I ride pretty much the same as before, though I'm a little more conservative on steep downhills that have stop lights at the bottom. That is unless I time it right, in which case its ON! :P

i don't really think that this is true at all. what you'll do is either be more careful and avoid the situations to begin with (like not riding to the right of cars at intersections, etc), or, like you did, either turn quickly/maneuver, or, *gasp*, stop very quickly using various skidding/skipping techniques. it can absolutely be done. people seem to think that their front brakes are going to stop them ever so much faster than certainly properly executed brakeless techniques. that's just patently false when it comes down to it in most real-life traffic situations. from what i've experienced, and what i read about on these forums, most collisions (especially those where the rider wasn't just being careless) are not going to be avoided by an extra foot or two of stopping distance.

that said, i think you should definitely ride with a brake if you are a rider who doesn't pay very close attention to all of their surroundings or who rides like an idiot (this is to be meaningfully distinguished from riding like a maniac -- which can be done, albeit assholishly, fairly safely and skillfully). i'm not at all saying that you are such a person, but i think a lot of people think that a front brake is actually some sort of necessary, "safe my ass," emergency tool.

thank you shants.

i'm generally a pretty damn safe rider even with a brake but you really can't argue to me that it's not safer to ride with a brake. doesn't mean you have to use the brake, but you also have the option of using it. and there are MANY times i've had to use it where if i id not have it i would have gone into a car/other bike/whatever, i don't get myself into situations that i might need to slam on my brake, i ride as though i'm riding brakeless and only use the e-brake if i find myself suddenly in an "OMFG WTF!" situation, which i would have ended up in whether i had a hand brake or not, and yea hand brakes don't mean you will get out of every situation scott free, but they've saved my ass several times. and it goes without saying that paying as much attention as possible will save you as much as you can be saved, but that is not a failsafe way to never have an accident, or else riders would never have accidents, sh1t happens and you can pretty much expect it to happen, and it happens to anyone, and i maintain you're safer with a brake than without one.

I have been contemplating losing the front break for the whole zen thing. But my gearing is 48x16 now and I am afriad that it is a little too much for me to handle in an emergency situation without the break. Am i just being a p***y and can really handle it with a little practice? or should I drop the ratio?

48x16 shouldn't be a problem at all. most complete "track" bikes come stock with that same gearing since it's not too tough of a ratio. of course everyone is different and are comfortable with different ratios. if you feel you can't handle it brakeless then either stick with the brake or drop some gear inches. whichever you decide just make sure you feel safe while doing it.

Seems a little steep to me, id go to 18 till you get more comfortable then work back down. Just cuz that gear ratio is stock doesnt mean its any good. Of course I come from super happy funtime hilly land so my concept of an easy gear ratio might be a bit off.

very true. sometimes i forget i live in florida and don't really have anything to worry about climbing/descending. i started riding brakeless 48x16 but like i said..it's completely flat here.

It isnt so much the hills, its the emergency stopping.

totally off topic, is it possible to drill a hole in the seat-stay bridge on a track bike to put on a rear brake?

It is possible but not recommended. Depending on what tube diameter was used it might not be able to handle this. Also retro-drilling forks is generally a bad idea. I have seen a fork crown crack once because of it.

A safer idea would be to replace the bridge with one that is intended for brakes. Your local builder should be able to do this.

the rear bridge on my track bike isn't even wide enough for a drill bit. i don't think that any blanket statements can cover that question

Mine can.

Why would anyone ever want a rear brake? Do you like wearing out your rear tire unneccesarily fast? My back brake on my geared bike has been broke for 6 months now. I never use it.

what? skipping and skidding from riding brakeless wears down your tires quickly. hell, i need a new armadillo stat and have to wait till friday and i feel nervous.

THe reason I asked was because I was looking at a track frame, but dont feel im ready to ride brakeless 100% of the time. I figured drilling the fork was a bad idea, so a front brake is out, the only other option I could think of was drilling the seat stay bridge for a rear.

You are the (extremely limited) target audience for the Keirin rear brake.

get a road fork. don't drill!

wow.. 42 bucks for a lever, housing, cable, and brake w/mount?! that seems like a great deal! has anyone used one of these? have pics? THis may open up my options or frames, and allow me to hone my skills till im ready for brakeless.

I thought trackstar used to have a picture on their site, but I can't seem to find it. You'd definitely want to call them to see if they still have any in stock.

The word is the keirin racers get these clamp-on dealies to make their track bikes street legal (as brakes are a legal necessity in Japan). I doubt they use them much; as everyone else has suggested, rear brakes on fixed gears aren't really going to help you all that much. For the same price, more or less, get the ever-popular drilled chrome fork from Bikeworks and use it until you feel secure going brakeless.

http://www.bikecult.com/works/parts/FKgenSB.html

+1 Mr. Campbell. Anyone who doesn't agree with this is either so caught up in the "brakes are for fakes" mentality or they simply don't have enough all around riding experience. I ride like I do not have a brake but sometimes I *gasp* actually use it. I know, I'm just a big fake...Of course I ride a conversion as well...Whoa, I just lost all me cred. Damn.

this is something i've been wanting to get off my chest for awhile, so here goes...
all this bulls**t about the brakeless fixed ride requiring one to be extra-super-attentive and planning moves twenty blocks in advance and everything - it's just that: bulls**t....
anyone with a good amount of city riding experience does that - it's instinct and it's practice and that's it - brakeless or one-brake or freewheel two-brakes or whatever...
i went from a 7 sp. freewheel to brakeless fixed immediately (in manhattan) and with the exception of simply getting used to slowing/skipping/skidding (one day takin' it easy), guess what changed in my riding style?
nothing.
i recently geared down and put a brake on my fixed simply cuz i moved to a hilly city and i'm tired of wearing out my 28-year-old skate-damaged knees and ankles climbing and bombing hills...
so... whatever floats your boat. get used to riding a bike in traffic and you'll be fine!
have fun.

My favorite is how if you don't run a brake you need this extra ultra-zen bike awareness because you don't have a brake. Followed shortly by some science, then the same zenmaster saying you can stop just as quickly without the brake.

...seriously, dude...
save the zen-awareness for those post-yoga meditations on the beach.
riding a bike shouldn't be broken down with physics or philosophy or theology or anything. it just IS.
oh s**t, that was totatlly zen, wasn't it?

i almost never come into situations where something blocks me so completely and quickly that i have no way to avoid it. separate those into times when the quick deceleration offered by a brake would prevent a collision and times when collision is effectively unavoidable, and the probability of brake saving the day situations becomes somewhat remote.

roughly, when i'm hauling ass it takes me one revolution of backpressure to get to the point when i can skid/skip. i'd say that i can stop fast enough for most any situation because i never use my brake.

i'm safer riding with a brake, but i don't think i'm unsafe not having one.