Riding brakeless fixed gear is not for everyone. Ask your doctor. I think emergency handbrakes are good. I usually have them on my fixed gear bikes. Enjoy the video! //Addvurt
I feel that many people who ride fixed-gear bikes without brakes do so simply because they want to convey to others that they ride 'pure' fixed-gear bikes and want to appear cool in the eyes of others. Brakes should be present even if they're not used, there are several advantages to using brakes, one of which you didn't mention, for example, is weight. The heavier your bike is, the harder it is to brake without brakes. I use a front rack and sometimes i'm heavily loaded coming back from shopping, brakes play an essential role, especially on descents when I'm loaded. The excuse of adding maintenance leaves me skeptical, caliper brakes are super easy to maintain, they're a fantastic piece created by humans, so use them. Good video!
I did want to look "cool" at first but at this point I'm so used to not having any brakes I'd probably do myself more harm than good by having them. As someone in the comments pointed out, when there's a real emergency situation I would most likely just resort to skidding because of muscle memory, or, less likely, I'd slam my front brake and fly over the handlebars. Whenever I'm transporting pizza or something heavier to my place, though, the front brake is always there, mainly because it makes the ride a lot easier since I don't have to put any effort into backpedaling all the time.
@@ayyansea2138 It remains an excuse the fact that people say the front brake is dangerous, perhaps because they haven't really had an accident. I would prefer a thousand times to go headfirst into the ground by pressing the front brake than to be under a car, for example. In my case, living in a region full of ups and downs, I also use the rear brake, it helps me a lot to reduce speed on descents. Using brakes on a fixed gear bike doesn't mean we don't use our legs to brake, in fact, when I use the brakes, I also use my legs, which results in three brakes, making the fixed gear bike super safe, especially in the rain.
It has nothing to do with maintenance. It’s a mental thing. Knowing that your life depends on a single chain link, makes you ride differently. You don’t have to skid to control your speed. I don’t use brakes because if I do, my ride becomes more reckless, I risk more riding closer to cars. Brakeless is a cool ride. Just because you need the brakes , don’t impose them to everyone else. I ride Brakeless now, have already had one and even two brakes in other circumstances. *Edit "live" for "life"
Dude is riding fixed without brakes AND without foot retention, so he'll better stay with helmet. This whole video should never been recorded, cause this settup is not acceptable. At all.
The thing about "emergency handbrakes" is that you need the muscle memory to use them in emergency situations, where you don't have time to think about your method of stopping. Now, if you never actually use them, like a lot of "I run a front brake for emergency situations only" people claim, then how do you imagine actually using it in such a moment? If 1000/1000 stops, you use your feet, how do you imagine remembering to use your hands for the 1001st stop when you have a split second to react because a car just pulled out in front of you? I'm absolutely not saying don't run brakes if they make you feel safer. They just don't make me feel any safer on my track bike.
You are right. Emergency handbrakes won't cover everything, and the reaction time to use them is lower when you normally don't. The scenario that I visualise the most is the sudden need to slow down very quickly on a descent for some reason, but you are correct that I won't be able to use them in a split second.
@@addvurtbikes Yeah, that's a very valid reason. Clipping out/slipping out of your straps, while on a decent for example. A technical failure is another one. I double check everything before I ride, but a tire can blow out, a chain can rip, a cog can slip. I can make sure they almost certainly won't but it's never gonna be 100%. I definitely agree with your video, it's not for everyone. You need to be willing to take some amount of risk, and you need to ride very responsibly and cautiously. Riding brakeless defies all logic but so does love
@klimentbassev8866 The first accident I had while riding fixed was like that, completely out of my control. I was riding in the bike lane, crossed an intersection while a car crossed, not even bothering to look if something was coming (if he had just looked he would've seen me), crashed into me as I was crossing the intersection where I was supposed to, and the bike and I ended up on the hood for about 2-3 seconds, about 10 meters. I was riding brakeless. Had I had brakes or not, it would've been the same. Thankfully, nothing happened to me, miraculously. Had my helmet on, thank God. The bike was OK too, just had to replace the saddle.
I actually run both brakeless and with a front brake. Riding brakeless makes me ride completely different than when I do have brakes, and it overall has made me ride better. However, I still agree that brakes are a good idea, even though I only run fronts
I've been planning to add a front brake on my fixie as emergency brake, I've been riding brakeless for 2 years sometimes I wish I had a front brake cause a lot of drivers drive recklessly o rather they don't care about cyclist at all. Never gotten into an accident involving cars for 2 years riding brakeless. As of now I've been riding my fixie to commute to work and I really need a front brake incase I had a flat tire going downhill or else I wouldn't be able to stop.
My man, without a brake on your bike you are among the reckless drivers (or riders in this case). There is no planning needed, get yourself a brake asap and save your relatives the pain of losing you over an easily avoidable accident.
After maturing from the “fixie craze” from like a decade ago, coming back to it a lot older I’ve been riding brakeless since I’ve gotten my Pake Rum Runner. However, I’m using SPD SL shoes and pedals so a bit more responsive feeling. I’ve learned that my style of riding is “reasonably dangerous” (Zach Gallardo) where I will 100% go real slow if there is a sliver of chance that trouble could happen. But I will never knock anyone riding with brakes with fixed gear. I’ll only goof on someone when their seat height is WAAAYY too high which the fixed gear community is guilty of 😂
@@addvurtbikes it’s so good I never want to get rid of it. Geometry is nice and aggressive but great for the street and not 100% track geometry. It’s apparently treated for rust prevention too. Seriously a high recommendation from me 👍
that sounds nice. I’m not sure what the future holds but I don’t think I have built my last fixie yet. steel is probably still my favourite material, so at some point I might be looking for something just like what you described there.
Before I started riding fixed gear, the idea of riding without a hand brake seemed pretty wild to me but I think under the right conditions its perfectly fine. I have a front brake on my bike, but if I keep my speeds low enough I don't even need to use it honestly. So I think if it's done reasonably /safely/ (not barreling down hills, not flying through red lights, not cutting through groups of people) it's perfectly okay. Just my thoughts.
@@addvurtbikes I got a State bicycle co. 4130. I got it stock and swapped out some of the stuff it as I got more confident on it. Best purchase I ever made. I love it!
that’s awesome! I’ve been keeping an eye on State for a while now. I often feel like recommending them as a solid choice for a good price to Americans, but since I don’t have any personal experience it feel weird to do it. now I’ve heard at least one person say that they are happy with their state :)
you need foot retention. straps are great, but I’m using spd pedals here, which also works well. back foot alone is not enough :) There was a recent GCN video where the presenter rides fixie without foot retention and only a front brake. crazy
@@addvurtbikesdon't agree here. I always ride with flat pedals and front brake only, and have no problem stopping. Front brake is quite efficient for heavy stops and back pressure is good enough for most of the time. Depends how strong your legs are, but you only need to lock the rear wheel if you're riding brakeless..
It's a road pedal that uses a 3-bolt cleat, that is no longer made. The pedal, that is. the cleats will be around for a few more years. The design was updated by a series called Xpresso--same idea but with different springs, cleats, and lugs. The Xpresso is easier to engage, but the cleats are slightly less durable. I like Time because of the float mechanics, low stack height, and solid platform underfoot.
haha yeah same here. the Skream Anodiz fork was much thicker than my other fork so I couldn’t attach it . I just need to visit a bike shop but they work the same hours as me soo….
I used to ride Bmx without brakes. No biggie. But it was one of the factors when I was hit by a car. (My fault beyond the brake issue) I plan to try fixed gear in the near future. It will likely be a conversion using a flip-flop hub. Since I often ride in areas that are highly populated with pedestrians and other people occasionally ride my bikes, it would be irresponsible of me to ride without brakes. Risking my own well-being is one thing, but I can’t expect others to endure the results of no brakes. While I applaud many fixed gear riders that have skills beyond mine, there is no justification for them to slam into the side of vehicles or pedestrians.
I live in a fairly flat area, yes. But it would probably be a very different story if I lived up north, and close to the Norwegian border :) btw, the first time I ever saw a fixed gear bike was in Ottawa, it was a bike polo game in 2013 :D
Nope, just my iPhone 13 mini with a DJI mobile gimbal :) You can see it in my video "Fixed gear snow skidding" if you are interested in the thing. Or just google it :D
It’s easier to mount a bike without brakes than to remove the brakes from an existing one 🤙 (I ride Brakeless…again, started with one brake, then none, then one, then two and now…none)
Are the police in sweden likely to pull you up on it? What's the fixed scene like there? I am visiting next month and planning on riding fixed to Stockholm from a city around 200km away
Oh wow that sounds awesome! I think it's very unlikely to happen anywhere else than in like the very city centers. I've talked to people who got pulled over in central Stockholm. I think they can give you a 50 euro ticket. I personally don't know much about the fixed scene. I've sort of created my own with 2 friends where I live. But I am a member of the Facebook group "FixedGear Stockholm", which has over 1000 members in it. Where are you riding from? 200 km could be... Linköping? Örebro? Falun? Gävle? :D
The lack of wires is hella nice, yeah. I would like to dig deeper into internal cable routing. My Ribble tracklocross has internal in the top tube, which is nice.
Fixed gear and bluetooth are pretty cool, but with bluetooth I don’t want to have to charge it after using it for 4 hours, fiddle with the manufacturer’s crappy phone app whenever something goes wrong, or compress my audio to temu quality trying to get on a call with it connected to a computer that doesn’t have a mic. My experiences with fixies were much better tho, idk if it’s right to compare both especially with how finicky bluetooth can get
I think the comparison stopped at the lack of wires. Fixed gear bike are the opposite of over-engingeering, whereas Bluetooth headphones are space age solutions for something that was working well 50 years ago. With that said, I use bluetooth headphones because I hate untangling the wires :D :D :D
I have never used a brake.Have rode for26 yrs. In Seattle SanFransicko NYNY and a dozen other big cities. I ride in dense traffic in these downtown and industrial hectic paced cities. Never. Neverhad to lock upwheel to emergecy stop... Why? Because i see the whole landscape and react extremely smart plus i dont follow traffic laws ...and was a phenomenal player of arcade game Frogger....really though if you use a brake ...you should ...either way a brake a helmet Or locking up wheel will not help in a real collision .the guy who uses no foot retention or uses spd pedal is an idiot and doesnt ride fixed .only double strap metal cage toe clips for non brake bike. Again personally pure bike is all i ride like in pre derailleur tour de France days ...they rode no brake no gears no masters!
@@addvurtbikes no success. That implies an aim or objective ...premeditation. Man its like this..I'm from the street ...not a cyclist !!! Riding fixed wasn't a fad , trend , or something that looked cool ...it was bare bones , cheap ..less craps to buy , little maintenance and not many people could ride if they stole it ! So my bikes are overlooked ! Trust me I spend every second anticipating every possible thing that could go wrong while riding and I guarantee brakeless makes me a better rider because you can't relax or zone out ...this ain't for the faint of heart or the meek. I mean if a brake is required probably should be riding a geared road bike or such not a track bike.
Riding brakeless is stupid and no one should do it. Only people who ride brakeless are idiots with a death wish. That said, all my four bikes are brakeless.
All good! I wish I had mentioned it. I left a couple of things out of the video that I should have said. Instead I made another video about foot retention :)
@@addvurtbikes Nice one! Yes I think it makes a huge difference. Foot retention - and appropriate skills and fitness - make it not brakeless actually :) Most people in Holland ride with a torpeedo brake only, which is as or even a little less efficient than a skid.
I've never understood why anyone would ride brakeless. A well trained rider can stop much much shorter with a front brake than a rear brake, so if you go brakeless in my mind you just only have a very weak rear brake which just sounds like suicide to me.
"for emergency situations" - getting into that kind of situation means you weren't careful enough in the first place, weren't anticipating, weren't concentrating and letting your mind slip when you shouldn't have. What people don't get is when riding brakeless you run through a metamorphosis of becoming a much safer rider. No problem with going slow if the situation asks for it with any kind of potential danger. It's a fixie and it's great fun at any speed.
@addvurtbikes I like 44. Quick with the stride. But for me to keep up with traffic I have to have at least a 49t. I had a 44x13 and the bandwidth was amazing. 16mph on cadence and around 22mph top out. But on my 53x16 I'll be doing 19-21mph on cadence and 26-30mph on top out. Sure im starting to stop half a block down the street but i love the asthetic of seeing a giant chainring. Im really fond of seeing people drill holes in the chainring or adding their name to it. I love charting out ratios. Good video love your track bike. I'm on a 1992 serotta colorado 2 with a track fork. I saw it before I went on a ride this afternoon. Liked and subscribed. Be safe out there
