Riding fixed gear is like driving without brake lights

There are many other ways you can communicate so drivers/people behind clearly know what you're doing... and crucially looking behind tells you what drivers are doing.
Risk isn't increased riding fixed one you have mastered the control skills.

I don't think this follows. Just because there are other signals it doesn't mean that the signal of stopping pedalling doesn't help. I think lazybeard's point is perfectly valid and straightforward. If you draw the analogy of a standard reaction time test: you'll be much faster to respond to a light that goes from on to off than to a light which transitions from blinking fast to blinking slower. As everyone else has said, this makes no practical difference, since you should be judging distance from distance alone, rather than any signal that the vehicle is gving.

I would just like to add that there's also no signal to say a driver has taken their foot off the accelerator.

Very good point. Didn't Jaguar develop this recently though? Apparently it's a big difference with electric cars, the deceleration from just taking your foot off the throttle is much more noticeable.

Riding fixed is like having gears in your legs

Add to this heady mix the Zen like connection to the rear wheel and it's no wonder 'fixed gear' riding is really taking off in Britain's towns and cities......

Riding fixed gear is like losing your keys down a drain and whilst trying to retrieve them, you inadvertently discover an entire race of minature aliens, who are secretly harvesting all of London's fecal matter into a huge supercomputer with which they plan to take over BT Internet.

Just so as not to appear too flippant, lazybeard...

My pedalling slows if I'm stopping.
I position myself, indicate clearly and make frequent eye contact with other road users around and behind me.
I only stop when I need to - ie. at lights and crossings - along with the rest of the traffic of which I'm very much a part.
Sudden stops are extremely rare.

All ways to show drivers and other cyclists my intentions.

So far (in over 15 years) I've never once been rear-ended by a motor vehicle. Nor have I heard of it happening to friends. (I do know one or two who've gone in to the back of a bus though, usually after the pub.) As EEI rightly says " When something slows down it goes slower. Period."

Not sure what you mean by giving freewheelers "a heads-up" - how does being told that they (or drivers?) may or may not see that you're slowing, in any way protect you? It's rather disingenuous to make such a bold (and to many of us inaccurate) statement and then moan that we're being defensive and/or not taking your "fact" seriously.

Would it be right to assume your friend here had a rear-ending experience?

and apparently weasel emissions are very high in particulates
Interesting. Maybe strapping a weasel to the saddle of my bike, sort of like a dangly, would be good way to ensure I'm not rear-ended...

I would just like to add that there's also no signal to say a driver has taken their foot off the accelerator.

Engine noise?

What about those electric bike things?

Would now be a good time to explain that stereoscopic vision helps you judge the speed of something coming towards you. The only issue is that if you are viewing a moving object in peripheral that speed observation can be difficult.

Also some people are terrified to ride fixed?

Is it time to add brake lights to cycles? Another campaign to follow, shall we campaign to restart that's life with Esta Rantzen to start a campaign for the bike brake lights?

Not sure what you mean by giving freewheelers "a heads-up" - how does being told that they (or drivers?) may or may not see that you're slowing, in any way protect you?

Have you ever ridden in a fast, close chain gang? My experience is that you pedal hell for leather most of the time, then cover your brakes as soon as you spot any freewheeling ahead of you. I think that, if riding fixed in this context, you should be thinking about calling "slowing" in cases where normally you woud expect the act of freewheeling to suffice.

^ I'd still prefer to use my eyes and I'd expect those around me to as well.

Boring as it sounds, I can't say I've ever ridden in a fast, close chain gang with a mixture of fixed and freewheelers. Tend to avoid those situations or ride apart from the group if I'm the exception.

Anyway, time to put this thread on ignore so I can enjoy the Tour fireworks, with the lights off :)

Very good point. Didn't Jaguar develop this recently though? Apparently it's a big difference with electric cars, the deceleration from just taking your foot off the throttle is much more noticeable.

Are you are car driver?

I'm pretty sure driving instructors teach that you gear down to slow down... Cars being a form of fixed wheel after all. (At least they did in the 90's... Snotters?)

So in fact slowing using a fixed wheel is the same as slowing a car by reducing pressure on the accelerator or gearing down. (Which doesn't involve brake lights)

Are you are car driver?

I'm pretty sure driving instructors teach that you gear down to slow down... Cars being a form of fixed wheel after all. (At least they did in the 90's... Snotters?)

So in fact slowing using a fixed wheel is the same as slowing a car by reducing pressure on the accelerator or gearing down. (Which doesn't involve brake lights)

Current practice is to brake not go through the gears.

Spoilsport.

But the point stands that a lot of cars will slow down without brake lights showing anything.

My driving instructor taught me to gear down to slow down. This was in 2010 so not really ancient history.

Have you ever ridden in a fast, close chain gang? My experience is that you pedal hell for leather most of the time, then cover your brakes as soon as you spot any freewheeling ahead of you. I think that, if riding fixed in this context, you should be thinking about calling "slowing" in cases where normally you would expect the act of freewheeling to suffice.

That's where you're doing it totally wrong. You should never have to brake in a chaingang unless you're actually stopping or the whole group is slowing down. Same as when you're driving on the motorway, if everyone thinks in advance and doesn't react suddenly to everything that happens or might happen then it'd all go swimmingly. obviously if the person in front jams the brakes and you're behind you're going to need to hit the brakes yourself. But if you're 4 riders back then you need to start slowing when the first person has hit the brakes otherwise the concertina effect only gets worse as the number of riders increase.

Ha - so I just asked my mother, who has driven for 45 years:

Q: Someone on the forum has suggested fixed gear riders are more likely to be rear-ended by other vehicles since our legs are always spinning, unlike freewheel riders, and we have no brake lights...Do you agree? Would you notice that as a driver?

A: No

Spoilsport.

But the point stands that a lot of cars will slow down without brake lights showing anything.

That is true.

What if the brake switch broke? Or there is a fault in the wiring.

Ha - so I just asked my mother, who has driven for 45 years:

Q: Someone on the forum has suggested fixed gear riders are more likely to be rear-ended by other vehicles since our legs are always spinning, unlike freewheel riders, and we have no brake lights...Do you agree? Would you notice that as a driver?

A: No

Is she tired after driving for 45 years?

Spoilsport.

But the point stands that a lot of cars will slow down without brake lights showing anything.

I can slow the car pretty effectively by matching the revs/declutching down through the gears, which I do because it's fun- but of course it doesn't show any brake lights as you slow.

If there is someone coming up behind me I'll use the brakes in order to illuminate the brake lights to give warning that I am slowing.

But- that's because people are lazy and look for visual cues that they expect to see: no brake lights, no slowing happening.

I would not expect non-cyclists to pay any attention to a cyclists leg-speed in order to judge speed.

What if the brake switch broke? Or there is a fault in the wiring.

I remember a friend saying that they'd had a very confusing journey in a car where they kept finding themselves almost rear-ending the same Alfa-Romeo and it took them ages to work out that it was because its brake lights weren't working.

But- that's because people are lazy and look for visual cues that they expect to see: no brake lights, no slowing happening.

So yeah, this basically. I think the system that Jaguar developed (it could well be someone else) put the brake lights on if the driver lifted their foot quickly off the throttle i.e., something that indicated a rapid deceleration rather than just a moderation of speed.

I would not expect non-cyclists to pay any attention to a cyclists leg-speed in order to judge speed.
Generally not, but there have been quite a few comments about pedestrians being particularly cautious about stepping out in front of fixies, even if they are slowing, because it still looks like they're putting effort into keeping the bike going.

Nah, I reckon pedestrians are wary about stepping out in front of cyclists because the majority of cyclists don't stop at crossings/for lights.

It is expected that cyclists will RLJ.

Nah, I reckon pedestrians are wary about stepping out in front of cyclists because the majority of cyclists don't stop at crossings/for lights.

It is expected that cyclists will RLJ.

That too!

I don't believe it; FixedStar has joined this thread and he and the OP haven't mutually annihilated in a burst of heat and gamma radiation.