The Ultimate Brakeless/Front/Rear/How many brakes? thread

Sheldon was right you can stop faster with a brake, but I've spent alot of time on bikes and track bikes and compared to my friends who cycle ocasionally I can stop faster than them on a track bike than they can with brakes. I think its a totally personal thing and it annoys me when people who haven't tried it get at other people for doing it. I did start with a brake on a conversion and definately needed it but know people who jump straight on a track bike and can stop it fine, it took me a while to develop those skills. I reckon I go slower than with a brake as thats the speed I'm comfortable braking from

^ Isn't that what Wheels said, if you ride brakeless you have to ride SLOWER
And don't you think that even if you only once in your life, it might be worth having there so you can tell the tale afterwards.

i think fixed bikes look sharp without brakes but in the real world as i know because i've been off work for 7 months now after an incident with a police van, i'd have been in the shit without a paddle, they looked at my bike saying where was my rear brake after they u turned into me and i replied saying it was fixed and fully legal as i had a front brake and all.
if i didnt have it i'd have lost £30000 at least (so my solicitor says) aint got no money from them yet.
and anyway i want to go fast not have my legs spin like i'm going down pentonville road whilst cruising down old st.

good luck with that billa, i know that sort of thing can take years

i'm getting an interim payment soon so i've been told....my elbow injury is tricky and could take ages to heal but i just look at is as more money in the bank the longer it goes on.

If only these people could die from their own self rightiousness
who are these people
who do they think they are
who gave them the right to go around
telling the rest of the world what to do
what I do has fuck all to do with you
you ain't my master
you ain't my keeper
you ain't the law
you ain't no-body
you are a pompous stuck up self appointed traffic policeman without a badge
so if you want to go around telling people what to do
you should become a traffic warden
at least then you'd get a uniform
to go with that massively inflated ego of yours
now get out of my way
before you drive me properly harry & billy

Serves you right though
What on earth possessed you to go you to the worst bicycle store on earth

brakeless is illegal, but then so is smoking weed, i like both. yay.
sometimes i put my brake on for working, it is a wee bit faster and you can take the piss a bit more. though i never seemed to have a problem riding brakeess, i think it makes one ride a bit safer you really have to watch everything, its fun.

p.s. i might just have to pop into evans now just to wind this twat up.

if you want to ride brakeless, that's up to you.

but i can't help but feel that the odds of surviving a random/unexpected event on the road are slimmer.

it's not about your riding skills but the driver, and the size and kinetic force of the truck that stops abruptly in front of you/turns to the right/left. at this point, a brake might help save your life. hence, i ride with a brake.

this comment is silly:
*And the increased awareness you have has saved my ass many, many times. you watch cars' front wheels in traffic to see if they're going to turn without indicating - saved me many times - and you just don't learn to do that if you have the option of braking. *

so if you weren't riding brakeless you'd be dead by now? your 'ass' wouldn't be saved?

[cite]wheels: [/cite]I prefer the term bareback ;P

hahahaha :)

@budha... what lyrics are those? i googled but all that comes up is System of a Down, and it's clearly not them.

billa if i didnt have it i'd have lost £30000 at least (so my solicitor says) aint got no money from them yet.

Exactly. I'm reading this book Cyclecraft by John Franklin at the moment, and he also is an expert witness for cycling related court cases. Quite a few examples on his web site where he's given information on controversial topics such as helmets and then the cyclist has lost on the basis of contributory negligence.

Cyclecraft by John Franklin, that sounds like an interesting book, I need someone to go with me to the bike shop to buy that helmet and then make me wear it, I bought one once and gave it to some bird after I got my leg over, of course I never wore it

I haven't had a brake on any of my bikes since I was 7 years old.. it's not a trend for me, it's just the way I see my bike should be.

yeh they tend to reduce damages by 15% if you're not wearing a helmet - god knows how much they reduce it if you don't run a brake

the-smiling-buddha Cyclecraft by John Franklin, that sounds like an interesting book, I need someone to go with me to the bike shop to buy that helmet and then make me wear it, I bought one once and gave it to some bird after I got my leg over, of course I never wore it

i bought it for the chapters on busier roads, rather than helmets and 'what clothes to wear'.

I read Matt seatons book on two wheels and was amazed to find out that after riding a bike for twenty years and writing about bikes for the Guardian he was still hogging the curb
I learnt everything I know from being a courier I bet me and Mr Franklin probably don't see eye to eye on a thing or two but I bet it would be interesting to read what he has to say

ihatelaw yeh they tend to reduce damages by 15% if you're not wearing a helmet

they fucking what??

contributory negligence??

like a woman with a short skirt is "asking" to be raped?

what kind of bullshit is this? apportioning blame on to the victim.

we should expect to get run down by motors should we?

flickwg 50 14

^That was an example of someone being a moron and riding a bike they didn't have the skills to ride. I personally think the guy was a cunt. End of.

That said, his inability to ride his bike doesn't make me tar all brakeless riders with the same brush.
FFS I still ride without a brake.
I also generally ride with headphones, without a helmet and take more risks than is strictly necessary. The person that I'm putting at risk is myself and I personally believe it's my choice. Just like it used to be my choice to take drugs, it was also my choice to stop. that's the wonderful thing about the human condition. Laws and rules aside. We're all free to make up our own minds.

pilky men in pubs know everything :D

Word. And the effect is cumulative, when I have been in a pub for a few hours I am,
funnier,
more attractive,
more intelligent,
more knowledgeable,
stronger,
and in general a much better human being.

i hate object, regadless of brakes

http://www.movingtargetzine.com/article/are-brakes-for-flakes

chris crash i hate object, regadless of brakes
<3 you.

no thanks try aidan, or his sister

RPM, one day they will take away our right to choose

the-smiling-buddha I read Matt seatons book on two wheels and was amazed to find out that after riding a bike for twenty years and writing about bikes for the Guardian he was still hogging the curb
I learnt everything I know from being a courier I bet me and Mr Franklin probably don't see eye to eye on a thing or two but I bet it would be interesting to read what he has to say

it is interesting what he has to say, apart from the first part "before you get on your bike" and the odd section on basic stuff.

To summarise him briefly, you should never hog the curb. You should either be in the 'primary' position, i.e. in the middle of the lane, or the 'secondary' which is "about 1m to the left of the moving traffic lane if the road is wide, but not closer than 0.5m to the curb".

the diffence between theory and practice is this
if you ride down the center of the cycle/bus/taxi lane in Paris the taxi's impatiently try and drive you off the road
however if you ride secondary (not closer than 0.5m to the curb) they go past at up to 40kph missing you by inches
it can be really tricky to judge and more than once I find myself having words
right now I am so hacked off with bloody cycle lanes
that I leave the taxi's to the cycle lane
and bang down the middle of the road
at least in the middle of the road there is room to maneouvre

ihatelaw ha ha interesting, like, "i love to drive without wearing a seatbelt, it's the closest you ever get to skiing on four wheels.." etc...

also is it totally wrong that this anecdote made me choke laughing:

"in the 1980s, we had a P.E teacher who would regularly divide our class into 'black kids versus white kids' when we played football. The whole class loved it at the time ... we even had names for our teams ... Black Man International and White Man Athletic"

lol! well if the guys still teaching surely he would have a league going by now... Poland Palace FC, Iraqi Ajax, China City, PSV Lebanon, Palestine Hotspur, Russian Rovers.

..its not racism if everyones laughing right? ;)