Question about single speed and brakes

Show 'im the jackass thread. Tell 'im that you’ve seen 229 pages or whatever it’s up to now of jackass bikes, and you’re pretty much an expert at being able to say that his would be one with one brake.

I’ve always thought the backup brake argument was a good one. You should always have two means to stop in case one of them fails. Mechanical failure is unpredictable, even if your shit is in proper working order. I ride fixed with a front brake not just because sometimes I enjoy a more relaxing ride, but because if my chain fails I don’t want to have to jam my foot onto my rear wheel. The same should go for having a front brake only on a singlespeed.

Sneak into his apartment and install a brake in the night.
He’ll be to lazy to remove it right away and once he goes out and rides with it, he’ll be convinced to keep it.
I have an old sora caliper that you can have for shipping.

^This is really funny, and it might actually work. People are generally lazy when it comes to these sorts of things.

Nothing wrong with having just a front. I barely used my rear on my geared bike. Sure it helps in certain situations, but saying he’ll only be able to cruise at 10mph with a front is stupid.

Yeah, there is.

Not as stupid as not running a rear brake for the sake of fashion.

This thread is stupid. A rear-brake is not absolutely necessary and there are no strong arguments that prove otherwise. There are reasons to have one, redundancy and slick conditions, for example, but that doesn’t make the presence of a rear brake crucial.

Of course, I might be biased based on my motorcycle experience, but that’s a whole other debate.

No it’s not absolutely necessary, but it is way smarter to have both when running a freewheel.
I’m not saying he WILL FOR CERTAIN kill himself with only a front brake, what I am saying is that I would not feel comfortable riding agressive on a freewheel with just a front brake, and I would not recommend it to anyone.

[quote=“Rusty Piton”]Sneak into his apartment and install a brake in the night.
He’ll be to lazy to remove it right away and once he goes out and rides with it, he’ll be convinced to keep it.
I have an old sora caliper that you can have for shipping.[/quote]
Awesome. I’m going to do this.

Not as stupid as not running a rear brake for the sake of fashion.[/quote]
Exactly. His only reason is for looks. And he’s not an incredibly skilled rider. I think people are missing the point that it is just purely SAFER to have the rear brake on, even if it is rarely used.

You know, even though we talk about a fixed gear drive being on the same level as a rear brake, I don’t think it is. If you’re bombing a hill, I’m sure I’m not the only one who has a hard time slowing the bike down with backpedaling. Above a certain cadence all I can think about is moving my legs the same speed as the crank, or else I’d get bucked off pretty catastrophically. IMO, track bikes ought to have a rear brake as much as a freewheel bike. Just a thought.

depends on if you have energy legs or not.

but yeah, you do have a point. I usually don’t have a problem cadencing down when bombing a hill though.

edit: I guess it depends on the hill though. I’ve had minor problems with the hills in duluth, mn and in sf where the hills are rather steep.

If he’s an unskilled rider, then he’s a fucking twit for wanting front-brake only. Smack him in the head and tell him to bolt on a rear brake.

Unskilled rider + front brake only = trip over the handlebars

Thank you.

Maybe its just because a majority of my riding has always been off road where braking skills are necessity but I just don’t get how people don’t get two brakes and how to stop effectively with them.

[quote=“Rusty Piton”]Sneak into his apartment and install a brake in the night.
He’ll be to lazy to remove it right away and once he goes out and rides with it, he’ll be convinced to keep it.
I have an old sora caliper that you can have for shipping.[/quote]

thats the best idea i’ve read yet.

Fuck it, I’m going Ted Shred.

http://jp.youtube.com/watch?v=OH5W1Z23wPg

haha, please don’t do that. I know you are being sarcastic. that guy is an idiot.

Shatter his kneecaps.

ultimate TOOL

Rear brakes are good for those times when you need to ride slowly down a steep, slick driveway during the first rain in months. If your rear wheel skids, you let up on the brake so you can roll enough to gain traction. If your front wheel skids, you end up having to laugh loudly and make bad attempts at witty comments to passers-by to pretend that you don’t really care that you just looked like a total tool falling to the ground in the middle of the lane. Trust me, I know.