Are brakeless fixies stupid?

Wishbone Ash

Chuchote wrote: »

Back-pedal brakes have their own danger..

They also have a tendency to easily overheat on long descents.

OleRodrigo

Fian wrote: »

All of which suggests that the poll is giving the correct verdict. Thouigh actually there is a place for back pedal brakes for young kids who don't have the finger strength to up handle brakes.

What the poll suggests is that the boards cycling community is predominantly of a rural/ suburban mindset. Both of which aren't known for being open and progressive.

The slightest whiff of urban culture and they reach for the outrage button, like a bunch of Trumps deplorables from the bible belt instantly dismissing what they cant imagine.

The 15 % recognize that it is a skillset that can be acquired and practiced safely. No maths books required, just good old fashioned practice

Eamonnator

I'm outraged.
Where's that button? quick!!

Lumen

OleRodrigo wrote: »

What the poll suggests is that the boards cycling community is predominantly of a rural/ suburban mindset. Both of which aren't known for being open and progressive.

The slightest whiff of urban culture and they reach for the outrage button, like a bunch of Trumps deplorables from the bible belt instantly dismissing what they cant imagine.

The 15 % recognize that it is a skillset that can be acquired and practiced safely. No maths books required, just good old fashioned practice

Your presentation of this as a cultural issue rather than basic safety/common sense is amusing. :pac:

Chips Lovell

Lumen wrote: »

Your presentation of this as a cultural issue rather than basic safety/common sense is amusing. :pac:

Dermot Illogical

OleRodrigo wrote: »

The 15 % recognize that it is a skillset that can be acquired and practiced safely. No maths books required, just good old fashioned practice

I'm one of the 15%. I think they're stupid but used my vote to put a hole in the accuracy of this otherwise scientific poll.

Kaisr Sose

OleRodrigo wrote: »

What the poll suggests is that the boards cycling community is predominantly of a rural/ suburban mindset. Both of which aren't known for being open and progressive.

Wide sweeping statements are normally way wide of the mark. How can you 'type' a person by how they vote on Boards or by where they live?

OleRodrigo wrote: »

The slightest whiff of urban culture and they reach for the outrage button, like a bunch of Trumps deplorables from the bible belt instantly dismissing what they cant imagine.

It's about safety on the public road, not urban culture. No idea about he Trump stuff, lost interest in that ages ago.

The 15 % recognize that it is a skillset that can be acquired and practiced safely. No maths books required, just good old fashioned practice

As in the more you practice the luckier you get What's wrong with having a bike that is road legal and then practicing safety on that?

Mr. Grieves

Leaving aside the ludicrousness of the argument that stopping using only the back wheel is "totally as effective as using a front brake provided I cycle slower and possess awesome skills as well as the ability to predict the future", does it not make sense to these people to have some redundancy in their braking system? What if the chain snaps or the feet come out of the pedals? I once borrowed a bike with a single working brake, whose cable snapped as I descended a hill. I was lucky to get away with a few scratches after ending up in a ditch.

daragh_

Now I'm confused. If I ride a single-speed am I guilty of cultural appropriation?

Eamonnator

daragh_ wrote: »

Now I'm confused. If I ride a single-speed am I guilty of cultural appropriation?

Only if it has just one brake. I think.

OleRodrigo

Lumen wrote: »

Your presentation of this as a cultural issue rather than basic safety/common sense is amusing. :pac:

You presented this as an instantly polarizing issue, leaving little chance of an intelligent, nuanced discussion.

And you know common sense isn't really that common. :pac:

Lumen

OleRodrigo wrote: »

You presented this as an instantly polarizing issue, leaving little chance of an intelligent, nuanced discussion.

And you know common sense isn't really that common. :pac:

Hey, I just dug a hole in the ground. That it's ended up a grave for the corpse of reasonableness is as unforeseeable as a toddler steeping out in front of a brakeless fixie rider.

OleRodrigo

Lumen wrote: »

Hey, I just dug a hole in the ground. That it's ended up a grave for the corpse of reasonableness is as unforeseeable as a toddler steeping out in front of a brakeless fixie rider.

No, you filled it with ' Wont someone please think of the children! ' hysteria.

Lumen

OleRodrigo wrote: »

No, you filled it with ' Wont someone please think of the children! ' hysteria.

Can you quote the hysteria? Considering the actions of and consequences to child pedestrians is completely normal in road safety.

Sorry if that's buzzkilling your urban culture.

Chips Lovell

I play synth....

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o_5uVdy5YmA

....We all play synth

Eamonnator

5 pages before somebody thought of the children.
Good going, that.

Dermot Illogical

Eamonnator wrote: »

5 pages before somebody thought of the children.
Good going, that.

That's seriously impressive in a 2 page thread.

dub_skav

Eamonnator wrote: »

5 pages before somebody thought of the children.
Good going, that.

OleRodrigo saw it coming 2 pages earlier and modulated his sarcasm accordingly.

tomasrojo

To be fair, it's not regarded as especially dangerous to ride a bike equipped with only a coaster brake in the Netherlands or Denmark, despite the similar lack of redundancy, and the risk of the chain breaking and leaving you with no brakes at all.

Is it acceptable there because of the more sedate riding style, the flatter terrain, or something else?

I had heard about coaster brakes overheating on descents. My friend who lives in Denmark dislikes coaster brakes purely because they make getting the wheel off a pain, and they make it harder to get your strong leg in place, ready for the lights to change. (Off topic, sorry.)

doozerie

tomasrojo wrote: »

Essentially, you can't brake hard when you ride a brakeless fixie, is that correct?

From my experience of it it is tough to modulate your braking on a fixie with legs alone. It certainly required more leg strength than I had, when I had to brake in a hurry.

Locking the back wheel entirely is easier to do than slow it down, but obviously that puts you straight into a skid. Sometimes that's fine, sometimes it's not, depending on space available either side of you and closing velocity of the thing that led to you feeling the need to throw out the anchors in the first place

When I rode my bike in fixie mode I had both front and rear brakes and for me they made life a lot easier and a lot safer. Mostly though I just found that riding a fixie around Dublin meant that I was just constantly preparing to stop so was constantly moderating my speed accordingly. That made it less fun than it could otherwise be and made my commute that bit slower too.

As to the specific question of whether it's stupid to ride a fixe without brakes, I wouldn't do it personally. Then again though, I see people do very stupid things regularly on bikes with brakes. "Stupid" is a very inclusive church :pac:

tomasrojo

Thanks for that, doozerie. I find this topic quite interesting.

Killgore Trout

Brakeless fixies are like crack whores - nobody should be riding them, but there's no telling some people.

Lusk_Doyle

Lumen wrote: »

I don't recall ever seeing a brakeless fixie being skidded down the road by a woman. That's not to say it doesn't happen.

I don't recall ever seeing a tree fall in a forest. That's not to say it doesn't make a noise.

Beasty

Just like to point out we're up to 7 pages on the touch site.....

EDIT
Make that 8

doozerie

Beasty wrote: »

Just like to point out we're up to 7 pages on the touch site.....

EDIT
Make that 8

It's out of control. Clearly someone forget to furnish the thread with brakes...

tomasrojo

doozerie wrote: »

It's out of control. Clearly someone forget to furnish the thread with brakes...

I find it very Zen. It's like you're at one with the thread.

happytramp

I'm just going to be honest.... I'm against them because most people who ride them look really annoying.

CramCycle

Killgore Trout wrote: »

Brakeless fixies are like crack whores - nobody should be riding them, but there's no telling some people.

That explains the itch at least.

philstar

stupid and irresponsible

*jeepers can't believe i just typed that i'm turning into an old fart

Miklos

They're fairly stupid, but what's really stupid is riding fixed with no foot retention which I see now and then around town.

I used to have a fixed wheel bike, I loved it but it was a bit big for me so I moved it on. Always had a front brake though, on account of my brain.

Now and then I think about getting another...