I confess...

Do it in heavy rain and traffic, whilst crossing Waterloo Bridge. It also helps if you are being filmed by a mate.

Sounds just like a cherished masturbation technique of mine.

Anyway, I think I just need to practice. What you describe, IR, is basically what I do, just with limited success. Maybe I should get the knack on a spinny little gear first. sigh

What gear do you guys run on the road?

I've begun to hate the colour of my Plug, but I don't have the cash to buy a new frame and fork, and I'm too lazy to strip and spray it. It reminds me of prune juice.

lol take it to armourtex, they'll strip and powdercoat it any flat colour for £49

Something pretty normal, about 70GI?

Fair enough, keep practising then.

Don't bother, learning to skid is unnecessary.

I can't skid, except when someone steps out or something and adrenaline is enough to ensure i skid.

Also having brakes is a good idea.

Well if you only have a front brake skidding is useful.

You need to go and read the pages of Sheldon brown relating to braking.

It's more for when your front brake fails

You need to go and read the pages of Sheldon brown relating to braking.

It's better to be able to than not be able to for emergencies.

It's more for when your front brake fails

And also this.

And only this.

Fixed. As he pointed out, in an emergency with a front brake maximum stopping power is achieved with the rear wheel just out of contact with the ground, making skidding redundant.

How about for coming to a quick as possible controlled stop, isn't that part of the reason bikes with freewheels should have two brakes?

Can't find any UK information but this is from California law governing cycling and road legal bicycles.

"Brakes
Must be able to make one wheel skid on clean, level, dry pavement."

^^ with two brakes i think it's better to simulate ABS by pumping it than to initiate a skid. Also bloody Californian hipsters.

This has got me interested and now I'm looking at articles about it, found this.

"I asked the Metropolitan Police for their views and they told me that although technically illegal, brakeless riders were "not an issue that our traffic branch have come across".

Did he just openly say that it's illegal and they don't really give a fuck or just that they haven't found and incident where a brakeless rider caused an accident they deemed to be due to being brakeless.

As I said, coming to stop as quickly as possible is achieved using only the front brake. The reason bikes with freewheels require two brakes is so that if the front fails, you can you the rear brake to stop you, although this would take longer than the front brake alone.

The fastest that you can stop any bike of normal wheelbase is to apply the front brake so hard that the rear wheel is just about to lift off the ground. In this situation, the rear wheel cannot contribute to stopping power, since it has no traction.

• Sheldon Brown.
  
  

It's probably wise to ignore what laws have to say about bicycle requirements.

Do you reckon someone with a rear lever operated brake could come to a stop faster than someone riding a brakeless fixedgear, just wondering?

^^^ I think the overriding thing is that dicks will ride like dicks regardless of what they're riding. Some of the stuff you see in SF fixed videos really scares me.

Do you reckon someone with a rear lever operated brake could come to a stop faster than someone riding a brakeless fixedgear, just wondering?

Assuming skidding the rear wheel is the fastest way to stop with only a rear braking mechanism (which it may or may not be - paging Tester), they'd only be able to stop as quickly as the rider with a brake, and it'd probably be harder. With a decent rear brake you should be able to lock up the rear wheel with as much weight as possible over the rear axle pretty easily, whereas skidding in that position would be rather difficult.

Skidding with weight over the wheel is not the problem to me but that most people are only in a position they can skid for a bit over 1/2 or even 1/4 rotations of the cranks, meaning at tdc and bdc they can't skid, I find I can skid in these positions but it hurt and I try to avoid it.

I'm still not convinced that it would slow you faster to lock the rear wheel, as well as the loss of control that it entails.

At the end of the day, brakes stop you faster than skidding. This doesn't mean that brakeless riding isn't fun :)

I feel the loss of control, or at least the sensation is more on a geared bike.

That's a riding style thing I suppose - whether you like to control from the hands or the feet (as well as body motion)