There's two things I see:

For every dozen hipsters that get into bikes to use them as their latest fashion accessory, we'll snag at least one or two of them for life.

and,

It should be noted that most hipsters don't even think they're hipsters.

I love how this is a story about how you learned not to use a masterlink, not a story about how you learned having a brake for emergencies isn't a bad idea! It seems like the skill that was necessary to mastering was grabbing onto bus windows with both hands in a 2 foot gap. If I can master that I can ride brakeless?

To answer the question:
1. What kinda frame is that?
2. What kinda lever they runnin'?

!. Humm, a FG conversion
2. Ok.


Now if I had a third thought...

3. Hipster wanabe post neo-messenger core.

KIDDING!
..relax.

When I got my first fixed gear (a conversion) I left the brake on and loved it. I rode for 6 months and practiced not using my brakes, skidding, skipping, etc. Then i eventually I got good enough and bought a entry level track bike. I removed the brake and I did fine. I got better and better. 6 months later I pretty much mastered riding brakeless (well, at least I felt that way). But here is what I noticed about me riding brakeless:

1) I had to keep my gear ratio lower for control and skidding. This resulted in slower riding.
2) I had to ride generally slower for safety reasons - I could never all-out-sprint in traffic.
3) I had to pay attention to every car's potential move and anticipate everything far in advance.
4) I had to begin my slowing down on hills sometimes a full block before the bottom.
5) In general I didnt enjoy biking as much. I missed going fast.

I hated going so slow. Then after getting murdered in my 2nd race I decided to change everything on just one bike. I put a brake on again and increased that bike's gear ratio. Wow, it was fun to ride fast again. I could now wait until the last second to brake and I could ride at any speed. Thats the part i missed the most. I like to ride at 48x15 or even 48x14 in traffic. Now i have brakes on both my bikes.

I don't admire brakeless bikes anymore. When i see a brakeless bike I see people who are chained to riding with restrictions. I feel a brake allows you to do whatever kind of riding at whatever speeds you like. Thats just my opinion.

+1.

+6

hell yes +1

What a turd.

perfect. this should be in the bikeforums.net ss/fg banner above.

I think,"****! I should be riding my bike too!" Yeah, I dont give a flying **** what anyones riding as long as theyre having fun doing it

Ride Among Us seems to have nailed it for me and a few other folks... I hate anything that slows me down and strangely enough, that device that helps me stop faster also lets me ride faster than I would if I didn't have it.

I really admire the younger folks here who have made the decision to run a brake and not bend to peer pressure...

the op of this thread (bigbris1) has quickly catapulted himself from "i've never heard of this guy" status to "my least favorite person on all of bikeforums" status, with his ignorant question and judgmental comments.

good job buddy! nice thread!

+ 1,000,000

I don't see anything wrong with conversions either. Sometimes it seems as though this forum is more obsessed with bikes as subject matter for photographs than it is with actually riding them.

EXACTLY!! I try not to judge someone by the bike they ride or how they are dressed. I own four different bicycles myself at this time not counting the wife or the kids bikes. I have a Cannondale Capo switched to a fixie with a set of tt bars added and the rear brake removed. I have a Specialized Rockhopper. I have a Cannondale touring bike that I have rode over 700 miles in a week on before. And I have a Cannondale Black Lightning that I can average 22 mph on and finish a century in under 5 hours.

I love riding them all whether I am buzzing the single track trail on my rockhopper or beating the whole bike club group to where we eat breakfast on our Saturday morning ride on my fixie. So when I am riding my fixie I dont think some guy on a mountain bike must be a moron.

My touring bike is also used to commute back and forth to work each day. No fenders or bag on my fixie. I wear my jeans and t-shirt while riding it then. If I go long distance I will be wearing spandex.

My fixed has a 48 x 16 gearing. I chose that because this area is fairly flat and I like to go fast. However in my opinion going fast means one had better have a brake.

So to each their own. I don't have any one style and don't expect anyone else to either. I just love riding a bike. I have rode as many as three of my bikes in one day before.

A friend of mine is visiting Japan right now and said something along the lines of conversions being illegal there? Is there any ounce of truth to this that you know of.

If you ride brakeless and don't know how to ride with a front brake, you don't know how to handle a bike at all. It also means you have a very misguided understanding of classical Newtonian physics. Frictional force applied to the front end of a traveling mass is much more effective at stopping it than frictional force applied to the trailing end. If you're trying to stop using a front brake under the same posture and position as if you were trying to stop brakeless (unloading the rear wheel temporarily and shifting weight slightly forward) then of course you will make friends with the pavement. It also means you have the bike handling skills of a triathlete. To say you wouldn't ride with a brake for this reason is to say you don't understand how to ride a bike.

This is not me twisting your words in any way. This is you saying you don't trust your ability to make accurate judgments about speed and are afraid of your inability to not panic.

i think, "remember when that ******bag from bikeforums tried to be elitist by subtly letting everyone know he just learned to skid and / or bought his first crappy track bike? that was awesome. sike, it was gay."

Don't take this the wrong way but... Is your sig supposed to be ******** on purpose?

1. your a *****
2. your a *****

actually now that i dwell on it, everyone is a ***** accept me!

Testify!!

A hipster in denial is a Dipster.

And you check the oil in your car with a dipstick.

this thread is probably the fixed gear apocalypse