Viewing 26 posts - 41 through 66 (of 66 total)
  • Just running a front brake?
  • robbo1234biking
    Full Member

    http://sheldonbrown.com/brakturn.html

    i was looking through this as well which got me thinking about it but hadnt thought about the fixie brake thing

    Stoner
    Free Member

    Al – Ive never said I didnt ride fast. I just dont ride fast ALL the time or when I dont have alternative lines available should I need it.

    for instance sometimes cars pull out of side roads or onto roundabouts with little time to react

    If they do that and you hit them, that’s your fault even if you can blame them. As someone once told me “there are lots of motorcyclists in hospital who were right“.

    Why would I brake hard? Traffic lights changing, cars pulling out, tourists stepping off the pavemnent – the list goes on.

    ditto. If you have to make an emergency stop in such circumstances you arent riding very well. There’s plenty of controlled braking to hand with just a front brake should it be needed to deal with normal road road user/ped behaviour like that.

    allyharp
    Full Member

    I wouldn’t remove one just for the sake of it, but then I’m a wuss.

    I liked the point about braking late and hard to make a point to drivers though, it’s something I do too. If a driver cuts me up I usually try my hardest to make them think I’m ploughing right into their rear end.

    TandemJeremy
    Free Member

    Stoner – you are talking tripe. Utter rubbish.
    One road I go down I can hit 30 mph on it. If the lights change at the wrong moment you have to brake hard or go thru on red. Braking is for sure for sure 75% front 25 % rear on a dry road ( with skill you can do 100% front as the rear will lift off the surface) – but what about in the wet? You simply cannot stop as hard in the wet front brake only. Or as often happens when diesel is spilt on it? Or as it is at the moment when its bumpy?

    I have been riding cycles and motorbikes in heavy urban traffic for 35 yrs – I can control a bike under braking as well as the best (It’ll get laughed at again) up to the point of practising locking the front wheel to know where the limits are.

    Riding without a rear brake is simply stupid and compromises your ability to stop on poor / wet / slippy road surfaces.

    You are correct in the point about lots of bikers in hospital who were right. Being right don’t stop it hurting

    avdave2
    Full Member

    Sheldon says

    But I don’t think at any point does he suggest leaving the rear brake at home. There are conditions in which you need two and I’d rather have a back up even in perfect conditions. I’ve been trying front wheel braking alone recently on my commute which is off road and while it works well there have been a couple of occasions where the front wheel has started to slide. In fact I’ve had to pick myself off the floor once when I foolishly tried to brake and steer on a thin layer of wet mud and gravel.
    You may never need it your rear brake, I’ve never even scratched a helmet in 25 years of cycling or had a seat belt lock in 25 years of driving, I could have left both at home but I’m not about to start now.

    Stoner
    Free Member

    One road I go down I can hit 30 mph on it. If the lights change at the wrong moment you have to brake hard or go thru on red

    and if someone said much the same thing about driving a car you would be the first one to throw your toys for the same reason that if you have to make an emergency stop at the limits of your braking capacity you are taking liberties and riding in an undisciplined way.

    TandemJeremy
    Free Member

    Yeah whatever stoner. You are braking the law of the road and ignoring the laws of physics. Do you ride in the wet? Y#In the wet you will have half the possible braking with your O so macho front brake only. I hope you don’t injure any innocents when you crash – not if but when as you will.

    soobalias
    Free Member

    robbo, why not just clean and replace all your bearings, again

    Stoner
    Free Member

    not if but when as you will.

    thanks for the bad juju mister knowitall.

    MrSmith
    Free Member

    he will not injure anybody as he will be going so slowly. also don’t forget he has has visualised the upcoming collision and laid some carpet over a bit of bubblewrap at the scene of the ‘accident’ the previous evening.

    MrAgreeable
    Full Member

    Saint Sheldon is being invoked here to back up the front brake only theory but he also raises a very salient point, which is that if you only have one brake and it fails then you are toast.

    I think Stoner is in the grip of the phenomenon known as “false exclusivity”, which is where you go around thinking “it’ll never happen to me” right up until the moment that it does. 😐

    chunkychew
    Free Member

    This has been fun.

    I’m just off to change the pads an my front AND REAR brake.

    avdave2
    Full Member

    If anyone does insist on running a single brake may I suggest that they follow boriselbrus and take an angle grinder to there cranks thus reducing the weight they have to bring to a halt.

    amedias
    Free Member

    if the mismatched levers bother you get a cable disk at the front 🙂

    and no amount of ‘proper maintenance and my brake wont fail’ cr*p is going to hold any weight as no amount of maintenance in the world can prevent that teeny tiny metal defect that you cant see, check or prove even exists from a visual inspection, in that critical bolt from catching you by surprise.

    and all this arguing is all very well and good but on the day your single brake fails for whatever reason I really really hope that you don’t find yourself under a bus.

    Badgerpoo
    Free Member

    I’m running just a rear brake on my commuter at the mo cos the front one broke. I’m riding noticeably slower as I have to anticipate far more, I’d be toast if I had to emergency stop as you can only scrub so much speed with just the rear wheel.

    Much better having both brakes as you can pull stoppies and massive skids, Hooyaaa!

    thepodge
    Free Member

    I’m with Stoner on this

    I’ve been riding for years on the roads round Sheffield, commuting down one of its busiest roads and coming down some of its steepest hills with only a front brake & slick tyres. I’ve done emergency stops / endo no end of times but you get used to it and naturally throw your weight back when you use the brake.

    I’ve also ridden for a whole weeks commute (130 miles) to work and back with only a front brake on my motorbike when the drum seized and couldn’t get it fixed till the weekend. also done this quite a few times before and after but only for a couple of days. drum brakes and salty roads suck.

    I found I just learnt to read the road better, anticipate stuff more and over all ride calmer, you cant panic riding with front only because if you panic you grab a hand full and go over the bars. no one understand why I don’t go over the bars all the time and its because I can control the brake, its not ON / OFF, its gentle.

    you cant do emergency stops on a fixie (without your legs exploding) but you’re all jumping on that band wagon.

    a lot of the BMX guys run no brakes and manage to get round everywhere ok.

    its not the best idea but then neither are a lot of things that we all happily do.

    amedias
    Free Member

    most brakeless BMXers arent on a daily commute with the traffic, they’re normally on the pavement, and I have seen a brakeless BMXer come-a-cropper due to not being able to stop.

    And you might be lucky and spend your entire life riding with one brake and never have an issue but it’s just a stupid stupid risk, for you AND the people you endanger.

    I’m honestly disgusted that you would ride your motorbike with only one working brake.

    mk1fan
    Free Member

    You can’t compare riding through Hyde Park to riding along a Central London road. And you can’t anticipate every possible danger. If you took defensive driving techniques literally you’d never move anywhere because there’d always be hazard.

    I’ve been hit three times by cars. And on each occassion there was no way for me to avoid being hit. I have also hit several pedestrians who stepped straight out in front of me without any form of signal that they were intending to do so (I wasn’t travelling fast either). I have fresh stories every ride about me having to avoid someone doing something stupid in front of me but I have anticipated what they were going to do and avoided it. Thus they’re only stories.

    Stoner is right in what he says about observation but it’s not infallible. You can never rule out that someone will do something stupid in the space in front of you so that you can’t react in time. The faster you go the longer this space is.

    In all the time I’ve been commuting I feel lucky that I’ve only had seven instances when there was nothing I could do to avoid an accident.

    As for the OP. Run a fixie if you only want a front brake. Otherwise, keep the V brake and fit a BB-7 on the front.

    robbo1234biking
    Full Member

    Cheers for all the comments! Dont worry I’m notgoing to take the rear brake off – as you say a bit pointless as it is already there. I also wasn’t suggesting that Sheldon said to remove the rear brake completley but just that it got me thinking about if the brake was required! Really dont fancy a fixie either – I am sure that would be more dangerous to the general public as I would no doubt go flying off!

    thepodge
    Free Member

    amedias – most brakeless BMXers arent on a daily commute with the traffic, they’re normally on the pavement, and I have seen a brakeless BMXer come-a-cropper due to not being able to stop.

    they may not commute but they are throwing them selves off buildings / walls / steps accross pavements into roads / traffic / pedestrians and i’ve seen people come-a-cropper with both brakes. most people think I should run rear if i’m going to only run one. most people are wrong.

    And you might be lucky and spend your entire life riding with one brake and never have an issue but it’s just a stupid stupid risk, for you AND the people you endanger.

    is it a stupid stupid risk to be running anything other than discs then? because I bet many people can out brake some one with front & rear canties if they only had a front disc.

    I’m honestly disgusted that you would ride your motorbike with only one working brake.

    yeah not a smart move I’ll admit but when it seizes open half way through the ride I had no other option likewise I had no other way to get to work when the shop didn’t have the parts in. you learn to leave triple the space and travel at significantly lower speeds. i fell off when both brakes were fully functioning, I’d lost concentration, that was much sillier.

    MrSmith
    Free Member

    you cant do emergency stops on a fixie (without your legs exploding)

    rubbish.
    yes you can, unfortunately i have had to do this a couple of times, the front brake does most of the braking, you slow down the rear with your legs without locking up.
    if you get it right you feel the rear just start to go light and ease the braking a bit. if anything being able to control the rear stops you locking it up unless you want to plus you feel the traction go as soon as it starts to lose grip due to the weight transfer.
    much better doing emergency stops in the wet with fixed as you will never lock the rear if your legs are still moving.
    having used gears and fixed on the road i feel safer stopping in the wet with fixed

    NWAlpsJeyerakaBoz
    Free Member

    Kinhell

    Get a grip lads, eh? 😯

    MrSmith
    Free Member

    i ride without grips. my hands haven’t slipped off the bars in ten years of riding. yet….

    GW
    Free Member

    TJ – care to back up your claim that it’s illegal?

    cynic-al
    Free Member

    that’s cos you got death grip caused by fear of not being able to slow down

    TandemJeremy
    Free Member

    GW – there is a quote from the law on this thread. construction and use regs IIRC
    Edit*
    Quoted for you
    Construction & Use Regulations
    This Statutory Instrument (1983 No. 1176) is part of the Road Traffic Acts. Accordingly it is illegal to ride a pedal cycle, including an electrically-assisted pedal cycle, on a public road unless it meets the appropriate requirements. Specifically: the brakes must be as described below – except in the case of a pedal cycle that is sold for off-road racing on enclosed tracks. .
    In the case of a pure pedal cycle (no electrical assistance) these regulations are simply and entirely concerned with the brakes.
    Most sorts of cycle are required to have at least two efficient braking systems, by which the front wheel (or wheels) can be braked independently of the rear wheel (or wheels). This means that if there are two wheels at the front or rear, the relevant system must act on the pair. It also means that the combined operation of front and rear brakes from one lever is not allowed except as an extra braking system: additional to the two independent front and rear braking systems required by this law….. a fixed wheel drive counts as a braking system – on that wheel only.

    As for the point about being able to stop hard with a front brake only – yes you can get 100% slowing front brake only – on a dry grippy road – the rear wheel will be just hovering over the ground at which point a rear brake would be useless. However this only applies on a dry grippy road without bumps – add in wet road / diesel spills, bumps etc and you can generate more retardation with both brakes as you cannot brake hard enough front brake only to get all the weight off the rear

Viewing 26 posts - 41 through 66 (of 66 total)

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