Actually, you participated, and I dare say passionately, in this "de-evolution" into something as boring as physics, culture, style, and preferences that we hold about our bicycles. So, if you must ride brakeless, have fun and be safe, just like everyone else because no matter how you ride your bike, your just riding a freakin' bike. And by the way, I am not a "brake advocate" and I do not teach "safety school", but I do enjoy pedaling.

oh, i don't mind having a pointless discussion that isn't going to change any minds. debating, for the sake of it, is what i do when i'm at work and have nothing better to do. i was mainly just commenting in a way that wasn't really tailored toward a discussion of the physics of braking, which talked around a lot of the later posts.

anyhow, keep enjoying it (the pedaling, that is).

You better come out here sometime, we've got some beers to drink!

stellar!

i really ****ing need to get back out there. i'm going to schedule a weekend once i start my new job and figure out just how ****ing broke i'm going to be.

cheers, aaron!

I was able to skip/skid on my first fixie, on my first ride... I started w/o a brake ***** (untill you put one on for me, thanks somebodies).

Looks like an old thread, but I suppose the reason I would want a brake a lot of the time is in case of a mechanical problem. I didn't see that mentioned much in the discussion. Not necessarily a reason for everyone to have a brake, but might be a reason a lot of people do. Also, my knees arent the best as it is now, and being able to take a little strain off them can be nice.

I think most people who ride brakeless have learned how to stop by jamming their shoe into their tire. If you don't know how to do that, go practice. You'll thank me some day. I've slipped out of my pedals going 20 down a really steep hill, ran 3 red lights and didn't go down. Part of that is luck, but part of it is just being ready for that sort of situation. I think riding brakeless makes you ride smarter because you know there is no bailing out. I wouldn't say its safer, but it's a different mentality and style of riding. If you can do it, do it. If you don't feel comfortable, don't. Simple as that. My worst crash was on a fixed conversion with brakes, and right after that I switched to brakeless and haven't looked back.

I've said this before and I'll say it again: Redundant braking methods are good. Whatever it is, make sure you have more than one way to stop. Foot on the tire counts as a decent backup, just be sure you know how to use it!

Riding smarter and being ready for anything would mean riding with a front brake.

I have a front brake; I race through traffic, obstacles and red lights almost daily in the interest of keeping consistent speed. I will not argue that it is smart, because it is not, but I will say that I'm still here typing while looking forward to riding tonight in good health. That makes me confident enough in my practice of fluidity.

My style is single gear, fixed, and I love it. My front brake just makes my bike a better piece of equipment for street use. Stuff happens, especially if you ride your bike for everything. Chains snap, tires pop or you may be too tired heading to work or drunk heading home after some alleycat games and allow your feet to come off the pedals on a hill; or just maybe you actually need to stop because of the miraculous actions of some yuppy driving an H2. A brake can be very convenient in these situations. I have no concern of the weight and wind drag on my brake holding me back when I am racing through city streets either.

My equipment does not define the mentality of my riding, I do.

I agree that the rider is the key part, not the equipment. Brakes or no brakes, any bike is dangerous if you suck at life.

No matter how much attention you are paying there will be unexpected obstacles that you will not be able to avoid. Riding in control means going at a speed at which your reaction time + stopping time allows you to not run into these things. Stopping time will be much faster with a brake then without one. Therefore you will be able to ride faster while still being in control on a bike with a front brake. Since you can ride at a faster speed(especially approaching intersections) there is no way you could be faster(and still in control) overall without a brake. If brakeless riders beat braked riders in alleycats it is purely because they are much stronger riders or quite possibly they are simply more reckless. Being forced to ride more slowly or out of control seems absurd but I guess there could be reasons for it. I really don't care what y'all want to do as long as you avoid me while doing it.

no.