General: Brakes for new fixie riders: good or bad?

I have a brake on mine, I'll be damned if i'm going to rely solely on skidding or back peddling to perform an emergency stop. It's extremely effective and barely weighs anything.

I'd never recommend anyone try this w/o a brake starting out. I might as well beat them with a baseball bat myself.

Go with brakes! Riding a fixed gear for the first time can be awkward enough, even with plenty of experience on other bicycles. If you want to take them off later so be it, but definitely get a front brake on your fixed gear. I don't know about where you're at, but I know the bike shop here that specializes in fixed gears pretty much won't let you leave without a brake on a bike if you have no experience. It's highly recommended.

i think every one should start out riding on a fixed gear tall bike made out of touring frames.

with bmx pedals. or pettels as many of you are fond of typing.

i learned with brakes because i had platform pedals but once i got pedals with toe clips i took them right off then learned with out them

Posted By: Aaron Csorry pettals/petals/petels = rant

I have sick MKS double toe strap pretzels on my bike....

My first fixed gear bike was brakeless, and now I still have yet to put a brake on my bike and doubt I ever will. Even when riding a friend fixed gear with a brake, I feel I can stop much quicker and safer with my legs than with a little lever.

I'm REALLY glad I started riding brakeless, because it really forced me to learn quickly how to control the bike, my riding and forced me to become even more observant when riding and quicken my reaction time.

Back in the 90's, I rode a brakeless BMX bike, however that was different because we would just jam our foot into the back tire between the frame to stop.

So, I say start out riding fixed brakeless, and you will really show yourself that a brake is not needed.

Posted By: scruggle

Posted By: terrible_one49Even when riding a friend fixed gear with a brake, I feel I can stop much quicker and safer with my legs than with a little lever.

That's good for you, but it doesn't matter that it's a 'little lever'; the brake pedal in a car is pretty tiny - funny how it can stop 2 tons pretty quickly.

So, I say start out riding fixed brakeless, and you will really show yourself that a brake is not needed.

Or you might find out the hard way that a brake would have been pretty useful.

Ugggh, Christ. There is already treads on this brakes vs. brakeless topic. Lets not turn this into another one.

How about we just leave it at this saying... 'It's better to have it and not need it, than to need it and not have it."

when i first got my track bike i rode it around town for the summer and fall without a caliper brake, and while i didn't have any crashes i was a little nervous on occasion. the following season i put a brake on the front and that was that. "brakeless" at the vélodrome, a front brake everywhere else.

it is irrefutable that a given rider, on a given bike, can stop that bike in a shorter distance by using a caliper brake AT THE SAME TIME as leg braking. sometimes a shorter distance is not what you need, but there are other times when a shorter distance is exactly what you need.

the brake lever on a car can be short because cars have hydraulic assist.

there are actually three levers at work when you use a caliper brake: the part on the handlebars, the calipers, and the bicycle wheel itself.

personally i would not recommend to a "new fixie rider" that she or he ride with a caliper brake first, and then remove it...when, exactly? when you become stupid? just because you learn how to skid doesn't mean the caliper brake is no longer useful. i suppose that being able to skid demonstrates that you can apply considerable back pressure with your legs, but (as everyone should already know) skidding is actually the least efficient way to slow a bicycle down, because you no longer have full control over your bike; better you should apply back pressure just to the point of skidding, but instead take advantage of STATIC friction versus SLIDING friction.

Ugggh, Christ. There is already treads on this brakes vs. brakeless topic. Lets not turn this into another one.

Hey, the guy asked for advice. You can't give your opinion then when someone offers an opposing one say "Oh come on, let's not have that debate."

look at both sides of the argument, and accordingly, act your age.

I'd say ride flat pedals with a brake for commuting in the city if your just starting out. If it's recreational and your just cruising the suburbs, buy some cages with double straps and don't waste your money on a brake. Just be aware of idiot drivers! You'll be okay.

i can settle this whole thing right now...

you don't need a brake as long as you are cautious and stay alert. look around see what people are doing don't look just straight in front of you. BE OBSERVANT.

if you're going to be a wild man and plan on going super fast and running lights, ride a brake. it's that simple.

if you are cautious and alert you don't really need a brake, you should be able to "pop-stop" or skid in time to stop the bike. if you ride like a maniac and don't really pay attention to things that are going on, by all means apply a brake. I wouldn't necessarily tell someone to install a brake on a fixed but I would tell them to be cautious on a fixed.

BE CAUTIOUS AND STAY ALERT > brakes.

the end

for the life of me i cannot understand this zero-sum game people play with their safety, that being cautious and alert somehow magically reduces risk the same way as having a caliper brake on the front wheel, and that it is a simple matter of trading one for the other. am i leonardo da-fucking vinci for figuring out that you could have both, and that both would be better?

but let's work with this equation here:

BE CAUTIOUS AND STAY ALERT > brakes

1) subtract "brakes" from each side and you get

BE CAUTIOUS AND STAY ALERT - brakes > 0

which means that being cautious without brakes is better than nothing. i agree.

2) add "brakes" to each side:

BE CAUTIOUS AND STAY ALERT + brakes > 2brakes

which means that being cautious and having access to a caliper brake is better than just having access to a brake.

this does not end the "argument", of course. don't make me resort to laplace transforms.

heres mine:

So far i've picked up skipping, lean skidding, seated skidding~ i guess no brakes = forces you to try~
but you WILL get a ticket for not having a brake in many cities~ especially where i am (Davis, CA)

i also saw yesterday that someone had this and i thought was brilliant:

Posted By: o_O

Posted By: greg

+1
don't they sell that somewhere on a t-shirt?

they sell the shirt to hipsters. the irony factor is through the roof!

Here's the deal:

Using your legs to slow down is like using compression braking in a car; using the drive train to slow the vehicle. It works, but it isn't terribly effective.

Man, being the super genius that he is, decides to turn the kinetic energy of the vehicle into friction, thus slowing the vehicle. Thus the brake was born, and people have been slowing themselves to realative safety ever since.

I must say this:

Many people have the misconception that a front brake = instant over the bars, this includes new riders. We need to educate the general public on the wonders of the brake on the front, and then perhaps new riders will be more inclined to run a brake.

It also seems to me that people who ride their bike a lot, be it to get to work, for work, etc etc, gain extraordinary bike handling skills. I can get myself out of most situations without touching the brake, seeing as I have a crosstop lever, and I ride mostly on the hood area or in the drops. But I have saved my scrawny white ass so many times with that brake. To me, a brake is just anoher option you give to yourself to get out of a jam. And you definitely want more options as opposed to fewer. Here we have two riders, Joe Hipster and Ellen Goodrider:

Ellen Goodrider rides a Langster. It is fixed and has a front brake.

Joe Hipster rides a fixed Fuji Track Pro sans brake.

They are exactly the same in every way, they have identical riding skills.

If they both came barreling down a hill to a light, Joe would have to start slowing much earlier than Ellen. Ellen beats his ass everywhere, Joe is sad. Now let's say for a minute that while coming to that same stoplight, both their chains snapped at the exact same time. Ellen has a brake, she stops safely. Joe doesn't, and the aero seat tube doesn't allow him to stick his foot into the rear tire. So he ditches into the bushes, or has to use his feet, which really suck at slowing a bike, and your shoes don't last too long when you have to do that. Ellen is a happy camper, Joe is not. Hell, let's say Joe made it through the stoplight miraculously unscathed. He may look like a total badass, but how will this affect his riding style in the future? There are so many instances when a brake makes sense, when a gap closes up ahead of you, when you aren't going to make the light, when the rider you're drafting eats it (watch any crash on a velodrome), when the chain snaps, when you get the speed wobbles, when the car pulls out ahead of you, etc. etc. And any rider who frequently travels at a high rate of speed will tell you, brakes are a good idea and make you faster. So why wouldn't it be imparted on new riders that brakes can and will save your ass? No, brakes aren't magical devices that make you able to get out of every jam, but they are a hell of a lot more effective than just your legs, especially for a new rider who may not have the leg strength. Even at really short gears, a brake will stop you faster than any skid, no matter who's riding. A sliding rear tire doesn't slow a vehicle nearly as effectively as a front brake does with the wheel still rolling. Look at almost any car, the front brakes are noticeably larger than the rears, as they do most of the actual stopping. Hell, on my downhill bike, I used to say the rear brake was there only to generate heat, and the front brake actually did all the stopping. The fact is, you really can't justify a new rider going around without brakes. I'm sure most of the people on this forum could get around without them, but they'd be slower, and would likely hurth themselves more often than if they had a brake. This seems like a non-issue to me, but there is no way to stem the tide of brakeless rebellion!

shut the hell up about comparing a bike to a car. No , its not the same. Your feet are not directly connected and moving to the wheels of your car , like they are on your fixed gear . Anything in this thread said about "Well youd want brakes in your car right ? " no sht retard, but on a bicycle , or fixed gear , you can stop a bike just fine without any brakes.

Put a brake on for the first 2 weeks, get comfortable, then take the brake off. Most people do this . I ride fixed and from day one have never used a brake. I ride down steep hills, and I've never crashed .

Also , shut up about how you cannot brake efficiently without a brake. You can stop just as fast / safe with no brakes as you can with a brake. About two of my friends use them, and we slow down just as safe and at the same time together. If your skidding for show, and leaning over the handlebars, yeah you wont stop in time . If you just sit off the saddle and lock up, you stop very quickly.

just started out riding my first fixie and i think learning it brakeless right away might be the right way to really learn to control the fixed. i think if you got a brake you rely on it, right now i'm forced to get into skipping, skidding and all that shit pretty fast.

Started out with a front brake when I got my first fixie. Got hit by a car. Realized that accidents like that cannot be avoided with a front brake, so for the next build I didn't bother putting on my brake. Currently, I can't put on a brake on my most recent bike even if I wanted to - I am going the hipster route and riding a track bike on the road.

One thing is for certain: you will stop faster with a front brake no matter the circumstance, but it doesn't mean that you are safer with one. It's how you ride and how you control your bike. Same thing goes for a helmet - having a helmet doesn't necessarily make you safer. Having said that for someone starting out riding fixed, brake should be a must. I guess you will learn faster to stop brakeless but really, what's more important? Your safety or your riding skills?

It all comes down to your attitude on the road.

Posted By: gregDear deermatt,

Take a deep breath, its the internets.

Sincerely,

velospace

Thanks Greg, I was getting ready to say something not so nice...

Aim, you so craaaazaaay.

Start with one, then realize it's so much goddamn fun without one!

get some brakes!!!!!

As a beginner you need to learn how to use your legs to skid and skip stop or any other way to stop your bike from moving.

If you decide not to get brakes then MAKE SURE TO WEAR A HELMET!!!! Also start off with an easy gear ratio. I would suggest 42t chainring with 17t cog. That's as easy as it gets.

You can ride much faster with brakes. I however don't have any. Riding brakeless to me is a game of chess. Plan far ahead, and don't assume you know what a car is gonna do. Learn to turn hard and fast if your riding brainless... I mean brakless.