+1

riding brakeless is all well and good but if you have to ask how to slow down you should probably go get yourself a brake.

use your front brake until you perfect the art of riding a fixed gear.
practice and if your legs fail use your brake.

how ever riding with a brake allows you to ride faster as you can stop faster.

me I ride brakeless but rode with a brake for months until I felt I had very great control.

WTF is going on with this setup? How is that brake even attached?

http://www.jitensha.com/eng/images/silcapmp.jpg

http://www.terminalvelocity.demon.co...d/crw35hub.jpg

I should have known that "pump" would be a bad GIS, but i would never have predicted that for "spokes".

I was waiting for this.
You've made my day.

call it a fixie.

what?! my paddle joke got erased...

I was trying to let someone else take it.


but there is always the ram into a wall/fence/car option

I think he used a drop bolt.

As a side note, if its wet out and youre stopping on a hill your stopping distance is several times longer.

This should be obvious, but some times you start skidding and youre like 'mmm, is this really helping that much?' I once rode down a small hill when wet, started skidding pretty early on. And in my head had that 'oh ****' moment where I wondered if I was going to find myself in the intersection below. Last resort would have been taking a quick right at the intersection. Now I ride the winter season with a brake.

one day i was working, and my u lock came outta my pocket and wedged itself in my back spokes. if you really need to stop, you should have an emergency stopping mini ulock.

sorry for the thread jack, but im just wondering if what is the proper technique for skiding, skiping and back peadling? i just started riding i can skid but no too well. but is there a previous thread or a youtube video or something ...

thanks

Im sure this has been covered but...

Skidding: Nuts to the bars, weight over front wheel, lock the bottom leg, pull up on the top leg.

Skip: http://www.sheldonbrown.com/gloss_sa-o.html#skip

Back pedal: Put downward pressure on the pedal going upwards, pull up on the pedal going downwards

Now I'll sit back and watch the clever "search feature" responses.

SEARCH!!
:) it should be noted that the skidding technique explained above is not very useful for slowing down. I personally remain in almost the same position as normal riding when i skid. Helps you slow quite quickly.

True, but because he can barely skid I'm just trying to help him figure out how to break traction. If you are trying to stop fast you definitely need max weight on the rear wheel.

Everybody skids differently, though Shasta's explanation is probably the easiest way to figure it out. Learn on wet pavement or grass or something if you are having troubles.

I don't stop. My 36h hot pink Deep Vs are so strong that they deflect any and all obstacles, including good taste.

Ever since I got clips instead of platforms, my skid skillz have been lacking. My speed skills are owning, though.

yeah, if you can't skid stop while in the saddle, then you should be riding with a brake.

How exactly do you skid while in the saddle? I can skid fine while standing up, but I can't figure out how to do it while sitting.

Is it something that comes with leg strenght/technique? Or is there a certain trick to it?

alright guys, my mistake for asking in the first place.
i have front brake, i skid but not very good.
all i wanted to know was how to stop fast enough if i am going down a steep ass hill.
is there any special tricks i should learn beside the conventional fixie techniques?
sorry goes to anyone/everyone that got confused by me.

Are you taking Ambien or something?


;)

i usually drink lots of coffee during the week so i could be awake in the studio producing works for both classes and personal projects.
after awhile, my sleep schedule will just get all messed up.

If the hill's SUPER steep I'll sometimes zig-zag down it. Backpedalling + short skids back and forth until you get to the bottom. It's hell on your arms and shoulders, though.

front brake. seriously. if you have a hill you can't negotiate with your legs, get a brake. it beats barrelling through a stop sign at the bottom and getting creamed by a ford aerostar.

now, if you're totally dead set against that, the other option, of course, is to go for a smaller gear. swap out that 17t for a 19 or so. your top speed will suffer, but it will be easier to slow down too. maybe try walking your bike halfway down the hill and riding the rest. then the next day start 5 or so meters further up the hill and just keep doing that til you're confident with your ability to do the whole thing brakeless.

or just get a front brake and enjoy your ride.