Kev

In reality there is a few ways to stop if your chain brakes etc.. do airplane style not suggested slamming feet down.. Turn bike sideways to do a skid.. maneuver your body to lay on the seat with head resting on the handlebars and flap your arms to take off and fly over obstacles Take your foot and wedge it against the rear stay and the tire works very effectively, I have not done this in years but when I was younger I had a friend without any money got a bike free but no brakes it was a single speed freewheel and that is how he always stopped it worked very well just destroyed his soles on his shoes.

crustedfish

somtimes i prefer to mash a bigger gear than the stock 48x16 on the '03 pistas.

52x16 sometimes
48x16 sometimes
42x16 sometimes

I'm not a big fan of WTB products, so, the saddle is gone, the pedals will be gone soon, the tires are decent, but hey, they're still WTB's..prefer Conti Supersonics...best tire Ive ever ridden!

randy

SS_MB-7

I'm riding a '03 Pista...fantastic bike! Nimble and fast!

For 95% of the riding I do, I stick with the stock 48x16 gearing (fixed). When I race it, I flip the rear wheel and go with a 17 freewheel.

I had my LBS add 2 sets of water bottle bosses and a rear brake mount. Fortunately, everything went together smoothly and I've had no issues with the rear brake.

Ride Hard,
Mike B.
https://www.one-speed.com

xcutterx

what type of racing were you doing with a 48 17? most people who race at the velodrome here race with a 50/15 or higher

bombusben

With a freewheel and rear brake, my guess would be that the races are not in a velodrome

SS_MB-7

Just local road races....no velodromes.

Ride Hard,
Mike B.
https://www.one-speed.com

smurfy

About being brakeless...

I can't figure out how brakeless riders stop thier bikes. I know they skid, bit I have tried to do this on my fixie and I can't seem to do it to save my life! Granted, my bike has a rather long wheelbase, 52/21 gearing, 27" wheels and it's a few pounds heavier than something more modern (the frame is around fourty years old, just like me!).

My LBS does a Sat. fixed gear ride and another rider with a brakeless Surly Steamroller (42/15 gearing, it looks like) has no problems stopping, except for long steep hills where he takes longer to come to a stop but stop he does!

Does the kind of bike have something to do with it, or is it just technique?

jasonyates

I can't see how stopping (or at least slowing down) could be that hard. Doing it well takes a little getting used to though. You want the wheel to stop going the direction that it is going, so you have to reverse the movements of your legs, basicly. You want to pull up with your forward facing leg, while you use your body weight to push down on your back leg. While stopping with a brake is just a matter of squeezing the lever, stopping with your legs on a fixie uses your whole body. You have to make it happen, put a little oomph into it. Your body does have to get used to the movements, and I imagine your stopping muscles get toned up a little, and after that it's just second nature. I can stop this way just as quickly as with a brake in most instances.

-Jason

P.S. I ride a Bianchi Pista, 48x16, bullhorns. There, at least we're not totally off topic now.

jasonyates

Additionally: Forget about skidding. Skidding is what a tire does when it looses traction. In most cases to stop you want to have as much traction as possible, which means slowing the wheel as much as possible without skidding. There are occasions skidding is necessary, but they are (should be) rare.

-Jason

shrimpx

Brakes vs brakeless arguments are dumb. After riding brakeless for 6 months now, stupid arguments against brakeless bikes are just that; stupid. It's just a different type of riding. You use new muscles and think differently. Riding my braked fix is a totally different experience than riding my brakeless track bike. Just knowing that the brake is not there puts you in a different state of mind--you are forced to ride more smoothly, more controlled, more focused. So for those who bash brakeless riders endlessly, I have 2 words for you: try it. Drop the clutter and take a ride around town. Otherwise quit complaining about stuff you haven't experienced first-hand.

alexs

*shrug*

i tried going brakeless, looking for the zen that everyone talked about. didn't find it. oh, well. different strokes and all...

fixnewb

I recently purchased an '04 Pista. Can you elaborate a little on the adds to your Pista?? Would you trust any shop to do the bottle bosses? Also, can you just drill the "bridge" on the seatstays and add the brake??? And how much did they charge for the mods??

Thanks in advance.

marked001

I really really hope I can swing an 04 Pista in the spring... mmmm...chrome

fixnewb

Yeah, the chrome kind of grew on me after a while, I didn't like it at first. As long as you get rid of the seat!!! I wanted to lose the decals as well but it appears they were clearcoated over.

I had a hard time finding one in my size, they seem to be in short supply right now.

xcutterx

yeah i agree that chrome seat has to go. the stem is sort of gross as well.

SS_MB-7

Well, I'm fortunate that I have a LBS mech that I trust with all of my bikes. He's the only mech in the city that I allow to work on my bikes....I do all of my own work, with the exception of the mods I made to my Pista.

Adding the water bottle bosses is fairly simple. Most shops should have access to Rivnuts and the required installer. Occassionally, the stock water bottle bosses in frames come loose and need to be replaced. Call around. The installation of the 2 sets of water bottle bosses took about 30 minutes.

The installation of the rear brake was a little more time consuming, but, he had no issues installing it and I've had zero issues with it. Keep in mind, the bridge is not meant for a rear brake, so I've likely voided my warranty...ah well.

Total cost for the 2 water bottle bosses and rear brake was very cheap...6-pack for the water bottle bosses and $15 for the brake drilling and installation (not including the cost of the brake, housing, cable, etc.)

Ride Hard,
Mike B.
https://www.one-speed.com

fixnewb

Thanks for the info, I am definitely going to look into this.

One more question, what did you do with the rear brake cable on the top tube? Tie wraps??

Thanks again!

SS_MB-7

I had a set of Tektro top tube cable guide adapters, but they are butt-ugly and huge. I'm currently using 3 tiny zip-ties spaced evenly along with the top tube and full housing. I've also tucked the housing to the underside of the top tube. Works great!

Ride Hard,
Mike B.
https://www.one-speed.com