Why I will never ride with brakes.
08-20-08, 06:24 PM
#1
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Why I will never ride with brakes.
I don't know if this has been posted previously since this is my first day on here.
But I will never get brakes for my fixie. I've been riding for a long time and there is nothing like it. I switch to my regular geared road bike and find myself trying to pedal backwards. I don't feel like I have that "zen." Yes, that is probably cliche, I really don't care. When you do not have brakes you become more aware and in the moment. With brakes you KNOW you have the option of safely stopping. Without, there is always the increased risk of injury or- death. Now maybe I'm just crazy and not afraid of getting hurt!
But I will never get brakes for my fixie. I've been riding for a long time and there is nothing like it. I switch to my regular geared road bike and find myself trying to pedal backwards. I don't feel like I have that "zen." Yes, that is probably cliche, I really don't care. When you do not have brakes you become more aware and in the moment. With brakes you KNOW you have the option of safely stopping. Without, there is always the increased risk of injury or- death. Now maybe I'm just crazy and not afraid of getting hurt!
08-20-08, 06:29 PM
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I will probably never remove my brakes. Why? Because as much as I enjoy the Zen of riding fixed gear, I'm in no hurry to reach Nirvana.
08-20-08, 06:38 PM
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probably true, since it has been declared that riding without brakes is "********."
08-20-08, 06:42 PM
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08-20-08, 06:46 PM
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I'd love to see a poll of people who've come off vs those who haven't and see their oppinions then..
I know the feeling you're talking about, I've always had a front brake for emergency (plus there are some steep hills here and I'm not a great skidder due to not being able to finance new tires more often than I do now!) but recently I changed back to drops and the bars are too fat.. I was riding along my street at my normal (quickish) pace and looked down and realised I'd no brakes attached to my bike whatsoever! so kinda calmed it down a bit.
And it's actually a good thing too, was a test spin and on it I discovered my Ebay bargain cranks had been eaten apart from over-tightening the pedals done by a previous owner. If I'd gone to try and stop hard my pedal would have snapped off, making a difficult stop even more dangerous!
My view is, try ride without a brake once or twice to really feel the Zen, but then stick on a brake so you don't get killed! Have to say it made me so much more aware (amplified by the jump of 10 gear inches to the drivetrain) and I'm glad I chose to use a brake in the end.
My 2c
I know the feeling you're talking about, I've always had a front brake for emergency (plus there are some steep hills here and I'm not a great skidder due to not being able to finance new tires more often than I do now!) but recently I changed back to drops and the bars are too fat.. I was riding along my street at my normal (quickish) pace and looked down and realised I'd no brakes attached to my bike whatsoever! so kinda calmed it down a bit.
And it's actually a good thing too, was a test spin and on it I discovered my Ebay bargain cranks had been eaten apart from over-tightening the pedals done by a previous owner. If I'd gone to try and stop hard my pedal would have snapped off, making a difficult stop even more dangerous!
My view is, try ride without a brake once or twice to really feel the Zen, but then stick on a brake so you don't get killed! Have to say it made me so much more aware (amplified by the jump of 10 gear inches to the drivetrain) and I'm glad I chose to use a brake in the end.
My 2c
08-20-08, 06:51 PM
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This is Africa, 1943. War spits out its violence overhead and the sandy graveyard swallows it up. Her name is King Nine, B-25, medium bomber, Twelfth Air Force. On a hot, still morning she took off from Tunisia to bomb the southern tip of Italy. An errant piece of flak tore a hole in a wing tank and, like a wounded bird, this is where she landed, not to return on this day, or any other day.
This is Africa, 1943. War spits out its violence overhead and the sandy graveyard swallows it up. Her name is King Nine, B-25, medium bomber, Twelfth Air Force. On a hot, still morning she took off from Tunisia to bomb the southern tip of Italy. An errant piece of flak tore a hole in a wing tank and, like a wounded bird, this is where she landed, not to return on this day, or any other day.
08-20-08, 07:21 PM
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learn to ride without brakes and you're fine. sounds like a lot of people on here belong in the road forum.
08-20-08, 07:23 PM
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To the OP, go for it and ride without brakes. It's your skull and while I think it's idiotic, I won't stop you from doing it