Brakes?

I think people with a brain can adjust to different road situations whether they have a
brake or not.

but anticipating things....and keeping a flow by controlling your speed with subtle adjustments takes less effort than constantly having to sprint...STOP....then start from a standstill again.

I wasn't disagreeing with you!

uhm, atanta rims DO have braking surface

instead of charging through says Oxford Street with your hand on the brake levers just in case some muppet decided to walk across the road, which frankly is more unsafe than riding brakeless that force you to observe and analysis the situation more that chance are if any muppet step out on the road, you´ll easily go round them.

Yeah, because with brakes I usually just close my eyes and hope for the best.

rolls eyes

Which only proves my point as to why a lot of brakeless riders are so smooth.
That's exactly what i was talking about...people think that having a brake means they don't need to anticipate things happening....hence why so many of them are so 'sprint...BRAKE' all the time. Good brakeless riders are constantly anticipating things....expecting bad driving ahead...expecting that ped to step out...they're a lot more alert through constantly anticipating.

Agree, and i like to think I ride smoothly. I still think I would be marginally faster with a brake when riding in town/city but guess I will never know as I can't put a brake on and I rarely ride in town...

The thing I find funny about the brakeless argument is that it centres around the concept that you have to ride smoothly and with more anticipation because you are not as well equipped to stop as when you have a brake attatched. Surely that is what should be focused on. Yes you should definitely ride with acute awareness of your surroundings at all times but surely this can be done with a brake (or two) attatched? You'll never be able to anticipate absolutely every eventuality and should a kid run out from behind a parked car and you end up skidding into them and injuring them you'd probably feel like a prick if deep down you know you could have stopped just a few inches before had you had a handbrake.

Brakes FTW!

if somebody suddenly jumps out in front of you, you are gonna grab the biggest handful of front brake and go where?
how slow are you gonna stop?

anyway, where's zippy?

Riding without brakes on the road is idiotic.
End of.

if somebody suddenly jumps out in front of you, you are gonna grab the biggest handful of front brake and go where?
how slow are you gonna stop?

anyway, where's zippy?

Or you could lightly feather it and stop 6 inches nearer which might be the difference between scaring the shit out of a 7 year old or cracking their skull.

to be honest, if a seven yr old kid ran out from behind a car straight into your path, are you gonna think about feathering a brake?
same as an emergency stop in a car, you are told to "pump" the brakes, when you need to, who does?
it's an instinct.
or if you have room, go around?

The thing I find funny about the brakeless argument is that it centres around the concept that you have to ride smoothly and with more anticipation because you are not as well equipped to stop as when you have a brake attatched. Surely that is what should be focused on. Yes you should definitely ride with acute awareness of your surroundings at all times but surely this can be done with a brake (or two) attatched? You'll never be able to anticipate absolutely every eventuality and should a kid run out from behind a parked car and you end up skidding into them and injuring them you'd probably feel like a prick if deep down you know you could have stopped just a few inches before had you had a handbrake.

Spot on. How stupid would someone sound if they said that not wearing a seat belt made them a better (let alone quicker) driver because the added risk increased their awareness of road conditions?

to be honest, if a seven yr old kid ran out from behind a car straight into your path, are you gonna think about feathering a brake?
same as an emergency stop in a car, you are told to "pump" the brakes, when you need to, who does?
it's an instinct.
or if you have room, go around?

We could argue all the different permutations of every possible eventuality, but I still think my point is valid. The only reason I have heard that makes sense to me for riding brakeless is that it is fashionable and/or your bike looks nicer without a brake (don't get me wrong I think they look nicer too but not enough for me to risk my own and other's saftey)

fair do's

A rider with a brake will use natural instincs of dabbing on the brake all the time.

Not a skilled road rider who's raced. Dabbing a brake means losing time/position, so is not always going to be the first option (which might be sitting up to catch a bit of wind, or soft-pedalling, or even pushing the rider ahead of you).

my mate Charles says he's been battered by a few brakeless riders having to stop suddenly and sliding their real wheel out (and into him) to do so.

Sounds to me like Charles is riding too close to people.

I do admire some of the skills of brakeless riding and must admit the aesthetics involved are nice, it makes sense if you are tricking about in a park away from traffic or similar conditions. I can see the point of it making you more aware on the road I just think it's a silly route to learning essential road skills.

If it requires a lack of brakes for someone to learn how to ride smoothly and 'read' traffic properly I would find myself wondering what they were doing on a road in the first place

each to their own.

By the way I hope I haven't come across too agressively, if it helps, I ride fixed without straps/clips so I'm not above making silly decisions myself ;)

i hope your bloody joking fester

each to their own.

It's genetic suicide.

i wouldnt ride a freewheel with just a rear brake, so why would i just rely on skidding? i know its not exactly a fair comparison, but it just seems ineffcent to me.

if you ride in places with actual hills (not london) a brake is a very nice to have. i despise resisting on long downhills. with a brake i can fly down the hill and stop when i need to to.

the thing is we ride fixed and single speed bikes which is already less effcent than geared, but we do it becuase we like it. so who cares, its just personal prefrence. and just becuase you have a brake, it doesnt mean you have to use it all the time, i certainly dont.

i hope your bloody joking fester

'Fraid not, I do have a front and rear brake though, I'm considering a left powergrip though...

well................i ain't sayin' nothin'