drolldurham

i was just curious if anyone's ever picked a riding speed and then tried to see how quickly they could stop -- skipping, powerslides, whatever it takes...

i'm going brakeless (sometimes) and was interested

spud

i did inadvertantly last week and was rather surprised how short it was, but i wasnt really cruising or anything.

skelly

It's hard to imitate (mentally) the need to stop suddenly. About a week ago I almost ate the front of a car and I had more distance to stop than I usually need when I test my stopping distance. Instead of putting my body into action to stop, my mind just sort of went "Oh ****" for about 4 feet. That doesn't happen in the comfort of an empty road.

drolldurham

yeah that's definitley true. that 4 feet of "oh ****" was enough to send me flying over the little moped-thing i hit a few weeks ago.

i guess i was thinking more along the lines of the brakeless vs. braked stop, since some argue that you can stop just as quickly... i don't really believe it, but i wonder how much of a difference there is

honduraz10

ive developed an instinctive skid after alot of close calls so i dont have that four second period. and since my normal skid is seated i can stop from 20mph in 8-12 feet (somewhere in there- i measured it a while ago at 11 but ive gotten better)

skelly

theres a million brakes vs. brakeless arguments here if you search for them, no need for another.

if you put time in on the bike and it will be more instinctive. or just ride behind your friends car and tell him to stop randomly...

Mouton

I do like the idea of a shortest-skid competition. I suppose from a given speed, lighter people would have an advantage?

pitboss

mine is auspicious.

thatcher

you can do a seated skid?

junioroverlord

I can do a seated skid as well as a one footed skid. I got to test my stopping distance today when an SUV decided to slam on thier brakes in front of me while I was riding to work. Luckily I can say my stopping distance is just right. Stopped two inched from his back bumper. Go me!

jandops

oh man i fooling around doing some seated skids
and i pulled the cleat right out of the clipless pedal
now its ruined

LóFarkas

No. It takes a bigger stopping power (like better brakes, if you have such a thing) to stop a lerger mass from the same speed on the same distance, but here the limitng factor is the grip of the tyre on the road. The bigger the weight of the rider, the bigger the force that presses the tyre onto the asphalt. So if you're twice as heavy as I am (not at all unlikely, BTW), you will need twice the grip to get the same deceleration, but you will automatically have twice the grip. Even field.

shants

if you do a super-ridiculous skid into a sideways slide, you can stop on the quick. the issue, of course, is in remembering to do that when some ******bag in a uhaul decides to cut you off.

YellowFixedGear

im 185lbs. I tried to do a seated skid a few times and it just wasnt happening. I have to get my fat ass off the rear and into the front if I want to skid

absntr

In an emergency situation, and you start to backpedal with all the power your legs can muster, you will find yourself in a seated skid. I've done that a few times and it works pretty well. Enough that I started practicing it and it's enough to slow me down to unclip and foot-down-stop if need be.

I have found though, that even a little unweighting of the saddle -- even if you hover above it -- will produce a skid better than a seated one. So try that instead.

BostonFixed

I challenge any brakeless rider to a stopping contest.

I have a brake.

psn

How about we do a *stoppie* contest? Then you'll *need* a front brake to compete.

I can do those like a pro on my Giant (flat bars and canti brakes). Done a few on my Jamie Roy...it's kind of scary doing it with a long bike and road bars, but I guess I'll get the hang of it.

thatcher

respect

techone

The object is, not to stop.
A hard (seated, even) sideways skid will give you enough of a second to go around the back or side of whatever is in your path.

That's not saying to go out and bomb through every junction no matter what kind of traffic is crossing and think you can just skid around the cars! I stop at 80% of lights and bomb through the rest if it's clear.

Pedestrians don't count since they're so small of a target!

Eh, all that saying... it takes me quite a while to come to a complete stop. If I'm trying to, it just might be shorter than if you tried to use a rear brake alone to come to a stop.
But as said above, in a do-or-die situatuion, I can stop on a dime! Can't re-create that for all the dimes in the world though.