Big R

I'm just a schmo riding a fixed gear 48x16 Salsa Casseroll.

Never done a skid stop...yet.

Should I care about patches? Why?

iansmash

yes


you'll wear a hole in a perfectly good tire

edw

if you are not skidding its not going to be an issue. if you skid i would invest in a new cog.

onetwentyeight 

skid patches are only relevant if you skid/skip

sp00ki

each skid patch = a place on the tire where a skid will occur. more skid patches = better wear distribution.
ergo, the higher the skid patch the longer the (relative) tire life once you start skid/skipping, which you undoubtedly will.

westokyo

It depends on how you ride your bike and what you use it for.
If you have brake(s) to stop and don't skid, why bother.
If you want to do all those cool skids and wear your tires out, then yes.
But still you can just move your tire around or move your chain.
I don't know where you live (flat/some hills/etc.) or how you ride, but I would rather find a comfortable gear ratio first. Then worry about different cog/chain ring combos for skid patches.

1fluffhead

17t cog and being able to skip or skid with both legs=34 patches. Right now you are running 1 skid patch; 2 if you can stop with both legs. If you are planning on doing any skidding, I bet you will eat that tire up quickly. If you have no plans for these activities, then like everyone else has said you will be fine.

sp00ki

but lets be honest, how long does anyone ride without skipping even if they have no plans to? maybe one tops? i think now would be a good time to work out the math and figure out a good ratio before getting too used to a specific ratio...

1fluffhead

One of the best things I have ever gotten off this forum

sp00ki

i'll see that and raise you a
https://software.bareknucklebrigade.c...it.applet.html

and a
https://software.bareknucklebrigade.com/

Big R

yeah...I saw that and that's why I ask.

So what's with the skidding? I have f/r brakes, and I just ride the thing like my road bike...except I don't change gears.

Why does "everyone" end up skidding?

iansmash

I wore a hole through one of my tires in less than a month both doing stupid long skids and skipping to slow down/stop w/ 48/16

it was my first month of riding.

sp00ki

it's fun and simple. once you get used to doing so, it goes into the logical part of your thinking that tells your legs (not your fingers) to accelerate and decelerate. the brake only comes into play when you're going at very high speeds or at the end of really long rides. to simplify, the brake becomes an extra complication once you get used to riding a fixed gear in the street. i wouldn't remove it altogether, but as time passes you'll realize that skipping makes more sense.
at first, it seems like a waste of energy and can be frustrating for those who don't pick it up right away, but once you've been doing it for awhile it becomes second nature.

1fluffhead

hahaha, okay I see yours and call

https://www.ctc.org.uk/DesktopDefault.aspx?TabID=3521

I really like this one because as you change tire size you change gear inches.
https://www.ctc.org.uk/resources/Abou...e/GEARTABL.XLS

oeuf

I'm still working on that write-up that spooki did on skip stopping(well written, easy explanation).
Still can't do it, prob because I hesitate. I can do the balls to stem skid no prob though.

sp00ki

fold.

Moto74

if you're an ambi skidder, you only get double patches if you have an odd tooth chainring

ilive41

I skid stop often on my 48/15

I can't imagine the gearing of 48/17, especially in a place as flat as LA, just to skid stop more patches.

To humbly admit something, I don't really get the whole skid patch thing. How does it work again?

dirtyphotons

i'd say everyone gets curious about skidding. it's relatively easy to learn and can be fun, what more reason do you need?

when i first learned to skid i did it all the time. i didn't mind going through a few tires and learned pretty quickly how to do it without being too hard on my knees. after awhile the novelty wore off for me i gradually started challenging myself not to skid, which imo requires more control of the bike.

years after that i'd decided i'd proven whatever i had to prove to myself and started using my brake when i felt like it (prior to that i'd made an attempt not to, for whatever reasons). sounds like this is where you are currently and it's a good place to be. these days i'll skid once in awhile just for fun but not often enough to worry about things like skid patches.

i'd say cross that bridge when you get there. if you do decide to skid, do it because you enjoy it and if you enjoy it enough to be burning through tires then it's time to rethink your gearing. don't put the cart ahead of the horse.

twentyflights

https://www.fixiewiki.com/index.php?title=Skid_patch

a fairly legit proof.

whalesalad

The more skid patches you have, the more regions (surfaces, spots, *patches*) of the tire will have a chance at skidding. What this boils down to is, if you have one skid patch every single time you skid you're gonna be sliding along on that spot.

With 17 skid patches, every time you skid you have a chance of hitting either of those 17 spots, so essentially you'll distribute the skid wear of your tire across 17 places rather than just one.

I am sure you already looked into this and know that, but just in case...

Anyway, like everyone here has already said, if you're not skidding or skip stopping it doesn't matter at all. I went from a 16 to a 17 and gained quite a number of skid patches (from 4 I believe to 17, since I only skid with one leg) and skid quite frequently, but really you'll stop most of the time by using your legs to slow the bike, or using a brake.

Let's face it... everyone really just skids for ****s and giggles, it's not really the best way to stop. Sometimes, but really.

It sure as hell is fun, especially when you kick the rear tire out to the left or right. Looks pretty dope. Just ride like you do... skid if you wanna, and if/when your tires ever get pretty foobar in one spot, maybe time to invest in a cog that will give you more skid patches.

That's just my $0.02

tepr

you actually have unlimited skid patches. rotate your wheel off of the chain every once in a while. bam. your skid patch is in a new place.

ilive41

That's what I thought. I'll just move my chain every now and then. I rarely skid stop... maybe 3-4 times per ride, so I'm not going to ruin my gearing over it...

I guess there's just different opinions out there.

jpdesjar

skidding on wet grass is great...

Critical Jeff

I just recently started riding a fixed gear (windsor, stock chainring(48t), 17t cog) It only took me two weeks to start skidding. The first week, I started with just hopping a bit every rotation to reduce speed, but now I can skid with each leg pretty well.