Epic brake fail facepalm?

It's funny how so many people on this thread have reacted to riding brakeless... I guarantee 90% of them ride like they are drunk on a regular basis. I've ridden brakeless for years. Every now & then i come across a rider who is obviously got something to prove & rides like an @ss, but typically the brakeless riders i encounter in NYC & Brooklyn, S.F., Chicago, etc. are hands down more skilled than their braked counterparts. It's not an argument about brakes or no brakes, it's a conversation about careless vs. focused riding. The guy that started this thread was obviously on the side of careless.

My whole thinking is, if you are going to take the risk of learning how to ride a fixed gear bike without the use of brakes, don't be a j@ck@ss... take it slow & tune into the flow of a city. And for fuxx sake, always have a way out of a given situation (don't ride directly behind vehicles).

bring it.

as the other guy said, don't try to back pedal unless it is under 10 mph or so. skidding is too dangerous and ineffective, especially for beginners.
i would suggest just do what these guys said. ride with front brakes, and learn to use it. i could relate to that guy in the picture though, i didn't go through the back window, but i ate the pavement either way. the best things i learned after posting this thread are.
1. practice using front brakes.
2. put your weight back on the saddle to prepare for a hard front braking.
3. don't turn the handlebars, try to have it really straight, then brake.
4. try to scope out far ahead, but some things you just can't prevent. like what happened to me. its like a luck of the draw. in that split second, what you practiced with the front brakes comes in.

The physical term is weight transfer, such that the harder you apply the front brake, the more downward force is applied to the front tire, which results in greater traction. In a panic stop hard braking situation, I instinctively push my butt back, even off the rear of the saddle to maximize the weight transfer, whilst still keeping the rear wheel on the ground. It has always been a mystery to me why front and rear brakes on bicycles are the same size, since the braking force achievable with the rear wheel is much less than the front. This is why my motorcycle has two huge front disk brakes and one tiny rear disk brake. Even then, I have to be careful not to lock up the rear wheel under hard front braking. Although most of my road bikes have rear brakes, I rarely use them, and my street fixed gear only has a front brake.

I think the point a lot of people are missing here is that you CAN NOT and WILL NEVER be able to account for everything. You will NEVER be able to account for other drivers. Even in the best possible situation where you are aware of your outs and you have planned for the worst bad things can still happen. Having a brake is not about being a good rider or not; its about being prepared for an emergency situation. I don't care who you are or how long you've been riding. To ride without a brake is to ride without being prepared for every possible situation. To ride without a brake is to ride without ensuring that you've got all of your outs.

If you want all your outs then shouldn't people that don't know how to skid/skip stop have rear brakes also then? Or all bikes in general? I have a front brake on my fixed gear but through practice have learned how to at least slow down fairly well with my legs alone well above 10mph. Of course it requires more distance to stop but I initially learned because I personally find skidding one of the many fun "tricks" you can do on a fixed gear bike. Eventually it became second nature and gave me a bit more control over my bike. I haven't heard of many front brakes failing but it's about being prepared right? Front brakes have enough stopping power but in some emergencies it seems like you don't have the time to modulate and prevent flying over the bars. I haven't run into a situation where that has happened but there has been a handful of times my rear wheel has lifted in an emergency stop. Wouldn't a rear brake be helpful here or am I wrong?

When asked immediately after the crash "What's the last thing you remember?" He said... (refer to sticker on car)

Are people really so stupid that they need advice on how to brake????

Seriously??? You ride, you brake, you quickly figure out what works best.

But then again, I guess there are people who never ride bikes, and then they get a FG coz it's cool, then they only get a front brake coz that's cooler than 2. etc. etc....

I agree. Scapes, gashes, bruises are awesome incentive to figure out those things quick.

i've been riding my 6 speed for a year, went fixed for about a month. i confess i'm not that good with a fixed, but then again its only been a month... whats the point of a forum if i can't ask questions like tips for braking? or is it just for bike porn...
and from the discussions, i learned a lot, than just a simple "use your brakes" so i think it was a useful thread for me and a few others, maybe not you. if you're too cool to read a thread like this, you don't have to read it, simple as that.

I ride with a front brake but use it as little as possible. When I need to come to a stop I usually just fight the pedals or try to skid-stop if I'm feeling like it. I also always keep a look out ahead to see when a street lights gunna change to yellow so I can get a feel for if I need to start slowing down or what not. I can see how people ride brakeless, but I would never do it for those many occasions that a front brake helps out a ton.

Ditto. Skips and skids because they are just natural and fun. Front brake for emergencies, steep hills, or when I'm just lazy

skip-stopping is good enough for me. if situations are too sudden, you'll fly over the bars anyway even with a brake. the best protection is still good judgment. chances are the best thing to do if theres someone in your way is to find the best path around them. i find it easier to go around things than to try to emergency stop and eat **** and possibly cause harm to objects/people i am flying into/on top of.

Don't you guys get tired faster doing all that resisting and skidding and stuff?

you wont fly over the bars unless your leaning forward over them and you have never used a front brake before...

Couldn't have said it better myself. We should change this to the "why you should wear a helmet thread"

Isn't that kinda the point of riding fixed?
One of the benefits being getting your legs in better shape.

Why not just get a freewheel bike and always pedal if you don't want to ever have to resist or skid?
(Not talking **** I actually have a single speed bike built up solely for when I don't feel like resisting and skidding)

I agree that not wearing a helmet is a way more stupid than riding brakeless if you have the skills.

Obviously you know there is a really big difference in the feel of riding fixed vs always pedaling on a freewheel.

And I'm not talking about some big zen bike connection thing. I'm talking about how the momentum of the bike carries your feet through the dead spots and aides in spinning.
Fixed gear bikes are a lot easier to pedal than single speeds, which is one of the reasons I like riding them.

This is true. I think I just really enjoy skidding/skipping.

I wouldn't say easier. Maybe for short flat distances it's easier because it carries your feet. But there are plenty of times coasting would be easier. Downhill, peak of sprinting, fast cornering, and even just resting the legs on a long trek.

Yeah sorry I meant "the act of pedaling is easier". Those things you listed are "not pedaling".

When you are pedaling, pedaling is easier on fixed than anything else.

Obviously "not pedaling" is easier than "pedaling".

Ah you're right. I guess I just associate coasting to freewheels like pedaling is to fixed. IMO, if you never rode a fixed before, there's no reason to always pedal

LMAO.

Is stopping that hard for people?

Honestly I don't know anyone over the age of about 12 who has flown over the handlebars from braking.

I think my brother did it once when he was like 10.