# Brakeless.



## GrahamG (5 Sep 2008)

I'm going to kick off the controversial subject here as I've seen a few people riding brakeless here in (hilly as fook!!) Bristol. I'd be intrigued to hear some anecdotes from anyone here who does this as it all seems a little bit unnecessary to me.

BTW, everyone I've seen riding brakeless has been doing about 5mph down the somewhat less steep hills around here (in locations which say they've done a fair old detour to avoid main road hills - Park Street for example).
So it strikes me that the major disadvantage is that it's bloody slow! Not something for people who can't afford to kill time taking quiet routes and avoiding hills and traffic.


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## domtyler (5 Sep 2008)

Utter, utter madness.


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## BentMikey (5 Sep 2008)

I keep wanting to criticise brakeless fixed riders, and then I realise that I'd be a bit of a hypocrite given my skates, LOL!


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## Tharg2007 (5 Sep 2008)

if you can stop quick enough then fine, if not then bey bey


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## Joe24 (5 Sep 2008)

Just dont stop, its all fine. Who needs brakes anyway, its all in the legs, its more zen innit
Personally i have 2 brakes on my fixed, dont use the back one now though, i used to use it on long steep hills, now its just there for emergencies.


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## Mr Phoebus (5 Sep 2008)

I certainly wouldn't fancy my chances in Court.


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## Alan Frame (5 Sep 2008)

Try suing a driver who has knocked you off your bike. Even if the collision was entirely the driver's fault I'm sure the biker's lack of sufficient brakes would be used as a mitigator.


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## Tharg2007 (5 Sep 2008)

Alan Frame said:


> Try suing a driver who has knocked you off your bike. Even if the collision was entirely the driver's fault I'm sure the biker's lack of sufficient brakes would be used as a mitigator.



you could claim that the collision caused the brake to fall off and go down a grid, then bill him/her for that too


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## Chuffy (5 Sep 2008)

BentMikey said:


> I keep wanting to criticise brakeless fixed riders, and then I realise that I'd be a bit of a hypocrite given my skates, LOL!


There isn't a legal obligation to have brakes on your skates. 

Brakeless fixies are just the epitome of macho bullsh*t.


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## Thedude (5 Sep 2008)

I have been riding brakeless for a couple of weeks now due to my brake caliper being snapped off in a collision with with a car (irony?). At first I was nervous for obvious reasons but the now I feel it has forced me to be more aware of my surroundings and made me a safer rider. 

However I still intend to get another front brake as going down hills with a traffic stop at the bottom can get a bit hairy. In the end it is personal choice. I like anyone uses a bike for their predominant form of transport other than walking.


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## BentMikey (5 Sep 2008)

Chuffy said:


> There isn't a legal obligation to have brakes on your skates.



That's true enough.

Funnily we have the same sort of brake/no brake thing going on in the skating world. Even a plain old heelbrake is pretty hard to use for a beginner - it's not like squeezing a lever on the bars, but many advanced skaters think that it's a crutch that prevents you from learning further advanced stopping skills. I have some sympathy with the argument that the same applies to fixed wheel riding.


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## Chuffy (5 Sep 2008)

BentMikey said:


> many advanced skaters think that it's a crutch that prevents you from learning further advanced stopping skills. I have some sympathy with the argument that the same applies to fixed wheel riding.


'Advanced stopping skills'? WTF? Is squeezing a brake lever too mundane or something?


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## Tharg2007 (5 Sep 2008)

Chuffy said:


> 'Advanced stopping skills'? WTF? Is squeezing a brake lever too mundane or something?



no it aint, but using your whole body to stop your bike rather than your fingers is an advanced way of doing it. If taking the easy way was what it was all about we would all be in our cars.


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## Chuffy (5 Sep 2008)

Tharg2007 said:


> no it aint, but using your whole body to stop your bike rather than your fingers is an advanced way of doing it.


Fine, but brakes (two of 'em and yes, I do know that legs count on a fixie) are a legal requirement. You might as well argue that braking using the gears and handbrake are an advanced way of stopping in a car, but that doesn't make it any less daft as a real-world solution.



> If taking the easy way was what it was all about we would all be in our cars.


Depends on your definition of 'easy'. To me, taking the hard way in this case is just macho bravado and that's never been my favourite flavour.


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## Tharg2007 (5 Sep 2008)

im not saying you shouldnt have a front brake, im merely pointing out the benefits of braking with your legs. For me I have front brake but try to use my legs as much as poss, only use front brake when I really need to. Doin it the hard way doesnt mean do it the hard way and no other way


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## Chuffy (5 Sep 2008)

Tharg2007 said:


> *im not saying you shouldnt have a front brake,* im merely pointing out the benefits of braking with your legs. For me I have front brake but try to use my legs as much as poss, only use front brake when I really need to. Doin it the hard way doesnt mean do it the hard way and no other way


Fairy snuff. 

It's the guys who don't bother with brakes because they ruin the purity, maaan, and anyway, I've got ninja skillz. Those are the guys who get on my tits.


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## dudi (6 Sep 2008)

thedude, how do you find the corner at the bottom of Birkfield Drive without brakes? 

I've been using mine less and less recently, trying to get used to just spiining away down hills. but Birkfield and Belmont are the two hills round here I have to use the brake on...


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## BentMikey (6 Sep 2008)

Chuffy said:


> 'Advanced stopping skills'? WTF? Is squeezing a brake lever too mundane or something?



Well, I'm not arguing with your pov - I also have brakes on my fixed wheel. OTOH, the skill difference between the average skater with a heelbrake, and those without is very clear. Is this partly a result of not having a brake, or is it the other way around where they have no brake because of their skill level?

This is why I'm not poo-pooing the idea that riding brakeless makes you more skilled. It's not my choice, but it's also clear that the real deal brakeless riders tend to be of a high skill level, excluding the wannabes of course.


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## ASC1951 (6 Sep 2008)

BentMikey said:


> it's also clear that the real deal brakeless riders tend to be of a high skill level


The ones you see, maybe - the rest are still in hospital.


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## Dayvo (6 Sep 2008)

Mr Phoebus said:


> I certainly wouldn't fancy my chances in Court.



Why would you be riding a fixed in a court room?


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## Mr Phoebus (7 Sep 2008)

Dayvo said:


> Why would you be riding a fixed in a court room?



To really piss-off Judge Bruce Morgan, that's why!


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## Thedude (7 Sep 2008)

dudi said:


> thedude, how do you find the corner at the bottom of Birkfield Drive without brakes?
> 
> I've been using mine less and less recently, trying to get used to just spiining away down hills. but Birkfield and Belmont are the two hills round here I have to use the brake on...



The corner is fine, I can slow myself down enough for me to safely corner without fear of the dreaded peddle strike. However it's the following short hill just before the black bridge that always gets me. Stopping half way down the slope (because of the traffic lights) is a nightmare. Word of warning NEVER go down Willoby(spl?) hill! It almost killed me a few days ago!

I cycled to southwold a few days ago and felt proud that I did it a)without brakes and  my feet never touched the ground as I developing my trackstanding skills quite rapidly.

Hows your 'Colnago?'


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## dudi (8 Sep 2008)

haha my 'colnago' is going well. got some new wheels on order so once they arrive it'll be totally finished.

I noticed you don't have your orange front wheel any more, a casualty of your collision?


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## Thedude (8 Sep 2008)

Yep. The wheel snapped and the forks bent back. I got some new forks and managed to get a black rim very cheaply. I also got a new Bareknuckle frame which im going to build up soon. Looks the same as my current frame but with a higher BB height so peddle strike will no longer be an issue.


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## GrahamG (8 Sep 2008)

Haha! I knew this would attract a few replies over the weekend. (That wasn't me reason for posting!)

Interesting views, especially the skates analogy.

One comment I forgot to include - I've never seen anyone riding brakeless here in the rain or on a wet road. Dry days only so perhaps they are sensibly just taking them out where/when they know they're not going to have issues.


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## BentMikey (8 Sep 2008)

Funnily enough when we skate London to Brighton BHF ride, most cyclists ask us about going uphills, and only a very few clued up ones about the downhills. Uphills are relatively easy - just dig deep and work. 2.2kg skates are less weight than a 6 or 7kg soot bike, and a lot less still than the average bike.


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## Greenbank (8 Sep 2008)

Being risk averse I wouldn't want to go out on a long/hilly ride with anything but front and rear brakes. I've had a brake cable snap on me once before and I wouldn't want to have to rely on my legs alone to stop me on a prolonged 1:6 descent.

Flattish commuting I'd possibly consider no rear brake.

Riding brakeless is, as someone put it above, just foolhardy macho bullshit.


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## peekay76 (11 Sep 2008)

I have front and rear brakes on my fixed. I don't know when I last used the back brake and I'm getting quite proficient and stopping for lights etc. but just using the legs. I commute through traffic and there's very often a moment when someone in a car causes me to need to brake suddenly, how do you guys with no brakes deal with this?


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## Joe24 (12 Sep 2008)

peekay76 said:


> I have front and rear brakes on my fixed. I don't know when I last used the back brake and I'm getting quite proficient and stopping for lights etc. but just using the legs. I commute through traffic and there's very often a moment when someone in a car causes me to need to brake suddenly, how do you guys with no brakes deal with this?



They would go around them, skid or go into them i think


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## Notsoblue (7 Oct 2008)

BentMikey said:


> Funnily enough when we skate London to Brighton BHF ride, most cyclists ask us about going uphills, and only a very few clued up ones about the downhills. Uphills are relatively easy - just dig deep and work. 2.2kg skates are less weight than a 6 or 7kg soot bike, and a lot less still than the average bike.



How *do* you go a significant downhill with skates?


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## Bodger (8 Oct 2008)

I may be a wuss, but when I do lots of leg braking I find that I end up too knackered to ride far. So front and rear brakes for me (plus rear mudguard*) 'cos it means that I can go further.




* FF DO avec QR


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## BentMikey (8 Oct 2008)

Notsoblue said:


> How *do* you go a significant downhill with skates?



At worst, by taking skates off and walking down, but most of L2B is brakeable, just.


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