Thanks 128! I think backpedaling is probably a lot easier on the knees, because you are not locking them and most of the force comes from the calves. It seems like you would have more control that way as well. :)

welcome. i think skipping is the easiest way to stop, at least when it comes to how much stress is being put on the body. I live in hilly terrain with a good amount of car traffic (which is basically describes san francisco in general :P) and push around 72" which is I feel gives me the best combination of control and speed. You can also control a bit how fast you want to skid by having a little give and take with your locked leg. If you push the pedal so your wheel is actually going backwards you will stop faster. admitedly, more stress on your knee. If the bike film festival ever comes into your town watch mash, theres a fun little bit where one of the riders goes fast, and then skids up a hill, turns around (while still skidding) and then skids back down again. pretty funny, gives you a good idea of how much control you can have with your bike while in a skid once you get comfortable with it. Deffinately beyond my skill level, but its cool. Something for me to work towards I suppose :)

gotta start out slow. I am the worst skidder, but I can back pedal and skip. As onetwentyeight said, that used the majority of the time.

I have a brake. For the longest time I hardly used it all because I wanted to become comfortable without it.

Used it to stop and slow quite a bit on my commute this morning 'cause I rode pretty hard (geared, roadie, group-ride), on Tuesday, and went running last night and my knees were hurting me this morning. I like having the option of using a brake in that circumstance...

I kind of thought skipping is called skipping because, to me, the rear tire feels like it's actually skipping; bouncing up and down a little while the rear tire is locked/released/locked. I don't know if the tire actually leaves the ground or not.

I ride with a front brake and even use it on occasion. I can stop quickly with just my legs but the distance is shorter with the front brake applied. My rear tire frequently lifts when I apply the hand brake.

no. that's the point.

i remember reading somewhere that you're eleven times more likely to die in a collision if you're riding on the sidewalk than you are if you're on the street. now, it can be argued that you're safer on the street because cars can see you and you are predictable and all that noise, but it doesn't account for a factor of eleven. it's the difference in skill level between the average sidewalk rider and the average street rider that accounts for the relative mortality rates. same thing with not having brakes, they're PROBABLY stronger, more confident cyclists. the problem occurs when someone who is not a strong rider takes off their brakes before they should. fwiw i have a front brake which, like my helmet, i neither use nor apologize for.

the utility of a brake also depends on where you ride. when i was at my old job, i did 100% of my riding in boston and through a lot of traffic. i never used my brake.

now i commute 16 miles a day through the suburbs of boston and i use my brake regularly. there are 2 relatively steep hills that run down into intersections on my route, that would be really difficult to tackle without a brake. there also are a lot of hills, and i can go down them (safely) a lot faster and easer by using a brake to slow down.

as far as i'm concerned one can be safe riding brakeless. for every story about how a brake saved the day , there's another for how it exacerbated an accident.

richard - its called skipping because the motion you make with your legs is similar to skipping. I make a little hop (i usually have my right leg in front, its more comfortable but I can do it with both) and quickly pull up on my right foot and push down with my left. Sometimes the tire gets off the ground, sometimes it doesnt, but weight is taken off it to make it easier. I continue pedaling the instant the skip is over and will sometimes follow it up with another.

Agreed. and no need to apologize, im in favor of people doing whatever they are most comfortable with. I have a helmet, too (that i dont use enough cuz im an idiot. it comes out mostly when I am riding in the rain).

Wow, never realized that.
That would have been so helpful when I was learning how to do it.

yea. the day someone told me that was the day i figured out how to do it comfortably :P

haha, i mean i wear it, i just try to avoid hitting my head on stuff :D

+1 on riding how you're comfortable

god i hope we're all avoiding trying to hit our head on stuff :) hahahaha. really i do consider myself stupid for not wearing a helmet but ive never found one i was comfortable wearing. *siiigh*

All of my closest calls are on the sidewalk. Cars are looking for other fast moving vehicles on the road - they don't look for a 25mph vehicle on the sidewalk. When you drive a car, how many times do you come to a full stop before you pull onto the sidewalk. That **** is usually reserved for the road.

25mph on the sidewalk?

Lately I've been thinking about running a break, but the thing that is holding me back is I can't decide where I'd put it. I like to use all the positions on the drops and I hate the idea of having one of my hands drawn to a certain place. Of course I could just not use it all the time, but I'm lazy and probably wouldn't be able to resist.

+1, the only time I ever got hit was because I was riding on the sidewalk. It's stupid.

i like the cross lever just under the flats. it doesn't get in my hands' way, and i'm not tempted to use it. traditional road brakes are also nice because you can ride with your hands up on the brake hoods, which is a lot of people's favorite hand position.

Liar! Pizza *is* necessary!

well i think there are two schools of thought here.

skipping as in "loo, loo, skip to my..." would be called skipping because if you mini-skid several times in succession, 2x per revolution (each foot forward), it looks or feels a bit like skipping.

then there's skipping, as in a stone on water, which would be kind of like skidding, except sort of bouncing the rear tire. which i've done. and is really, really hard on the drivetrain.

For me riding brakeless is definitely more safe. And I comprehend the many of you will never understand that. You guys just read your statistics and crunch your numbers and come up with you technical answers abut how you can stop faster with brakes and blah, blah, frickin' blah. It is not always about using your brakes. I have broken many bones riding bikes, and all with brakes. I have been in accidents because I clamped down too hard on my brake and supermanned over the handlebars, or because I couldn't brake fast enough but went for the brake anyway out of instinct, or because my brakes failed to mechanical problems or weather.

For me riding brakeless is a completely different animal. I am definitely more awake, more aware of my surrounding and therefore less likely to get into get myself into a situation where I will need to stop fast. Also I know how fast I can stop with my feet, and my first instinct is not always to stop, but to avoid the accident, to turn out of the situation, which would have saved my *** many times while riding with brakes. Sure most of these techniques can be applied to bikes with a brake but who really thinks about them when you have a brake to safe you from every evil that should come your way.

I once heard someone say "if God wants you to stop you'll stop."

Also, I don't ride brakeless because it is "manly", I do it for the ladies.

It also helps a LOT, for me at least, to stay very calm when i'm riding. I've been riding brakeless for awhile and get into some pretty sticky situations with cars... so I always try and stay very, very calm when riding. No jerky movements, no nervousness, and no becoming distracted.

I think riding brakeless is all about how the rider actually rides. Just have to be smart about it.

But brakes or no brakes... bicycles = :).