I put the crappy clipless pedals that were on my Pista on my new Allez... I felt better riding my fixed gear with toe clips 'n straps... so it was an easy decision.

I hope I don't get hit by a car, but I'm pretty careful and I never assume I have the right of way and cars are gonna stop for me... I've wanted to try brakeless for a time and I agree with Msngr... with the brake there, I'm gonna be dependent on it. Without it, you have to learn to ride better.

i wonder the same thing everytime i go down a decent sized hill. i can handle a few hills fine but i can't imagine living in a place like SF and dealing with those hills over and over again. maybe i'm just not conditioned for it since gainesville doesn't have many decent sized hills.

The trick is to not allow yourself to spin out of control in the first place.

Congrads on the brakelessness.

You know the way I see it though is that you are not brakeless you just use a different brake...

I was at the times-up space yesterday working on a bike that had a "ribbon brake." It was a 10 speed bike with centerpull brakes, but it didn't have any brake cables (and only one brake lever - not attached to anything). Instead, there was a red-ribbon tied to the front brake, and the other end tied to the bars. To stop, you just had to pull the ribbon!

haha yeah I actually thought about doing that before.

You can fool people with a bike that looks like this and still have a brake.

OK OK wait until I get my flame suit on !!

OK now....!!

If you can make it down the biggest hill you can find you'll be fine.
Just gotta say.....brakes are boring.

lolz, if you need to "practice track stands" maybe u should give the brake a few more weeks.?? should be able to track stand in ur sleep, no hand track stand whilst holding u-lock in one hand and burrito in other... and the 90 degree emergency jump stop should be possible (for those half ton red light runners)...

what's more important, bike culture status or your ability to not have a caved in skull?

That's true, and that's why I find it more fun to have a front brake. Who wants to have to be hyper-careful all the time?

What I don't get is what connection you suppose there is between BB height and the abilty to do a skip-skid...?

Sheldon "Fun First" Browns

I have a Captain Marvel action figure that I was going to mount on my helmet a la Sheldon Brown!

kingzoftheroad = spam

trackmaster = spamalot

trackmaster drive-by commentary = boring

I'm going to pull out of this debate by saying this much. I wear a helmet and I have no brakes. Its my life and my safety, I respect your choices, respect mine.

junioroverlord -- definitely. i don't think there's ever going to be an end to the brake/brakeless debate. one thing i appreciate when these threads pop up is the variety of opinions.

truthfully, i've been thinking of riding brakeless, but i'd probably have to go with a lower gearing to be effective. i do like my (winter) ratio at the moment, and i'd hate to switch it out because it's just so much fun.

if i had a lot of fixed bikes, i'd make one with a ratio i could ride brakeless.

but for now i ride with a helmet, brakes, and headphones. i'm a different kind of stupid.

SHELDON BROWN is all up in the HOUSE!

and chimin' in about not having to ride careful all the time...

Now, now. He said "hyper" careful.

Firstly, I concede you're probably right about the front brake issue. I'm starting to get sick of that uber-cautiousness. In the city it isn't so much of an issue, but in the suburbs it seems to really get me to have to slow down more often, and it just kills time and energy, especially on the one longish descent I have to do.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but it seems harder to get the rear wheel on my conversion off the ground. The Spectrum track bike I had, and the Calfee Luna fixie (really their cross bike with horizontal dropouts) seem much easier. I don't know for sure why, but I know the conversion is a SL Pinarello Treviso. The Pinner has a low BB, the Spectrum track and tracklo-cross Calfee have high BBs. What's the deal Sheldon?

You can probably get your back wheel off the ground easier on the track bike because the upright geometry places you more over the front of the bike. More weight up front = easier to lift the back.

bottom bracket height has nothing to do with how easy you can lift the back.
Track bikes usually have a tighter geometry than road bikes which mean shorter wheel base. The shorter the wheel base, the easier to lift either front or rear wheel.

But my Calfee has a wheelbase of 99.8, not so short. Maybe it is just light. Something about that Pinner, just couldn't seem to make it skip-skid. It is an old Italian racer and they have short chainstays and tight geometry, although the track bikes often do have steeper seat tubes. And the Pinner has a short top tube, too. But I do think you're onto something there - getting out over the front of the bike is what it is all about. But if the BB is higher, the bike is less stable, so easier to kick out and skid - but not necessarilly easier to get the back wheel up.

I use brakes.

C'mon, you try skidding a 26x2.1" slick with your legs!

i started at first without one then put one on and hated it.. i found that i learned other ways to stop MUCH faster especially going down the long hill on the way home from school dodging soccer moms

Well I know how to ride without one. I'd rather have it and not need it...

breaks. you won't die without um.
i don't have them now and i am still here. they broke. i don't know how to fix um. they have been broke for a month.
in the past i have gone without brakes for months. you learn how to ride without them and you don't have to fred flintstone it. you can learn how to turn quick and change direction to stop...its fun. going to work should be fun as well as just joy riding.
the first time my breaks went out was on my frist bike ride living in the city, away at college, without my parents. dreamy time! i left my dorm hollow and just rode around my new city and i was biking as fast as i could across the 3rd ave. bridge and the breaks went out totally and i had a red light. i lived, but it was not pretty. i grabbed the stop sign and my bike with my feet to avoid going into the traffic. -that is your worst thing that could happen to you. that was over 12 years ago and i am still biking around this lovley mpls town.
breaks they are one of those luxury items on a bike. like working gears and a nice paint job.