Aged Bike Fixer

Before this turns into the standard brakes/no-brakes debate (or "breaks" for what seems like >50% of the posters here), does anyone actually ride in the snow without brakes? Any Denver riders care to show off some brake-less pics from last weeks big storm?

Johnny Colnago

Confucius say, "Silly round eye, riding without brakes leads to breaks."

Aged Bike Fixer

Sweet... got the no-breaks-is-stupid preach coupled with the US taught spelling skills. Perfect. This forum does not disappoint.

dayvan cowboy

with racism to boot


Last year, if it would snow at night while i was still awake and not many cars had gone by i'd go and just do skids for like 10 feet and just **** around(i have a brake i just didn't use it then). Its fun, but i wouldn't do it on main streets in traffic.

Brian

Single speed with a brake in the snow. Fixed/brake-less in the snow seems more like you have something to prove than anything else.

Aged Bike Fixer

Yea, seemed like a death wish to me, but folks do some sick stuff.

If we get snow here in DC, my commute will likely be on my mtn bike--or I'll be hoofin' it the 2 miles to work if it's too deep.

Brian

I've ridden my 24" BMX cruiser in the snow. That seemed ideal for deep snow and ice. And I've had plenty of practice crashing it.

mander

In the snow is when brakeless makes the most sense imo. You can't go very fast and neither can anyone in a car; brake or no it's going to be hard to stop; a caliper will get clogged up with snow; and often using a front brake is just going to make you bail. Even beyond all these advantages there is something inherently moronic about riding a bike in the snow that somehow makes a brakeless fixed gear ideal. I rode brakeless for a month last winter during very heavy snow in the Greater Vancouver area, with two aero levers hooked up to nothing for extra jackassery, and had a really good time.

bones_mcbones

That's what I'm think. As soon as you touch your back brakes they'll lock up anyways, and the front is useless, so why not fixed. That's my plan, I have parts on order for a righteous supercycle conversion!

Flimflam

I'll agree with mander here, I think it makes most sense in the really bad winter conditions. My bike is brakeless because of the mechanics of my former front brake freezing onto my fork (bad installation with no grease) - I *never* used my front brake as soon as the snow/ice started to be a part of things - way too risky IMO and I just didn't want the chance of the front washing out from under me. That's assuming they'd work properly at all, which after a while they tended not to when they started to get all gacked up.

Riding fixed in the snow is *always* fun, IMO - brakeless either by not having or not using a brake in these conditions just seems to make sense.

monsterkidz

Brakes or brakeless, I always eat **** at least once every winter.\
Gotta watch out for fresh snow on top of a sheet of ice.

jgedwa

Winter is really the only time I ride brakeless. My Winter bike is geared way down so I never get going fast, and with that gearing its even easier to stop than usual.

jim

ianjk

I run studded tires + front brake. Would never run brakeless in the winter. Even before I ran studs, there were many, many times when the front brake saved my arse. Granted I live in a very hilly area, but being able to stop when you need to is kind of a no-brainer for me. For those claiming you will crash if you run a front brake, you are fooling yourself, or horrible riders.

Noobert

theres aways that front brake argument, about how they make you fall

Johnny Colnago

Aged Bike Fixer, I'm coming for you man. My style is impetuous. My defense is impregnable, and I'm just ferocious. I want your heart. I want to eat his children. Praise be to Allah!

Johnny Colnago

P.S. Learn to spell "brakes" you ignoramus.

Johnny Colnago

Don't get mad white man. You can be my man servant when the yellow revolution comes.

Aged Bike Fixer

I see Johnny Colnago is posting replies, but for some reason there's no message displayed.

Johnny, can you try again? I'm sure whatever you had to say was very useful and I'm sure the forum could stand to read it once more. Maybe try double posting...

Brian

Can I have the comma that you're not using?

elTwitcho

Or maybe it's because you're running a studded front and most people aren't

wearyourtruth

i've "ridden" brakeless in the snow/ice so far as to screw around and see what it's like. frankly if you are smart enough to control your speed and can "downshift" your legs to slow down, it's not that big of a deal. but if you have ANY thoughts that skidding might lead to stopping in anything less than 30ft you are going to be in for a surprise. and it's not that hard to skid, so even if you aren't trying to, it might start happening.

i prefer to just ride another bike; with 2 brakes, knobby tires, and fenders.

No-T

Sounds to me like a lot of people epic-ly fail at brake usage and maintenance. I use a brake in the winter...they work. Don't be stupid about it.

kyselad

If you're going to complain explicitly about confusing break and brake...

Aged Bike Fixer

Sorry dude. I didn't realize you weren't able to comprehend sarcasm... I'll warn ya next time.

Sixty Fiver

Winter is when I pretty much stop using the front brake on my fixed mtb... it's still there but for a good part of our winter it does not get used.