Spotted...

You know what your doing max! and I assume have been riding for years!
There is a lot that a lot of people dont know, I personally am learning daily when I visit the forum.

To be fair, if I was riding a freewheel bike with only one brake and the cable snapped, I'd just step on the rear tyre and skid the wheel to a stop.

That's just me.

Dont you think though it may also be that those with no braks and fixed are probably more experienced at this and more suborn and know it all than the potential for us to save a life with a free wheel and 1 brake?

That's certainly the assumption (for the first part anyway, you kind of lost me on the second part). Whether it has any basis in reality, I'm not sure. I've certainly seen some extremely skilled fixed gear brakeless riders, but I've also seen some absolute stinkers.

But i do agree with you that this is social conditioning. Its well known that this group has a high number of riders with very high seat posts, deap section rims, Sidis, Lopro/'classic' frames, cycling caps.

And darkwave albums. Big tings in 2010.

You know what your doing max! and I assume have been riding for years!
There is a lot that a lot of people dont know, I personally am learning daily when I visit the forum.

That's true, and is why I said "That's just me". It's a good technique to master. Gives me piece of mind when riding my track bike on the road. In the event my chain busts apart...

Hey, i have to dissapoint you. I have a flip flop hub:) I'm just not ready for it yet. Started to cycle sometime in june this year and i'm just getting used to london roads. Freewheel plus front brake just gave me more confidence than fixed.
I wasn't planning to defend other ss cyclists just myself.

I think you'd get used to rising fixed quicker than you think, the main concern for me wasn't getting used to the London roads (I gave it two weeks freewheel) but getting the fitness. The nonstop pedaling left my legs ruined by the end of the week for the first couple of months.

Bleakreference has stolen my heart, all your other cycling experts just shhhh shhhh huh!
nice of you to offer thou hartx

I saw a bloke on jolly nice steel IndyFab frame, approaching Angel tube at about 11:00 this morning. I think it was SS, but I didn't have much time to look beyond the frame before the lights changed.

If I'd have gotten close I would have said "That's a jolly nice frame you have there", but I didn't, so I didn't.

Last night down the OKR there was a guy on what I could only guess was a hillclimb bike, deep section PX carbon wheels and some curious sort of bullhorn bars but not giving it a fair go.

If I'd have gotten close I would have said "That's a jolly nice bike you have there", but I didn't, so I didn't.

Deep carbon and hillclimbing does not compute.

freewheel - back brake = teeth loss
fixed - foot retention = broken shins.

Snot difficult.

Bleakreference has stolen my heart, all your other cycling experts just shhhh shhhh huh!

<3

Deep carbon and hillclimbing does not compute.

hill climbing and the OKR doesn't compute either.
bullhorn/base bar with no aero bars attached, perfectly flat/level, and the 'horns' were snubby. seem to recall seeing some on a hill climb bike. downtube shifters too. clearly put together for a purpose, but for what? it is a mystery to me :(

Curious.

I ride fixed with only a front brake, been doing so all year actually - without retention!!!
Just bought some toe clips and new pedals to fix this weekend, but I rode without the retention because I wanted to get used to riding fixed before i clipped myself in...

... I just wanted to make sure I was safe and not a danger to others!

Easier to get used to it *with *foot retention.

You were less safe, and more of a danger to others.

Thank god you were probably mashing a stupid gear at a learner cadence.

Omar comin'

I think you'd get used to rising fixed quicker than you think, the main concern for me wasn't getting used to the London roads (I gave it two weeks freewheel) but getting the fitness. The nonstop pedaling left my legs ruined by the end of the week for the first couple of months.

I think i may flip the wheel tonight and try it. I consider myself as very fit so the biggest concern apart from stoping the bike would be cycling on very bad roads with loats of holes when i'm normally standing/not pedaling.

hill climbing and the OKR doesn't compute either.

Oh, the Bricklayers flyover isn't too bad.

To be fair, if I was riding a freewheel bike with only one brake and the cable snapped, I'd just step on the rear tyre and skid the wheel to a stop.

That's just me.

Max, having seen your quick wit in action in conversation I cannot imagine you actually doing this in time.

It is not the kind of instinctive reaction that people would do in an emergency situation.

How many times have you slowed a bike like this?

I think i may flip the wheel tonight and try it. I consider myself as very fit so the biggest concern apart from stoping the bike would be cycling on very bad roads with loats of wholes when i'm normally standing/not pedaling.

you get used to that quicker than you think

I think i may flip the wheel tonight and try it. I consider myself as very fit so the biggest concern apart from stoping the bike would be cycling on very bad roads with loats of wholes when i'm normally standing/not pedaling.

From my experience you'll try to freewheel once a day for the first week or so, it's mildly disconcerting though so the message soon sinks in.

I still use the front brake for a lot of my stopping, especially if needs to be done quickly. I do go through phases of breaking with legs but I started cycling due to the non-impact nature of it (I have a dodgy knee from cartilage removal) and the fixed gear breaking with your legs seems to move it towards an impact activity.

agree with Crispin on this one!! at least Fixed you can attempt to stop!
Freewheel you just put your hands together and look skywards..

How?

I think BleakReference is right, brakeless fixed gear is as dangerous as single brake SS.

If your chain snaps on brakeless fixed you are just as fucked as your brake cable snapping on the SS.

oh my god.

Max, having seen your quick wit in action in conversation I cannot imagine you actually doing this in time.

It is not the kind of instinctive reaction that people would do in an emergency situation.

How many times have you slowed a bike like this?
I've done it thousands of times.

I consider myself as very fit

dibs.

I think i may flip the wheel tonight and try it. I consider myself as very fit so the biggest concern apart from stoping the bike would be cycling on very bad roads with loats of holes when i'm normally standing/not pedaling.

And ffs get some foot retention else there's no point in flipping.

I've done it thousands of times.

em, you are quicker witted than max, herein lies the difference