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- CommentAuthorRideEveryday
- CommentTimeApr 4th 2009
The issue here really isn't that riding a bike without a brake will get you out of any situation ever, but really that a brake is just another way to save your ass. Viligence + Brake + Riding skill = safe rider. A new rider may not have all these attributes, so a brake is their main method of avoiding catastrophes. -
- CommentAuthorstinky pete
- CommentTimeApr 4th 2009
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... -
- CommentAuthorAlM
- CommentTimeApr 6th 2009
Everyone should start with a brake, plain and simple... When I started, I rode on platform pedals without clips.... cause I wasn't comfortable getting in and out of them. I had a brake... but if all fails you can stop by putting your foot on the back tire, that is if you're dumb enough to ride brakeless on platform pedals.
Then I got my rush hour pro and started brakless right away, first time riding strapped in too. -
- CommentAuthorhardsole5280
- CommentTimeApr 6th 2009
Aim, you so craaaazaaay. -
- CommentAuthorE
- CommentTimeApr 7th 2009 edited
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- CommentAuthorheadydude
- CommentTimeApr 7th 2009
Start with one, then realize it's so much goddamn fun without one! -
- CommentAuthorindefenseofelephants
- CommentTimeApr 8th 2009
i learned in the winters of chicago without a brake. I also didn't ride very far at all. I also was riding on platforms. I eventually upgraded the pedals. Problem was, one of my dropouts(this was a conversion i was given) was bent. My rear wheel would slide forward ever so often, and I'd hit a lovely pothole, and boom! No chain. I suggest having a brake. I've missed cars by inches, and spilled the lemonade in my levi's from it. I figure, it's like having a second cord on a parachute. I rarely touch my brake, save for when I'm really tired and feeling lazy.
Point is, and what it really boils down to, what's the hurt in having a brake? -10 hipster points? Well grow a mustache and call it even. Our generation is going to be filled with NJS approved wheelchairs, with deep sectioned, color coordinating wheels due to the brakeless fad. No one will having working knees in like 15 years. -
- CommentAuthorclo_iam
- CommentTimeApr 8th 2009
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. -
- CommentAuthoricyclist
- CommentTimeApr 8th 2009
Just got a fixed gear bike - and I'm old, so I'm not too worried about my knees - I don't have enough time left to damage them. Definitely, though, I use a brake, because I like riding as fast as I can in traffic and I want to stop as fast as I can when necessary. That said, I enjoy trying to ride without using a brake. -
- CommentAuthorhardsole5280
- CommentTimeApr 8th 2009
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. -
- CommentAuthoradriano
- CommentTimeApr 8th 2009
Posted By: clo_iamget 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.
thats all so very true and going to be utterly ignored. -
- CommentAuthorCollin Oie
- CommentTimeApr 11th 2009 edited
I learned without brakes, Everyone thought I was really cool especially when I flew threw an intersection with a foot dragging on the ground. Have a brake at least for emergency situations, just because its on your bike dosnt mean you need to use it everytime you stop. -
- CommentAuthormuckymucky
- CommentTimeApr 11th 2009
Posted By: Collin OieHave a brake at least for emergency situations, just because its on your bike dosnt mean you need to use it everytime you stop.
qft -
- CommentAuthorFTMG
- CommentTimeApr 11th 2009
I believe that if youre gonna ride a track bike, you should learn from the get go how to ride without brakes first. Brakes to me are a cop out to not learn correctly. Give it your best shot first, then put a brake if youre not comfortable. Not to say that riding with a brake is wack, but too many people start off with brakes and never have the balls to try it any other way. Its just my opinion. Take it or leave it. Let the shit talking begin. haha -
- CommentAuthoriamsomeguy
- CommentTimeApr 11th 2009
this is a retarded thread
fuckin hipsters....
there is nothing wrong with brakes ,and if someone has a problem with the way your bike looks s, firstly you should not give a fuck and secondly you should knock there teeth out .... -
- CommentAuthorthe rabbi
- CommentTimeApr 11th 2009
Posted By: FTMGI believe that if you're gonna ride a track bike, you should learn from the get go how to ride without brakes first. Brakes to me are a cop out to not learn correctly. Give it your best shot first, then put a brake if you're not comfortable. Not to say that riding with a brake is wack, but too many people start off with brakes and never have the balls to try it any other way. Its just my opinion. Take it or leave it. Let the shit talking begin. haha
if you're gonna ride a fucking track bike, ride it on the fucking track. learn with a brake so you don't kill yourself or anyone else.
last weekend i was in san diego and i turned left onto this street so me and my friend could get on the dock. some kid on his brakeless fixed gear with a 650 spin tubular front wheel came darting out of the alley and t-boned me because he couldn't fucking stop. i twisted my ankle a little bit, and he shrugged his shoulders and said, "... fixed gears, eh?" -
- CommentAuthorgiosSR215
- CommentTimeApr 11th 2009
haha rabbi i would have killed that kid and then stole his 650 spin. as a matter of fact steal his whole bike. he obviously doesn't know how to ride haha. -
- CommentAuthorwes m.
- CommentTimeApr 15th 2009 edited
If you have to ask whether or not you need a brake that means you need a brake.
I started riding without a brake because my bike didnt come with one and everyone else I saw didnt have one. One ride in traffic in the rain got my mind right. I've been around long enough to have seen some pretty gnarly crashes. Confidence and double straps arent enough to save you sometimes, maybe a brake would have been just enough.
p.s. a front brake will stop you if your chain snaps -
- CommentAuthoranarcho_atlatl
- CommentTimeMay 6th 2009
I would also definitely say have one. I personally don't think people should ride in traffic without one even if they have been riding for years, just because stopping with a rear wheel is not as effective as stopping with the front, and because of the risk of a chain snapping (something that has happened to me twice). But then again, plenty of people will disagree with me on that, which is fine, but I'd definitely recommend it when starting at the very least. have one on my bike, and I virtually never use it, but it's nice to know I have it for when I need to (and I have). -
- CommentAuthorvelodrome terror
- CommentTimeMay 6th 2009
aesthetically riding without brakes is very pleasing but save it for the velodrome!
riding in the streets without a hand brake is retarded.
plain and simple.
80% of your braking power is in the front, riding without a front brake leaves you up shit creek without a paddle in most emergency situations.