after building my kilo track from bike island i found out that i was having problems fitting the brake. what happens is when i tighten the brake to the fork, it pinches the headset cup, causing my fork not to turn.. my local shop said he has seen a couple of kilo's come to his shop with the same problem.. so he gave me some spacers to try and help.. when i put those on it rubs on the outside of the cup of the headset, making a grinding noise, and not a smooth turn of the wheel. the geometry between the frame and fork is so tight. anyways, the day this happened i was late to work and at this time my bike was my only mode of transportation.. so i road brakeless (in Seattle) which is kinda scary at first.. lot of hills. its been about two weeks now, and im getting used to riding brakeless, i have had a couple of close calls, but nothing serious.. im riding a 46x16 which is just killing my legs though, and its hard to stop on hills.. im bumping down to a 43x16 friday, i hope this makes a bid difference. anyways what do most of you brakeless riders use for gear ratios?

Brakeless in Seattle... that's as far as i'm gonna take that one.

50x17.

53x11

Brakeless in Seattle is scary. I had a really, really hard time doing it with 48/17 gearing. I ended up buying another brake and putting it on.

69x11. Go big or go home.

49x17.

Get a 42x16

48x17

but i dont live in seattle.
there are small hills on my side of the city. but on the southside there are some kinda gnarly hills.

you ride a 48/16 that you are about to change to a 19...then a 60/13...which is it? or neither...

he's kidding.

the deal is...

find a brake spacer that has flat parts and put the flat parts horizontal so they don't hit the race.

brakeless is only okay on flats.

69x11 is way to big for the street, something like 53x11 like the person above would definitely be a lot easier at only 130.1 GI

If you're actually interested in brakes, just file down a flat in the spacer you have. Make sure to only file down what you need to and use common sense.

im going to mess around and try to get the brake to work,, ill see how the 43x16 pans out.. if it makes it much easier i may leave this particular bike brakeless (for short rides).

I ride 46x16 and love this gear ratio, I do have hills around me but going up is a bigger problem than going down. I just apply back pressure when going down a hill, not a big deal at all.

45/16 but probably go back to 47/16 before long.

47x16 now too. Much faster.

Brakeless in Seattle scares the bleep out of me. A "close call" in my mind is very very bad thing.

That said, I was scared riding brakeless in Seattle on a 47/17, wasn't hard to skid on hills once I figured out that you really have to lean over the front even though it seems like you're going to fall off the edge of the world when going down steep hills, you won't, and it will let you lock up the back tire very very easily no matter the gear. Then ease your weight back as much as you need to increase the stopping power. Also, the sideways back wheel type skids are easier and have more braking power when done right.

seattle brakeless riders unite!

the crucial thing on steep grades is speed checks or sideways skids as miahmiah said, bombing hills on a fixie is a lot like bombing slopes on a snowboard, you just gotta stay in control.

I ride 44x15 sometimes 44x17 here in Colorado. We have some really crazy hills and I still get a little tense every once in a while but its not bad. I can make it up most the hills while only standing at the very top part and still slow down on the down hill.

See, I've yet to learn to skid yet, so I've been terrified of riding brakeless on hills. I need to learn to skid.

i ride pittsburgh brakeless and ive been using 44/17 an its been good. i have never ridden in seattle and its been years since i was last there, but the 'burgh is super hilly and my gearing works just fine. i live atop a 2/3 mi long steep hill and i go up and down every day and 44/17 is easy to use going down and going up isnt too bad. also, what brakes are you using? / maybe try the harry havnoonian method and put them on backwards

The guy who owns the shop I usually get my innertubes from rides a bike with a chainring that size, I think he made it himself.

Make sure you are riding with clips and straps. Have fun!