I had a rather nasty wipeout due to black ice today on my fixie.

My front brake arm is bent, and my left lever is at a 90 degree angle. The lever isn't an issue for me as I was going to switch my brake set up to my right lever being the front brake anyway...

I was just going to start running a front brake only on my fixie, too, as I'm getting more confident.

Which brings me to my next point. Are there any reasons not to use the brake arm assembly from my back brake and use it on my front? I don't know if there are, but I want to be sure as I'm not completely confident going brakeless yet.

The bolt that attaches it is going to be shorter on the rear. If you can switch those around then there won't be a difference, and of course you'll have to re-adjust the pads to fit.

Usually.

lol. "i ate **** on my bike and now i want to run less brakes"

like highonpez said, you would have to rebuilt the rear brake with the bolt from the front brake, provided your brakes are even old/cheap enough to do that. a picture of your brakes would help.

p.s. if you haven't ever rebuilt a brake before, it's not super hard, but it's not easy enough to explain via the internet.

The last thing you want on slippery surfaces is a front brake, which should only be used in conditions with good traction. You absolutely need a rear brake of some kind for slippery conditions, and the reason you went down on the ice was that you most likely tried to use your front brake. If you are riding fixed, then use your legs to brake your rear wheel in slippery conditions and don't even touch your front brake. I used to ride on snow and ice covered roads, and rode a fixed gear with no brakes for that reason.

Thanks for all the tips!

I don't usually touch my front brakes when it's icy, but the thing is, it just looked slightly wet today, not icy.
I don't touch my front brakes while cornering.

And uh the thing about me running less brakes is that... I'm broke and can't afford $30 for new brake arms. D: Besides, I hardly use my back brakes ( most of my braking is done with my feet)
I'll try to grab a picture and upload it.

Otherwise it looks like I'm going to be running single back brake for now.

If you can give us a model name/stock photo that works too. Or any details really. The C&Ver inside me also wants a driveside photo.

If you don't feel like swapping bolts on your brakes a extra long nut will help to make things work

If you are riding on black ice, buck up and invest in studded tires... at least for the front.

Wouldn't that make traction worse on ice? I figure since there would be less surface area is in contact with the ground.

I think Sheldon Brown wrote something similar when he covered tire tread.

Traction would be worse with knobbies, but metal studs will grip the ice.

Here are some pics.
The photo of the entire bike was taken 2 weeks ago when it was brand new. The seat is now stained blue from my jeans, cages are on, and all branding is gone.

???

That bolt is benttttt. Honestly, if you can get a new bolt from the bike shop, replacing it's not all too difficult. Just annoying to remember how it fits back together.

I was thinking of just hammering it back into place or getting a similar bolt from Home Depot.

Problem: The brake arms are bent, too.
Problem x2: The back brake was internally damaged and fell apart on me.

Solution?!: I can try to hammer the bolt back, take the undamged parts of both brakes and put them together in a Frakenstein front brake lever. Any reasons not to do this?

Metal studs will change your life if you live in an area prone to ice. Never have to worry about stopping again... willing to bet that with my front brake and studded tires, I can stop faster (on a hockey rink) than your average brakeless hipster on dry pavement.

Dude, just go to the lbs or a cop-op and see if they have a used front caliper laying around. You're making way more of a "problem" out of this than it really is.

How did you even damage your calipers in a crash anyway? I can't think of one real world situation where the brake calipers would ever make contact with the ground.

That is odd and makes me wonder if his fork is okay.

Yeah, the only fall i have had that damaged the brake also bent the fork

Fork material is steel and brake calipers were aluminum.
I have no idea, but I do know that my bike flipped over after I got off and kept slipping. The "quick release" part of the brakes must've hit it first.

Actually, I'm quite perplexed as to how the f*** my brakes got hit as well... but it did.

Here's a picture of my brake lever for more serious "huh" factors.

Yes, it's suppose to be a straight 2-finger lever.

^^^ i would have paid money to witness this crash.

Work hardening will occur when you bend things back into shape; this creates stress risers that can lead to component failure when put under stress. Brakes are important for safety. The last thing you want to happen is have the mounting bolt or caliper arm fail during a panic stop.