Gotcha gotcha.

For your solution, Jpdesjar, I don't think you'd need to reinforce your shoes though ... it'd be rare if you ever needed to use your shoe as a brake anyhow. You might ruin the shoes ... but I doubt you'd need to ever do this anyhow.

I've seen the disc brake fixed gear. I liked it also.

yeah, i was totally joking about the ted shred thing
i will never use my shoes to stop

this is Rudetay's Steamroller (my handlebars now though :))

http://velospace.org/files/surlydisk321.jpg

http://velospace.org/files/surlydisk322.jpg

look's really good. been thinking about this myself lately.

I like this setup. I wonder how much trouble I would have to go to ...

Just a quick note in regards to tightening down straps on a fixed gear, I did it for the better part of a year before I went clipless, which, I will say up front, I find superior to clips and straps in almost every conceivable way. It was just a matter of getting a feel for it. Just to give you an idea of how I had them set up:

http://velospace.org/files/img4329ug2.jpg

So, what I would do is keep my left foot tight all the time, and only adjust the right. It was really easy. When I wanted to loosen them, all I had to do was "slap" the buckles away. After a while, I got pretty good at getting them loose enough to get my foot out but not so loose that they were unrideable for a few blocks, without thinking. To tighten, I would just reach down at the top of my rotation and pull up as hard as I could. The buttons helped a lot, since all I had to do was pinch down and they would stop my hands automatically. Again, with practice, I was eventually able to get the tightness right almost every time on the first pull.

I don't see this as a solution to your problem, but I just wanted to share my experience with clips and straps, since it seems I am a bit of an anomaly for using them in this way.

Yes, similar, but, with respect, much more "modest" and in keeping with a "quiet" bike.

The problem with the brake comes from the "V" formed by the two crown arms: the "V" doesn't leave enought room inside itself to contain a caliper brake.

Yes, please, and thank you.

Several folks missed my comment in my second post about a behind-the-fork-brake.

=====

Regarding rear brakes, I can stop faster with back-pedaling than I can with a rear brake, and I have no special skills nor strength.

That said, for my tastes, a rear brake undoes the aesthetics of a fixed gear bike.

=====

Thanks to Jabba for the picture and the discussion.

i cant get pictures tonight, but ill get to you.

Again, just get keirin style clamps.

Then you can put a front brake on your fork.

And remove when ever you want, and you only have to spend the little bit of cash the clamps cost.

Problem solved, close thread, everyone move along, nothing to see here any more.

http://img299.imageshack.us/img299/8...kedanceyr3.jpg

This solution with those calipers was already proposed on p1 though.

yes, master!

how about a fork that doesnt suck?

Ken, you're right that the fork looks awesome, and shouldn't be changed, because it looks so awesome.

However, disk brakes on a fixed gear also look awesome. You put the two together, and I may well have to hit you over the head with something heavy, then take your bike.

Well, it seems like you've got to choose between aesthetics and performance.

That's up to you, but for myself, there's no way I'd choose something that forces me to ride a road bike conservatively for the sake of looks. H ell, I'm even switching from fixed to SS on my fixed road bike because I can't stand having to going slow down the hills I like to ride. I like my speed to be limited by my capabilities, not my equipment.

A disk brake can look awesome, and on a segmented fork in particular. I'd go with that to get the fork crown geometry and aesthetics that you're looking for while still having a bike that doesn't force you to compromise performance.

If you are going to go with such an unconvential looking fork on your fixed gear, go all the way and run a front disc brake. Especially on a frame with beefier tubing like a Steamroller, a front disc brake does seem at home.

And I think the issue of the rear brake being moot was more of from the look the OP wants, not the effectiveness of it.

whats so beefy about 4130 tubing? that's what most entry-level frames have these days, at the very least.

"Regarding rear brakes, I can stop faster with back-pedaling than I can with a rear brake, and I have no special skills nor strength."

Oh really? Crappy brakes you've got.

Disk brake mounts, front and back, or canti brake mounts front and back, end of story.
Will look ten times as bad ass as a keirin brake.

If you don't want a front disc, I'd suggest just getting a second fork. Just have the builder make it with a traditional crown, and he'll keep the axle-to-crown distance equal between both forks so the geometry won't change.

Ordinarily a behind-crown brake (oval's A700 comes to mind) would pop up, but it's something you'll want to inform the builder of— most of them require a little more room between the rear of the fork crown and the downtube than most steep & tight track bikes have.

Personally I think having a strange and obviously custom fork is an excellent opportunity to run a beefy mechanical disc up front… if not also tabs in the rear with internal cable routing, in case you ever wanted to use it as SS.

Nice build.... but does this bike even roll?
The way it is now, it looks like the back tire is squashed againsed the seat tube.

WTF! I thought I finished this thread!

Looks that way, but it could just be the perspective also. Look at the seatstays and you can see the parallax.

http://www.repartocorse.com/oval-con...ke-caliper.htm

http://www.nexternal.com/reparto/ima...-700-front.jpg

Hmm. If i adjust my view based on the seat-stays, I visualize the wheel scrunched in more.
But, that cant be right. It has to be illusion.

sorry, sir! i tried to tell them!

Moo point.

It' s a cow's opinion, it just doesn't matter. It's moo.