Current Projects chat and miscellany

Ok. Jokes aside max, I would strongly advise you buy a set of drilled carbon forks for your vigorelli. I have nothing against people riding without brakes, but doing so with no prior experience, and especially no prior experience of riding fixed, is putting yourself at risk.

No offence, what is more worrying to me is that you might also risk injuring traffic-blind pedestrians in situations which would otherwise easily be avoided. It might be their fault for not looking before entering the road, but equally it's yours for over-stepping your limits, and this is definitely an example of that.

Furthermore, and perhaps most importantly, you're spreading a bad image of this particular genre of cycling. You might be a capable and experienced cyclist (in fact I would fucking well hope so if you're seriously considering this), who takes very quickly to riding without brakes, but you're broadcasting a message to others who may not be as capable as you. This could lead them to injury.

The last thing fixed-wheel riders need are inexperienced brakeless cyclists causing pedestrians injury or other avoidable accidents in traffic. It paints a bad reputation of us all. Fixed wheel bikes are unique amongst bikes because learning to ride them safely, that is, learning how to stop or control them using the drive-chain, which is NOT as efficient as 2 properly functioning calliper brakes, is comparable to the learning curve of learning to ride a bike in the first place.

Carbon forks are cheap and easy to come by. They would also provide a more comfortable ride on streets than the forks the vigorelli comes with (assuming they're not also carbon of course). Once you've gotten used to the ways of the fixed-wheel bike I don't care if you take the brake off, but please for the sake of others have one while you're learning.

+1

There's a gent called 50:14 on this forum (or Fiddy, as he's become known) who did his first fixed ride brakeless. He came a cropper, broke his collarbone and took out two other forumengers. He's an experienced cyclist, but now he runs a brake.

MaxPayne, this is not a witch hunt. If you've never ridden fixed, please get a brake. Either on a new fork or using one of these (scroll to the bottom of the page). When you get used to it, take the brake off if you want. That's a beautiful looking bike, by the way!