Tes, front brake, but go with sexy!

trollheim?

As I or anyone else who's been hit by a car will tell you, getting hit sucks. Take it slow, get a brake ASAP (as in, this week) and enjoy your new ride.

this week meaning between today (thurs) and saturday?
+1

sad troll is found out

yes indeed. thank you guys lol. FRONT brake. Plus. i Need a smaller gear ratio anyway. The gear ratio is fast when I get it up to speed, but its a ***** when im going slow. But Of course i knew i needed brakes....just didnt know exactly which one was priority? Thanks guys lol



Trollheim as in Runescape Trollheim?

k. Btw....if I change the cog which I definitely will do, should I make it a 17t or 18t cog? Again, the chainring is 48T according to bikesdirect from whence I got the bike.

Sorry for making you look bad btw. BUt I am truly impressed with the bike. Simple, quick, and light. Best bike I ever bought and its only day 2 on it. =].

I agree! "Survival of the fittest" FTW! It is crucial to the survival of the **** sapien race.

OP should just get a brake OR stick his foot into his spokes every time he needs to stop


EWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW......

Try the 18, it will be easy to get up to speed which is nice for riding with traffic around. For a while I had 48 x 18/19 and I liked it a lot.

Fred and Barney never needed brakes.

Hey LoRoK, XD. thanks.

Its all good. Of course I know I needed brakes. Maybe I should have been more specific? Aside from the brakes which were a given, (and I dont HAVE a front brake to work with atm), was the best way to learn how to skid stop? Was the best way to just resist the crank rotation? was the best way to not exert power to the pedals and let the bike roll to a loooooooong stop? XD sounds stupid. but then again......only my second day =p/


Looks like its an 18t.

Break are for sissies, just spend some time learning how to skid properly.

Oh no you didn't.

Go here:

https://software.bareknucklebrigade.c...it.applet.html

Study and use the above applet for a few minutes and you can choose your chain ring and sprocket for yourself.

I find 72 gear inches most versatile for a strong rider, although many rider go up to 82 gear inches for the speed, and I presently ride at 61 gear inches for the control and because I don't use a brake and I don't skid.

Ride with a brake, and a front brake only, until you realize a year has passed by without using your brake.

Even then, it makes good sense to ride with a front brake if you like to ride fast.

I don't care that much about fast, but if I had a long commute and geared up for the commute, I'd ride with a brake.

As for braking without a brake, forget about skidding.

Skidding doesn't work; it only ruins tires.

Learn to stop without skidding.

As a starter, when you want to slow down, make your bottom light on the saddle and slide back a bit; and resist the rising pedal.

Do this for a few months and you'll get better and better at it.

It takes coordination and not strength.

If you want to skid just for the skid of it, get out of the saddle and resist the rising pedal; as you resist the rising pedal, start moving your hips forward, towards the handlebars; at a certain point, you will automatically start pulling up on the descending pedal; the more you move your hips forward, the more you will resist the descending pedal; continue to resist the rising pedal, as well as the descending pedal, and eventually, as you experiment with moving your hips further forward, the rear tire will surprise you by skidding.

Don't try to do it all at once.

Play with it.

Just remember that skidding won't stop you very quickly compared to a tire that remains stuck to the pavement.

How is resisting your pedals better than stopping by skidding? I do this all the time while cruising under 10mph but what about faster and more abrupt stops? Skidding also lets you regulate your speed more effectively, especially at speed and down hills. A brake of course is ideal.

locked tire = no traction to go sideways. meaning you can't do anything but plow straight forward on a locked wheel.

read up on winter driving and why it's bad to lock tires up... similar rules apply to bikes.

If your dead set against a brake....

Really? ok, you versus me and my 6Klb SUV. Lets see who wins, yes I will!

Skidding is not stopping properly.

Maybe when we where kids on BMX bikes. Yes, I was the KING back then.

But while skidding you are NOT in control.

You can still skid properly with a brake. With a brake, when your chain breaks because it's stretched out from all that skidding, you can still stop without laying the bike down / Fred Flintstoning it / Ted Shredding it / soiling yourself.

^ You mean "With a break, when your chain brakes"...right???

Best way to get used to skidding is to just put your junk to the stem and lock the legs. I know it can feel super scary at first, but you just gotta do it. Start out like that and then you'll get comfortable with your timing to lock your legs, and you won't have to lean so far forward eventually and you'll be able to do seated skids. It's good to mix up all techniques of stopping. I ride 48x17 (just switched up from 42x16) and I back pedal, or resist, a lot when I have time to, skid sometimes just for fun or to check my speed down a bridge or hill, and also rock a front brake for the "oh sh*t!" moments. Just always look ahead at an intersection you're coming up on, or traffic light, or anything at all. Most important thing is to be aware of what's ahead of you and allow plenty of time for stopping and reaction. There's also what some people call "ghost pedaling" or any other name you might hear for just letting your legs rest in the pedals, no forward or backward motion, kind of like coasting to a stop.

You'll develop your own style and comfort level the more you ride, just spend as much time on your bike as possible and get used to it and comfortable and it will be like second nature before you know it. You can even set up fake scenarios when you're on a nice open road or parking lot, like pretend a certain line in the road is a car that just whipped out in front of you, or a light that changed, and practice stopping at that point. I know it may sound corny, but it's good to know you can handle all situations to fully enjoy your bike and ride confidently. Hospitals are overrated. Hope this helped some, and enjoy your bike!

(and at risk of sounding redundant or repetitive with everyone else, but definitely invest in a front brake haha)

forget the brake. rear bumpers slow you down way faster anyways.

I guess what I meant to say is can people actually resist their pedals to a stop (in a short distance) when pedaling fast? I have driven quite a bit in winter weather to snowboard but in southern california we don't have winter weather. Luckily with clean dry roads nearly all year round you don't have to worry about traction

No.

if you have only had it for a few days or a week, keep a brake on til u learn to skid, i learned to skid in about 15 minnutes, and eventually after a week i could hold a skid for as long as i wanted, then eventually i didnt have to lean forward anymore, just stand up a little bit, and farther down, after getting tired of killing rear tires, i learned to skip stop, which was really easy after i built up the muscle for a regular skid