are going 35kmh-45kmh down one of the avenues and a cab passes you only to screech to a stop 10-15 ft right in front of you, you appreciate a front brake.

For those of us weak-kneed squids who don't skid/skip so well.

The trick is to brace yourself and shift your ass back when you grab the front brake.

" I am still not sold on the front brake for safety thing. "

ha ha ha ha, what crazy world do you live in?
you can stop like 3x faster with a front brake, you can go as fast as you want down hills without worrying about losing control or that ******* pulling out in front of you...

my friend has been riding fixed for a couple years now and he says stuff like "brakes are for chumps" and he claims wearing a helmet is in fact MORE DANGEROUS because it "alters the trajectory of your head"
these are the people who actually argue AGAINST front brakes, blinded by their weird fixed gear eliteness aura or something??

it is the right forum. Good for any NYC cyclist who has an incident with a car, all your messenger bag questions, and now serving cycling caps!!

now, back to your regularly scheduled brakes v. no brakes v. front brake v. rear brake debate. Remember, its rear brake with a timbuk2 and bell helmet, front brake with a pac and a campy hat, baileyworks brakeless with a colnago hat, and chrome brakeless with a fauxhawk

"In NYC, we have to deal with not only SUVs but cabs. When you are going 35kmh-45kmh down one of the avenues and a cab passes you only to screech to a stop 10-15 ft right in front of you, you appreciate a front brake."

Well that is NYC...I believe everyone rides with a front brake there, right?
However, in San Francisco everyone can drive very well and there are no hills or cabs.
Seriously though, some of the older riders here call no front brake fixies "New York style". I wonder why...

"ha ha ha ha, what crazy world do you live in?
you can stop like 3x faster with a front brake, you can go as fast as you want down hills without worrying about losing control or that ******* pulling out in front of you..."

Is going as fast as I want down hills safe with a front brake? If I go down the hill 3x slower than you without a front brake am I just as safe?

Also, I am not against front brakes at all. Hand brakes rule! Sometimes I use one sometimes I don't. Last weekend I did a long ride in the Oakland/Berkeley hill with several steep 5+ mile descents. Did I have a front brake? Of course! I wish I had three! Did I add the brake because it would not be safe without it? Hell no! I put a brake on so i could keep up with my roadbiking friends and so i would not burn out after 30 miles.
Could I have come to a full stop within 15 feet going 45mph down a hill? Nope!

Avoiding obstacles and finding loopholes can be a very valuable skill - especially riding in cities. It can be aquired using hand brakes of course, but one will learn a lot faster and more thouroughly without.

Man! F me! I've got no hair, a helmet, BW, & a brake! What the hell kind of beast am I? Oh, and I have lights! Dammit!

Seriously, people who piss and moan about the pitchover risk from a front brake: learn how to actually use it or just set it loose.

-Trevor, who rode out a stoppie in the Hilton garage last night to avoid being doored.

"Could I have come to a full stop within 15 feet going 45mph down a hill? Nope! "

45mph on a fixie? case closed you are insane!

i don't care about the spiritual mysticism surrounding the brakeless fixed mentality... at some point in your life there may come a time when you can't go left or right or stop fast enough and you'll have to go down, and you may have been able to avoid going down if you could've stopped much quicker, and hopefully you won't get too badly hurt... but when i get hurt i don't want it to be for what other people think of me or my bike (fashion)..

i didnt mean this to turn into a brake vs no brake arguement...we all know that has been played out...however i do think everyone should be wearing a helmet...i cant think of any reason other than aesthetics no to

really all i wanted to do was encourage everyone to do their best to ride more safely, whatever that means to you...i really do not want to be picking any of you all up

and as for the rider...the suv was going about 30...i was more worried about getting the guy to the hospital than determining who was at fault/what actions were taken...and he was not wearing a helmet, but was riding on the correct side of the road with traffic

stay safe everyone....please!

That's right, we only express outrage when the rider is one of our elite crew of rad righteous riders. if they're outside of our club, they're at fault, no matter how big the SUV, no matter how wack the traffic patterns, no matter how dominant the car culture.

you ******bag.

Word to that queerpunk. The man carried cargo for money from one place to another. Define messenger? His cargo just happened to be food. Just because he probably rides on a cheap, geared bike (all that most delivery guys can afford) doesn't take away any credibility . I wish him the best of luck right now and a quick recovery as well as to all the people who have been hit recently (a number far too high).

I don't care if I lose some cool points for having a front brake. I ride fixed. I ride fixed in NYC. Im not on a track. Cars and cabs hate us. **** happens, sometimes too fast for just our legs and shift of body movement to react. I have a wife to go home to. Let me tell you, adding the front brake has helped me to make it home to her at nite.

This could only have happened to a fixed bike....

Do we really need to post about ever bike accident nationally?

You got it right!!! No brakes is fine for those cases where you have time to (see and) react. When something happens too quickly, no way you can be in position to stop. At best, you can veer but in some cases that would do you in. I ride with a front brake and when when I'm in traffic, my finger is over the brake.

P.S. have yet to see someone going 45 mph, especially on a fixed. They don't go that fast on the track.
The road racers at Prospect Park don't go that fast on the downhill.

The rpms would be insane.

OK i'm starting to think this is a conspricy to remove all of the fixies off the planet, how many fixies have been hit by in the last month it is crazy, i think that fat SUV drivers are tired of seeing us exercize and what not and are getting jelous.

This incident was not fixed, neither was Keith Alexander's death. It's sad and it sucks, but let us not confuse or assume anything about this accident.

I find it interesting how many people here post everything related to biking in the SS/Fixed forum... tires, fit, BB questions... accidents...