I can remember arguing with my dad about the relative stopping distance of a bike with 1 brake + fixed vs. 2 rim brakes when I was young.

‘OK lets have a competition’ says my dad.

To make the test ‘fair’ I rode his fixie, (which was called The Deathtrap, with fair reason) and he rode whatever scoot I was packing at the time.

Anyway, I can confirm a one rim brake bike will stop completely instantaneously from about 10mph if you smash said brake hard enough. The rider however will come to a halt about 6 feet further forward, using his single face brake on the road. 🤕

Beast of a gear he’s riding though.

There’s a reason why he’s pushing it! That’s got to be well over 100”.

I was always a two brake rider, but having converted two track bikes and not being very heavy, I find a good front brake to be fine.

When I ride ins group, speed modulation by pedal pressure keeps the group together. It’s always smoother when I’m on fixed rather than gears.

A brakeless track bike, bikepacking & gravel riding somewhere between London and Paris in 2015 (before it was cool?)

yeah i believe it was tested in controlled conditions for the courts from 14mph the results were 4ft on the bike with 2 brakes and 40 ft for the fixed wheel bike.

And you really believed that, seriously? 40ft to stop from 14mph is laughable.
I take it you haven’t ridden brakeless fixed gear much?

Like I said I have tested it and at speeds as slow as 14 mph the difference would be a few feet at most.

I take it you haven’t ridden brakeless fixed gear much?’

Ill be honest – i was thinking the same when it comes to someone suggesting skid stops as a legitimate way to stop.

Ill be honest – i was thinking the same when it comes to someone suggesting skid stops as a legitimate way to stop.

Sorry, was that a yes or a no – have you ridden brakeless fixed gear very much?

Me, have ridden over 10 years and 30,000 miles on a brakeless fixed gear bike. You?

you mean track racing – yes i’ve done my share over the years. Mostly pursuit but the odd Devil takes the hindmost.

I’ve ridden plenty fixed but i’m not as uptight about how i look and have a full legal compliment of brakes on my bike…. not that i often use them….but then you wont be skid stopping the gear i run and retaining your knees.

fixed wheel is great for training but running no brakes on the public highway serves zero practical purpose other than being a liability.

Okay, so you couldn’t skid stop your your big gear but have have never actually ridden on the road brakeless and never got skilled at skid stopping (as presumably you don’t do it on the track!).

The reason I don’t have brakes is simply because I don’t need them so they prove “zero practical purpose” to use your words

You want brakes, that is fine. I am not telling anyone they shouldn’t have brakes, as I said I would have a front brake myself if I lived in town, where there are pedestrians, traffic, crossings etc,. but that doesn’t mean I cannot stop quickly enough for my needs where I do ride.

Like I said I have tested it and at speeds as slow as 14 mph the difference would be a few feet at most.

How very scientific.
A few feet equals what? 3? 5? 10?
So you’ll probably still hit the next person to walk out in front of you looking at their phone, yes?

Anyway, riding a fixed gear brakeless on the highway breaks two rules.
Rule one, and the rule of law.
Double dick move.

How very scientific.
A few feet equals what? 3? 5? 10?
So you’ll probably still hit the next person to walk out in front of you looking at their phone, yes?

38.7 inches
Nobody will be walking out in front on me with a phone unless horses and cows can now use phones?
Try to understand that not everyone lives in a town or city…

I don’t either, rural as it gets. But I still run brakes on my fixie. See reasons above.

Anyway, I thought this was a show and tell thread about people’s fixed gear bikes, not a chance for you to prove you are the awsumz at skid stops.

The physics of braking bicycles is hardly an unknown science. The maximum possible braking force in a straight line is with the centre of mass as low and as rearward as possible, with the front wheel carrying the entire weight, and the rear wheel carrying zero load (and thus providing zero retardation) without lifting.

Whilst Wikipedia isn’t gospel, it’ll give you a representative idea of the difference: on a good surface rear wheel braking is capable of around half the retardation of front wheel braking.

Regardless of your opinion of the law you’re breaking, or of what risks you do or don’t present to yourself and others, the fact of the matter is that you can’t stop a bike without a front brake as rapidly as a bike with a front brake, by a significant margin, because physics.

At least, not unless you can pop the front wheel in the air and throw your weight backwards to the same angle of inclination from the rear wheel as a front-braked rider could manage behind the front wheel, whilst still pedalling so as to maintain maximum grip instead of sliding the tyre across the tarmac, and using all of that grip through rearward force on the cranks.

If you’re that awesome then crack on, write to your MP and see if you can get the law changed 😉

My nan could skid stop a 38″ gear 😉 . What tyres do you run Kerley?

I haven’t had a fixed gear for a couple of years but I’ve had a Langster, a Pomp, a Fixie Inc (which was one of the nicest steel frames I’ve ever ridden, despite the silly name) and a couple of conversions including an ill-advised Spesh M5 race frame with a WI Eno hub. Terrifying toe overlap on that one.

I’m building a nice old 531 Rourke currently. Picked up a Goldtec rear hub with 126mm spacing which will be perfect. Lots of NJS parts too 😎 . It will have a front brake. I’ll try and post pics when I’m done.

My nan could skid stop a 38″ gear 😉 . What tyres do you run Kerley?

38″, I am not surprised. She must top out at about 10mph too.

I however ride 60″ in winter and 63″ – 66″ in summer. I have just squeezed in some tubeless 30c Giant tour tyres as they look very bombproof with small side knobs so look great for winter gravel.

Anyway, I thought this was a show and tell thread about people’s fixed gear bikes, not a chance for you to prove you are the awsumz at skid stops.

Any chance I get to challenge peoples incorrect assumptions.

the fact of the matter is that you can’t stop a bike without a front brake as rapidly as a bike with a front brake,

Totally agree, and have never said otherwise. However I don’t agree with the significant margin bit, especially at the speeds I ride (slow). Bear in mind that I am not just going into a skid and holding in in a straight line until I stop, that would be where you would may get a significant margin.

Anyway, you carry on using brakes and I will carry on with what I am doing safe in the knowledge that I am stop as quickly as I need to backed up by the last 30,000 miles of riding.

write to your MP and see if you can get the law changed

Is it that simple, wow. I would have to catch him when he wasn’t busy blacking up, the racist ****.

Why are you going slowly on a 66″ gear? 😉

(But yeah, aside from the law, I do get the “it’s not that simple” thing.)

. London and Paris in 2015 (before it was cool?)

So far after it was peak fixie try 2007/8

Why are you going slowly on a 66″ gear?

I would like to say because I am a spinner not a grinder but the simple answer is because I am old and not very fast.

So far after it was peak fixie try 2007/8

I think the comment was more around the gravel riding and back packing aspect than just the fixed gear.
I am however still thankful for the fixed gear boom in 2008 through as before that it was much harder to get frames and hubs with a much narrower choice. The choices opened up by the boom are largely still around today so there is something to be said for fashions.