Brakeless in Bristol?

How many of you lot ride brakeless in bristol?
Im toying with the idea but I'm not sure if im being entirely realistic.
park street and coming down whiteladies from the downs are easily do able without using my fron brake, but hills like st michaels would be pretty scary!
anyone run brakeless? how do you find it?

I ride St Michaels most days, there is no way I could ever stop at the bottom without a front brake. I've tried and tried and tried but always end up grabbing the brake at the last minute.

each to their own of course but personally i think braleless is a stupid idea. if anyone can give a convincing argument id be interested to hear it, but it wouldnt change my mind. hand brakes stop you quicker and safer. period.

riding isnt just about hills though is it. traffic, peds, mopeds etc all conspire to mess with your flow and relying on skidding and plain luck is a dubious choice in my book, especially if you actually ride your bike around, commute, put in miles etc in all weathers.

my two pennys. good luck and have fun.

The only argument I can think of is aesthetics.
I swapped my dropbar/stem combo with a mates gripless riser and stem just to see what it looked like, i also disconnected my brake, looked wicked.
had a nice ride up and down the gloucester road was great fun without breaks, my tyre consequently blew, lucky it was 3am with no cars.

But yeah, especially because its winter Im starting to change my mind about going brakeless.

i was riding brakeless for a bit because i changed my bars and didn't have a suitable lever. i quite liked it, but after getting hold of a lever i feel much much better for having a brake again.

you'll be worrying about aesthetics when your face is sliding down the road/under a bus

you'll be worrying about aesthetics when your face is sliding down the road/under a bus

wise words.

you'll be worrying about aesthetics when your face is sliding down the road/under a bus

Personally, I'm riding without a hand brake at the moment but I am by no means without a brake.
Yes, it can be a lot of fun. Yes, we understand why it is frowned upon.

"You go west for your kicks, but return east to lead a normal life..."

each to their own. my decision was based on riding too big a gear, which is good for longer rides out of town but not so good for stopping in a hurry. i personally love the look of a bike without brakes, and would never frown on anyone for riding brakeless. and it does feel good knowing that all your braking is through your legs. but if you're only going to ride brakeless for aesthetics, i don't really think that's a good enough justification.

each to their own. my decision was based on riding too big a gear, which is good for longer rides out of town but not so good for stopping in a hurry. i personally love the look of a bike without brakes, and would never frown on anyone for riding brakeless. and it does feel good knowing that all your braking is through your legs. but if you're only going to ride brakeless for aesthetics, i don't really think that's a good enough justification.

hexactly. looks pretty and feels nice. but for me, thats when the goodness ends, and its just not enough.

If we weren't having fun, we wouldn't do it...each to their own, indeed.

Riding brakeless in Bristol i'd need to gear about 60 GI!!! or it'd get pretty sketchy. And that's in the dry!

just read the tags. you funny fuckers. its weird, i have never written a tag and yet they seem so much fun.

just to clarify, i have no issue if people wanna ride with no brakes, its just not for me. may it last long for anyone who does it.

I found riding brakeless BMX less sketchy than brakeless fixed wheel.
strange that

Grow up you cnuts, if you have something to say write it in the thread, dont just tag it..

How can a person other than yourself choosing to ride brakeless stir up such strong emotions.
People are ridiculous.

bloody hell you get up early. happy halloween..

hah, happy halloween indeed, Oh and im not choosing to ride brakeless, I'm keeping my front brake thankyou very much. this thread was supposed to be more about other peoples brakeless experiences in bristol...

this thread was supposed to be more about other peoples brakeless experiences in bristol...

I once unsuccessfully tried to ride through a van, acquireing concussion amongst other injuries, it was an wholly positive experience.

Hey everyone, my first post here!

Ive not been riding fixed too long, about 6 months now and I must admit from an aesthetic point of view, the whole no brakes thing does look appealing, as the bike looks so clean.

But, when ive been toying with the idea, and psyching myself upto give it a whirl, I came off my bike last week on a spot of black ice and fucked my brand new shiney Macbook pro!

I wouldnt have minded too much, but that new MBP was paid for by insurance for coming off my bike in the pouring rain on the slippey tiles down where the hippodrome is, where I wrote off my old MBP.

So, i think the lesson Ive learnt is I seem to be a liability to myself WITH a brake, so without it I think id be a gonner!

It still is well tempting though!

Anyways, good to be here Bristol folk!