3 ms·

why do you not have brakes on your bike?

• FireBeyond 3y ago
  Probably riding a fixie. But to me, basic common sense would imply that riding a bicycle on the road or even in a bike lane without brakes isn't a wise idea. (But also, of all the bicyclist stereotypes, the fixie rider would be the 'worst').
  • em-bee 3y ago
    riding a bicycle without brakes isn't a wise idea in some countries it's also illegal.
    • bombcar 3y ago
      Heh the irony of someone riding an unroadworthy vehicle complaining about other unroadworthy vehicles.
      • InSteady 3y ago
        For myself and 99.99% of other bikers out there who do use brakes, these headlights are still a massive problem. There's no world in which being completely blinded while riding at speed in traffic isn't a safety issue. Especially on a bike where it's up to you to anticipate and avoid careless drivers who will put thousands of pounds of vehicle into your path without a care for your life on a regular basis. Also, if GP is indeed riding a fixed gear bike then they do have the ability to brake, it's just a different mechanism. Weird that they phrased it that way. Fixed gear bikes are more challenging to ride (kind of like a manual transmission vehicle) but are completely roadworthy in the hands of a competent rider.
• wl 3y ago
  Track bikes don't have brakes. You don't need brakes on the track as the bikes are fixed gear without a freewheel, so you can brake by slowing down your pedaling. Stopping fast on the track can cause dangerous crashes, so velodromes typically ban brakes. For reasons that are inscrutable to me, people ride track bikes—lacking brakes—on the streets. It's such a thing to the point where people will buy track-style bikes that include brakes and remove the brakes, even though they never ride at a velodrome.
  • thot_experiment 3y ago
    I can elucidate this for you. I ride a brakeless on the street because it changes the way I see the world. I rode with a brake for a long time, I made fun of people who rode without. I thought they were idiots, I thought they were harmful to society. One day I was "forced" (i could have just not ridden) to ride brakeless for a couple days, and those couple days have turned into 10+ years. I could not go back. Not having the option to just hit the brake forces you to be completely present, it changes the way you look at the world, that cannot be achieved in any other way. Riding brakeless on the streets is one of the most consistently joyous experiences I've ever felt. For what it's worth, a well executed whip skid lets you stop in pretty much the same distance as someone hitting full front brake, and as someone who skids ambidextrously my maximum latency is about a 1/4 turn of the pedals (~1.5m). Though because I'm always planning unplanned stops I will already be starting skids every half pedal turn when coming to intersection or seeing a car that may be trying to back out of a driveway, so it's simply a matter of holding the skid rather than having to start one if something unexpected happens. However all this is largely moot since outside of bike party/other fun events I don't tend to skid at all, generally I will go through about one rear tire every year.