Brakes on a Fixie

[twistedemotions]

I'm in the final stages of building my Fixie . I'm using a 42/14 gear with 23c tires for 78.8 gear inches. I went with this beacuse I bought the 14t cog when I planned on using a 39t ring on another set of cranks
I had but, things changed. I think it should work out fine as; I ride my bike 13km to uni in one gear on the way there it is slightly up hill and
I use 74.9"(when I'm feeling slow) or 80.3"(4 out the five days of the week) and 92.8" or 99.4" on the way back.

My question is should I run a brake or brakes? There are usually only two places I have to come to a complete stop on the way there. But I ride at night on Tuesday and Thursday, and am unsure if I should have brake due to the reduced visiblity.

All those with massive fixie knowledge and experience please advise.

[spacedave]

Not bad, 31.0 mph!...I haven't hit 30mph yet.
I pushing a 52/20 with my fixedgear,(70.2") also added a front brake.
I'm good for about 35 miles, non stop with hills.
The upper front portion of my legs are usually sore the next day from back pedaling, anyone else have this problem?....trying not to use the front brake as much.

[Meplat]

"a-n-y-o-n-e"? did you research this?
why is it a "trick"?
where's the logic bust?
did i mis-read your comment as "don't confuse me with the facts"?

"good intentions make bad laws."

[caberle]

on 03.10.07 14:56, Eric St. Mary asserted:

Here are two answers which are equally valid in my mind:

1. If you have to ask, you need them, a front at the very least. If you want to ride a track bike in the street, learn how to flow with traffic. That means being aware, looking further down the road and further off the road.
For those who ask, "what about when xxxx does xxx out of nowhere?" the answer is, "nothing comes out of nowhere, pay attention." Awareness is a more important skill than skidding (which isn't for stopping, it's speed modulation and style). On the other hand, I used to build wheels for many a rookie messenger who thought they could just buy an off-the-rack Bianchi
Pista and rock like a real vet and the repeat business I got from rebuilds brought me cash. Don't run a brake; they are not cool and certainly not
NJS.

2. Just because it's on there doesn't mean you have to use it. There is hardly more stopping power than brakes and a fixie and sometimes, like when you're just tired or mentally slow or want to throw on the flipflopfreewheel, you just don't feel like having to work against the speed you've built up. It's safer since you've already expressed concern about reduced visibility, it's clear that matters to you. Not many people will be able to tell you have a brake during these reduced visibility hours.

[ChaosDRF]

In Texas (per my research):
<(a) A person may not operate a bicycle unless the bicycle is equipped with a brake capable of making a braked wheel skid on dry, level, clean pavement.>

This would perhaps be open to interpretation. "I don't see a brake" might be one such, and I wouldn't count on an officer being impressed with a demonstration of "riding skill" or tricks. I wouldn't expect anyone in a court of law to be impressed, either, in the unlikely event you are given a ticket and decide to fight it. If you are cited and/or sued for causing damage to property or physical injury while operating a brakeless bicycle, I can't imagine the "messenger ethos" to be much of a defense. Any demonstration on
"clean, dry" pavement would show that a bike with a front brake can stop in a much shorter distance than a brakeless fixie, while on slippery surfaces it is a whole lot easier to control the fewer small muscles involved in using a hand brake than the many, larger muscles needed to unweight and skid a fixie rear tire; plus the "application time" is quicker for a simple squeeze of a lever than for unweighting and backpedaling. And since the skid trick depends on that unweighting, much of what little braking force is available from the rear wheel is thrown away right at the beginning of the stopping maneuver. In sum, I wouldn't worry about meeting (or circumventing) some "legal minimum" as much as protecting myself from injury, "legal" problems, or lawsuit.

Please include substance in rejoinder.

[KNTain]

I'm confused. Is this where 630mm wheels got their label "27" from?
Does the "27" in "27x1¼ wheels" exist only in the world of gear inch calculation?

[spacedave]

I believe it's different Sergio.
I don't get sore from pushing big gears, but do get sore when I backpedal to brake a fixie.

[icecube]

Popped right up for me just now. Try again.

Bill "nice rug, too" S.

[Shikka]

If you're building your own fixie, there's another factor, which is that your chain line may not be perfect, leading to the possibility that one day, going over a bump or something like that, your chain will pop off the cogs. Or in any case the chain could just break or the rear sprocket unscrew (despite the lock ring). Any of these things would be nasty enough, but it could be really ugly w/o a brake.

[spacedave]

I highly respect your opinion on this matter.
I thought the opposite at first, that you could build different muscles by backpedaling, which may aid with road riding, but perhaps not.
You guys are the experts and have gone through this stage of cycling....I'm listening.
I'll be using the front brakes from now on as often as I can.
thanks again for the help