illadelphia esq

That seems to sum it up what I have heard and I might as well give it a try. I may be waiting before attempting it as a means to impress until I can be sure I won't fall off.

G60

the benefit is that you can stop, compared to no braking at all.

sp00ki

you won't. once your brain understands how to ride a bike, it does everything it can to keep you from falling off of it; it's already written into reflex.
the only people who fall off of bikes are girls and the mentally handicapped.

aMull

Is there a guide to skipping somewhere? And how is it different than skidding?

comptechgsr

cleaner looking bike,
stronger legs (if you're impeding the crank, slowing down etc, not necessarily locking and skidding).

those stronger legs may become injured fyi

shapelike

Well let's see, the last time I bailed on my bike was when my front wheel was hit by a brakeless fixed gear rider (who was swerving/skidding to avoid a cab door that had opened and cut in front of me). The only reason I didn't completely eat **** and managed to keep myself from being laid out on the street was because I was able to slow down (WITH MY BRAKES) before he t-boned me.

sweatpants

I'm a new rider, fixed for about 2 months now. I've had creaky/weak knees for a couple years and had read a lot on the internet about fixed gear ruining knees, yet heard the opposite from fellow flatlanders who took up fixed gear to rehab knees. In my case I don't use a hand brake. I ride fast in a secluded area without much traffic. Mainly I avoid skidding and muscle-down the speed. My legs, and knees have never felt better. I don't feel comfortable at this point of riding through busy places; to me leg braking is not the wisest choice for busy city riding. It's possible to develop enough technique to avoid bad crashes I guess, but for most mortals, a front brake would prolly add a lot to the safety factor.

Summary, leg braking for me=more leg strength.

cheers

MrCjolsen

I tried riding brakeless a few times. The biggest problem was that I had to ride slower. That really put a damper on one of the things about cycling that brings me total joy - riding as fast as I can down a city street.

I seldom do the reverse powermashing thing. It's just not a pleasant feeling. I generally use my brake to stop all the time.

With that said, it's also true that I love riding fixed gear. None of my bikes have freewheels except for my 27 speed Surly Crosscheck.

I like fixed because it gives me a certain amount of pedaling discipline that transfers to when I ride a geared bike. When you can't coast, you don't coast, and when you don't coast you go faster. Also I like the added control over the bike. In traffic I can control my speed much easier on a fixed gear.

illadelphia esq

I feel that the majority of my close calls are with cabs and we don't have an overwhelming numbers of cabs in Philly. I think the cabbies are trained to make the roads more dangerous and thereby increasing the demand for their services as those able to navigate the mayhem. Or they just don't keep their eyes open for bikes.

My understanding is that it a parallel to the technique for skidding but you hop your back wheel to get more resistance between the pavement and wheel. Hypothetically, it could slow the bike faster since friction is lost every time a skid starts. I would have to believe that the greater benefit is the fun of hopping on the bike.



So my final assessment: using your legs to slow down can improve leg strength, skidding/skipping is plain fun, the stress of leg-braking can hurt your knees, you tend to ride slower if relying exclusively on leg-braking, and apparently skidding/skipping with a brake installed is quasi-sacrilege to a particular class.

cizzlak

Why this took 3 pages to surmise is beyond me, but thank God you're about finished.

Thetank

well I will tell you this, the last race we had everyone who had some kind of mishap or wiped out was riding brakeless. what you have to understand is that even if you're able to brake in the same distance as using a mechanical brake by using your legs, they will eventually tire out and it will become a hazard to yourself where as the mechanical brake will not fatigue and very seldom fail.

This might sound like a "Use a brake" argument but there is no positive reason to not use a brake on the streets other than to make your bike look cleaner. So any benefits you might get from using your legs as a means to slow you down are just not worth taking the risk.

SingleSpeeDemon

If she has pigtails and knee socks, it's not as bad as you'd think.

illadelphia esq

It wouldn't have gone past a page if only to topical replies are counted and in a related vain the search function would be more helpful if most threads were not full of similar clutter. On the converse, if people could find answers easily others would have nothing to complain about, they will stop being as active, and conceivably the forum will become boring with less visitors.

Unfortunately, the only really new thing I learned was that most people can't get past the front brake argument and, as a result, no real discussion is possible. I just don't care enough to further attempts at an actual discussion and hope that a future interested party will save him or herself the grief if they are lucky enough seem a brief statement of the general consensus.

sweatpants

lol

Thetank

Thank that imaginary deity people pray to that this is all over with!

capolover

bad knees?

capolover

and is legal right?

dookie

a-****in'-men. cizzlak was especially helpful. i run a front brake and absolutely cannot comprehend why anyone would ride brakeless (or listen to coldplay)...but i accept that people do. this thread has been particularly enlightening as to the mindset of the brakless...

cizzlak

I was at *least* as helpful as anyone else, back in reply #5... Anything else mentioned could have been found by searching the forums, as I also mentioned later on page 1... But okay. Compliment taken

schnee

I live to serve.