Better leg braking?

[longers]

I've only been riding fixed fifteen months and decided I prefer a back brake over winter and will probably leave it on all year round.

I wasn't much good at leg braking before and will practice a lot less now.

Is it important to be good at it and how do I get better at it if I need to? Thanks.

Also posted on yacf.

 

[longers]

To save confusion - I'm happy using it at slow speeds just not any faster than that.

 

[MacB]

I'll be curious about this as well having never done it, when watching others employ heavy leg braking it's always looked rather uncomfortable.

Maybe if you like brakes and one gear you're more of a SS person than a fixed? Just a thought, it's certainly how I would see myself.

 

[Rohloff_Brompton_Rider]

i saw you fly down them steep hills and i was glad you had a brake, it looks mad. i can't imagine how anybody would manage to stop them sort of forces. if they can they must have knees of steel!!

 

[ColinJ]

Maybe if you like brakes and one gear you're more of a SS person than a fixed? Just a thought, it's certainly how I would see myself.

I was watching longers climb some hills on his fixed-wheel bike on my forum ride last Saturday and we discussed the difference between fixed and singlespeed.

I have a singlespeed bike and I find it hard to get up hills steeper than about 8% on it because of the dead-spots in the pedal stroke. Once I can get my weight down on a pedal I am okay but getting the pedals over the top at a really slow cadence is a killer.

On his fixed-wheel bike going up such climbs longers was just pedalling slowly and the bike just kept on going. It was strange to watch but I know that if I'd tried it on singlespeed I'd have just ground to a halt.

 

[colinr]

I don't think you have to leg brake just because you're riding fixed. At low speeds it's fine, but at 20+ it's just uncomfortable (for me) and I use the regular brakes to drop to a speed where I can control it with legs. I certainly don't skid stop (deliberately) - puncture resistant tyres are too expensive to tear through.

 

[longers]

I'm not into skidding* and ruining tyres,
this how the riders with no brakes do it I guess


*unless it's in work as that's smooth, painted and easy with the dust on the floor.

 

[Rob3rt]

I dont have brakes, (admittedly ive only been riding like 6 weeks on a fixed) and I do just fine slowing down by resisting the pedals upstroke with my legs so long as im not blasting up to max speed and then trying to stop between sets of lights.

Skid stops though, NO IDEA, I dont know how people do it, I cant do it, lol - im scared to even try.


Will be fitting a front brake when next pay packet arrives

 

[GrasB]

Skip stops are easy; lock your leg out at the bottom of the stroke & let the bike push you up via your back leg, just before your front leg gets straight yank up. As your weight will be almost totally off the rear wheel when the front leg locks out the rear wheel will lock up.

 

[Rob3rt]

Ive tried doing it at low speed and chickened out, lol

 

[GrasB]

I find it's actually easier at higher speed.

 

[longers]

Will be fitting a front brake when next pay packet arrives

I was thinking about how you got on with no brakes Robert when I asked the question. I doubt I'd have the nerve to ride like that - but I reckon it'd be quite interesting!

 

[Christopher]

I followed a bloke on a brakeless fixed down a long hill the other day. To slow down he was using a combination of leg braking and kicking out and temporarily locking the rear. All right for bleeding off speed but not for an emergency stop.

I can't just use leg braking on the fixed, have to use the brakes too. What I do is put my hands in the drops and let the pedals lift my bum off the seat. At slightly slower speeds I'll put hands on the tops and let the transmission lift my whole body i.e. I am pratically upright with the up-coming leg almost straight. I can get down up to 8% or so slopes without using the brakes at all.

 

[MajorMantra]

I was thinking about how you got on with no brakes Robert when I asked the question. I doubt I'd have the nerve to ride like that - but I reckon it'd be quite interesting!

Interesting, but no matter how good you are at skidding/skipping and resisting, you still can't stop as well as with a front brake. Not to mention the fact that it's against the law.

There's no way I could safely ride as fast as I like to sometimes without a brake.

Matthew

 

[Rob3rt]

I was thinking about how you got on with no brakes Robert when I asked the question. I doubt I'd have the nerve to ride like that - but I reckon it'd be quite interesting!

Its really not that bad, I felt quite vulnerable at 1st I admit. But after Id been riding about 10 miles, I'd started to anticipate things better already. Now its fine, I only want a brake for legalities(although it still wont be legal having only one breaking system based on an elightening post by someone a couple of days ago here), emergencies and incase there are traffic lights on a hill(because you probly already found out its much harder to stop on a hill )


If i just need to gradually stop or slow down, I just sit taller and more open and let the bike roll. If I need to stop quicker I just resist upward motion by appying weight to the rising pedal. If I really need to slow fast, I do the same but standing so more weight is on the pedal. I cant skid stop yet, will practice in a park onthe gras come summer.

Im fully aware its relativelly dangerous in the case of an incident, so I think its a bad idea, but I had more inclination to cycle than I did cash at the time so I made my choice. Will be fitting a brake in next 2 weeks. Its always good to have one, you dont have to use it, but its there incase you need it I guess. Plus if some tit cuts you up and you hit him/her, at least you cant be told you didnt have breaks so you are responsible, hah