i think what people who are afraid of riding with brakes is that for every idiot on this site 'judging' you, there are another 20 people out riding who do have brakes. i'm out every day and if i'm lucky, meet one or two guys who ride brakeless, and usually, they're really good riders.

there are just too many oops moments in a given day to take the risk. not to mention, after a long sprint, the last things your legs will want to do are resist.

I use my brake sometimes, but I am glad it is always there. When I am spent or feeling lazy I am spent or feeling lazy ;)

"The world is an imperfect place."

You do NOT need a brake, there are so many way's to stop without one, and your first fixie is the perfect time to learn.

Skids are easy, just lean forward, get your weight off the back wheel, and lock your legs. You'll get the hang of it and totally impress your friends and bystanders. I think it's so cool when people are like, "hey where's your brake"? When I tell them I don't have one, you can just tell they think I am crazy cool.



I'M KIDDING. Get a brake... or get full body armor. There's a fine line between "extreme" and "stupid"

you had me goin for a sec.:p

GYESWHO - You have a front brake and Jesus on your side? No worries.

ORIGINAL POSTER - get a front brake, or if you go no brakes and tell you parents to **** off, like you probably will being in jnr high school, get 45/18 gearing or something that is easy to slow down. I wouldn't stand a chance with my 46/13 with no brake, even if I only have a rear, which is not ideal, but fine.

Of course then you will spend all your time drifting and track standing, because you can't go fast! but hey you're in jnr high so that's what you might want to do anyway.

good luck mate! ;) (i wish i got into fixed riding when I was your age!)

tell your parents they're lame. take the brake off!

the revolution will not be posted on ebay!

if anyone gives you **** about a brake just wheely them in the face.

your parents are extra wise to realize the rear brake is unnecessary.

I would argue you can get a better workout WITH a brake, since you don't need to think about stopping and exit strategies all the time.

Yeah, you can just plain ride faster when you can also stop faster.

I can definitely drop a lot of riders based almost entirely on this.

i ride all alleycats with a brake. i feel more confident and faster when i can use all my leg strength for going forward.

i do pretty well.

some people who do better than me ride brakeless track bikes.

whatev.

how bad is riding a brakeless bike for your knees. will the slowing down via the pedals screw em up over the long run?
Thanks

maybe. depends on your knees. plenty of people have ridden w/o brakes for a long time. plenty of people change their habits.

some precautionary measures would be to get fitted on a bike, to ride a sensible gear in the low 70s, and to take a day off if you feel sore, and if you get hurt, let yourself recover before doing it again - or change your habits.

it's not as easy as "does brakeless eff you up?"

thanks

Run a brake AT THE VERY least for the first few months, lean how to skid no matter how fast your spining, as a recent convert back to brakless, after putting one on not long after i got my bike, My reasoning is that i ride that a ****ing idiot in traffic, taking the brake off has humbled me a little bit i take my time look far ahead look over my shoulder, watch for pedestrians. its proably less safe but for some reason i Feal safer. also my last to falls where because of my brake. sooooooo anyways get a brake!

no brakes, use a breake, ur no jedi.

blam.gif

Only place you don't want brakes is if you're riding in a velodrome. Just having the brakes on your bike will not slow you down by any significant amount, and if you install them neatly, won't look bad. You can still skid all you want. But there will be a moment when you are GLAD those brakes are there.

Regardless of the endless discussions on this and other boards, think for yourself and use common sense. Brakes are cheaper than medical bills. Same with helmets. ;)

You're already cooler than most of your peers - how many other students ride fixies to your school? ;)

Medical bill whats that?

That is f*@&ing funny.

You just can't lose.

I don't know anyone around here that rides fixed gear or brakeless, but I can't imagine anyone giving someone hard time for having a brake.

The guys I do the Saturday ride with think it's kind of crazy, but they don't make a big deal about it - even the dudes that are super precautious and yell "CAR LEFT!!!!!!!!!!!" when they're by themselves.

OP - at least they aren't making you ride with a rear brake too!

You can skid stop on a dime but you will eat up perfectly good tires. I wasted a continental gatorskin 35$ tire because I didn't have a brake. All you need is a single front brake and your legs can do the rest. It is a very worthy component to have. If you take your bike on the track you could remove the brake but otherwise keep one handy. It is much more fun to spin down crazy hills with a brake than without.