Brakeless Vanity
 

I know, it's done to death, and beyond. If tires were brains and zombies could dig them up in the future they'd probably still be be groaning and bored.

BUT... I've been riding brakeless for quite a while, and I'm getting sick of replacing my rear tire more often than I really need to. I can skid like a champ and can stop a lot quicker than people with crappy brakes.

I also wouldn't want to drill a hole in a beautiful fork, yet I would still be comfortable riding that bike in traffic without brakes. Therefore, my conclusion is that brakeless riding on the street is pure vanity and is quite the opposite of the Zen purity which some people seem to claim.

I'm also quite drunk right now.

your also correct, drunk or not.

uhmmm this topic HAS been done to death. There are points on both sides, the whole Zen argument actually (even though it is SO trite) makes sense to me because of this:

riding w/o brakes forces someone to be more aware

awareness=mindfulness=zen

I, however, choose to ride w/ brakes b/c it lets me go faster and have more fun since I know I have the ability to control my bike. I still manage to stay aware somehow, imagine that.

I apologise for defaming both zombies and zen.

what a weird open directory...

Any good(nude) pictures? I don't feel like going through them all. :lol:

Oh yeah you know... she's one of those girls that met her husband through WOW. And has an obsession with Unicorns... And posing with cars? I guess that's weird.

http://theresafarrell.org/wootsm.jpg
http://theresafarrell.org/turtlewax.jpghttp://theresafarrell.org/gasmask.jpg
http://theresafarrell.org/bellybutton.jpg


Yeah.. wtf?

no. this is as close as it gets:
http://theresafarrell.org/woot.jpg

but yeah, weird character. she's obsessed with her rats, her car, drawing pictures of dungeons and dragons crap and having people take pictures of her flabby body while she wears heels. really odd..

The thing is though, once you're comfortable riding brakeless you can drift off into a daydream when you're riding just as you would when you're riding a bike with gears and brakes.

If you don't want to drill a beautiful fork, get a second fork that's already drilled and mount your brake on that.

Otherwise:

http://os2.dhs.org/~john/jeay.jpg

I hear those brake sets aren't to reliable for everyday use, something about a fork not being built for the stress a brake strapped in like that would cause...

Another problem is that the clamps are going to damage paint (and possibly powdercoat).

Sheldon Brown:

Some fixed-gear riders ride on the road without brakes. This is a bad idea. I know, I've tried it. If you do it, and have any sense of self-preservation at all, it will cause you to go much slower than you otherwise could, everytime you go through an intersection, or pass a driveway. The need for constant extra vigilance takes a great deal of the fun out of cycling.

I 100% agree. It creates vanity, and it isn't awareness, it's straight fear.

People always tell me to take off my brake, that it's a track bike. Since WHEN do I visit the velodrome? NEVER. So NO it is NOT a TRACK bike. It's a fixed wheel street bike.

My brake has saved me from having my face torn apart COUNTLESS times. You guys go ahead enjoying brakeless while I can enjoy this 35 degree hill with no worries.

I rode brakeless until this morning, when my brake lever got in. I'm happy now that I can finally approach corners at speed, and not have to start slowing down half way down the hill.

Peabodypride with the timing win.

Would anyone else hit it?

no there isnt. brakeless is thorougly impractical. 100% of the folks running brakeless are doing it to be cool. brakeless is slower and more dangerous. and it is quite a trick to be both of those things at the same time.

If it was just an open invitation to hit it... yeah probably.

If you had to like, talk to her and stuff... probably not so much.

No you cant.

I don't get the picture of the two girls?

You really don't sound like you know what you are doing if you're skidding all over the place. That's proof your doing it just to do it. Riding with a backpedaling and skipping technique is what should be done most if you're going to ride brakeless. I'm not going to say you're dumb for riding brakeless because I've done it before as well, but I found running brakes to be much easier. Is it a vanity thing for some...yes, but not everyone does it for that reason of looking cool (that's why I'll say some). You could have the same Zen feeling of riding your bike with a brake, all you have to do is not grab it and you would have simulated the same "brakeless" ride :D

Don't speak for me, thanks.

The tektro canti's I installed seized in the winter. I didn't use my front brake during the ice/snow period because, well, that's just asking for trouble - and when I have the control of a fixed wheel in those conditions, it didn't make sense to risk spilling myself over the road just to use the brake (which doesn't work too well in that gak anyway). The cantilever arms themselves are seized onto the fork mounts, and despite me beating the crap out of them to try and get them off, even with WD-40's help, they aren't moving. Previous to the winter, these brakes worked *very* well I should note.

So because I can't afford a new fork or a road caliper right now, I'm running brakeless. It wasn't so much a choice but more a biproduct of my situation (and, to be fair, probably my lack of grease when installing the lever arms).

if everyone and their mom believes that the front wheel has the most stopping power, why do brakeless riders swear they can stop faster or just as fast as having brakes?