quickshift brake lever?
 

i saw this on FGG. anyone do it? im interested in how well it works. it seems to me that it would be tough to actually "pull" hard if you really needed to stop fast.

http://www.fixedgeargallery.com/2005...topietro-4.jpg

That would be handy for a long decent.

There was a thread on that bike in the mechanics section not long ago - I agreed on the long decent thing...

Yeah, I think that a setup like that would be more helpful for trimming off a little speed than for quick stops. Maybe just a little extra help if you're not feeling very confident in your brakeless riding.

My problem with the long descent thing is heat. Brakes are designed to be used for a couple of seconds and then allowed to cool. If you run them continuously (even if they're not gripping very hard) they will seriously heat up your rims causing one or more of the following lovely options:
1) Accelerated rim wear, which if left unaddressed will cause a pretty spectacular rim failure...hopefully not in the middle of that long descent.
2) hot rims -> hot tires -> expanding rubber -> BOOM! there went the sidewall
3) hot rims -> hot brake pads -> smelly gummy nasty rubber all over your braking surface -> very poor braking performance/brakes stuck to rim.

When I saw this I decided to try it, I had a grip shift laying around and I have a single speed rat bike. I got it on and went around the block and took it off, not enough leverage, when I want to stop I want to stop!

http://fixedgeargallery.com/2005/dec...antopietro.htm

So to use it on a decent he'd still need to hold it in place.

Didnt someone make a brake out of a thumb shifter?

i set it up on my bicycle for kicks (friction thumb shifter). it would
act more like a fashion accessory than a brake.

I got bored and rigged my derailleur to the left brake lever and used it to shift, stuck baseball cards in the spokes and pretended it was a clutch on my motor bike.