Show us your steel.....its real...

[another_dave_b]

My desperately unfashionable - but steel - commuter, no longer with toeclips.

Is that a Ridgeback Horizon?

 

[MajorMantra]

A bit of back pressure on the pedals is as good as any rear brake (which is why the law allows you to do without) as they only have the stopping power of a blamange before they lock up. Two hoods ok, but no caliper, please.

I think empty hoods look silly, but that's just me. How is the back pressure different to applying the rear brake? The effect is identical, and using the brake is easier sometimes. I do leg-brake a lot of the time but that doesn't make sense.

Matthew

 

[Joe24]

How can empty hoods look silly? You still have the brake lever on there, it just sits there though and doesnt pull anything.
The onyl reason you can tell its not got anything in it and its just there to grip, is if you look for the cable.
I think having one brake there looks worse.
2 brakes on a fixed, ok i dont mind. I had two on, and i know people who had two on for when they went somewhere hilly and so they werent just using the front brake when going down steep hills and didnt want their legs spinning too much.
Saying an empty brake looks silly is total rubbish though, it looks the same as one with a cable in, except theres no cable coming out from the bar tape on that side
I do only have one brake on my fixed, i dont see a need for a rear brake. And when my chain came off, yes i was without a rear brake but i still stopped fast enough.
Does this brake hood look silly?

 

[doily]

Is that a Ridgeback Horizon?

Not quite - a Ridgeback Voyage

 

[MajorMantra]

How can empty hoods look silly? You still have the brake lever on there, it just sits there though and doesnt pull anything.
The onyl reason you can tell its not got anything in it and its just there to grip, is if you look for the cable.
I think having one brake there looks worse.
2 brakes on a fixed, ok i dont mind. I had two on, and i know people who had two on for when they went somewhere hilly and so they werent just using the front brake when going down steep hills and didnt want their legs spinning too much.
Saying an empty brake looks silly is total rubbish though, it looks the same as one with a cable in, except theres no cable coming out from the bar tape on that side
I do only have one brake on my fixed, i dont see a need for a rear brake. And when my chain came off, yes i was without a rear brake but i still stopped fast enough.
Does this brake hood look silly?

It hadn't occurred to me that you might leave the lever in. When I said empty I meant missing the brake lever, so yes, that looks completely normal. I think a hood without a brake lever would look odd but hey, it's just a matter of taste.

I probably would bother with a rear brake if I were building up a fixed but my Genesis Flyer came with one fitted and I can't think of any good reason (fashion isn't one) to remove it. The weight is negligible and it means replacing brake blocks less frequently.

Matthew

 

[Joe24]

It hadn't occurred to me that you might leave the lever in. When I said empty I meant missing the brake lever, so yes, that looks completely normal. I think a hood without a brake lever would look odd but hey, it's just a matter of taste.

I probably would bother with a rear brake if I were building up a fixed but my Genesis Flyer came with one fitted and I can't think of any good reason (fashion isn't one) to remove it. The weight is negligible and it means replacing brake blocks less frequently.

Matthew

Not sure why you would take the lever off, although im sure ive seen a few without them there. Yes they do look stupid.
I put a back brake on when i first got the fixed, but it came off because i wasnt using it, and i like the look of the fixed without a back brake, looks abit nicer i reckon

 

[Tharg2007]

well here are mine if you haven't already seen them

Bob Jackson Vigorelli 631

1979 Carlton Criterium (Renovated and for Sale)

Pearson 531 lugged frame (mix n match of shimano components on there)

Ribble 531 lugged frame (now just frame and for sale)

Ribble Fixed under construction, photos to follow.

Oh and fossyant, that MTB thing you have, looks a little small compared to the others, another thing, that external tap could use some filler around it.

 

[iandg]

Can people please stop putting back brakes on fixed wheel bikes?

It's not cool, it's not clever, and it's not nescessary

no - I don't give a sh*t about coolness and fashion. I find there are situations where it is 'practical' (eg. strong following wind and long descents, when spinning to control the speed by gentle braking without interrupting the suppleness of pedalling and putting different pressure on your legs and knees by back pedalling), especially on long rides. I'm happy with it and I'll stick with it

 

[fossyant]

well here are mine if you haven't already seen them

Oh and fossyant, that MTB thing you have, looks a little small compared to the others, another thing, that external tap could use some filler around it.

Chain's slack !!

 

[peanut]

Does this brake hood look silly?

no I agree entirely but I have to say your bars look incredibly narrow

 

[Joe24]

My bars arent that narrow, but they arent wide. Heres another picture of them.

I like these bars, the shape of them, how they look and the width just makes them nice bars. They arent as thick as modern bars(they are old Cinelli bars) which is another nice thing.
They arent going on the new fixed though, because i dont think they would suit the bike. They will be kept in the shed untill that frame gets built up again.

 

[iGaz]

Heres my iCeni audax frame made up with Reynolds 520 tubing. I junked the front forks in favour of some Carbon aero jobbies.

More pictures in the My Bikes thread.

Frame details here,,

http://shop.askewcycles.co.uk/product.php?xProd=7404&xSec=128

 

[zzpza]

steel steel everywhere, only one ridable (the saracen).

peugeot

saracen fixie

​

project - apollo (halfrauds)

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project - raleigh

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jules.
​

 

[iGaz]

project - apollo (halfrauds)

jules.

I'm a member of a few car forums as well, every site calls Halfords, Halfrauds!!

Ain't so bad for me as I got a trade card and I have saved a load using it, wonder if it will work on a Boardman??,,,,,,,

 

[bonj2]

no - I don't give a sh*t about coolness and fashion. I find there are situations where it is 'practical' (eg. strong following wind and long descents, when spinning to control the speed by gentle braking without interrupting the suppleness of pedalling and putting different pressure on your legs and knees by back pedalling), especially on long rides. I'm happy with it and I'll stick with it

i dont have it in order to slow down, i have it partly because the lever's going to be there anyway, but mostly in case i need to do an emergency stop, or in case the front brake fails on a descent too steep to control speed by leg braking.