How do you stop?
 

no really im not joking...lol

generally a wall works best

brakes

or putting resistance on the pedals.
depends on preference and desire for saftey

^ This.

Brakes if you want to preserve your knees, otherwise adding resistance/back pedaling to slow down or skid to a stop.

stopN
 

i live in a relatively flat area ... i have a front brake for emergency purposes only ... brakeless requires a higher degree of situational awareness plus Xtra SKILL ... if i lived in a hilly area brake(s) would be a must :commute:

As in the skill of riding 5mph...

haha I'm wondering the same thing

Drop your heels and get your weight behind the bike. This is usually enough

I like to do a small hop which helps me lift the rear wheel off the ground, this makes it easier for me stop the rear wheel and initiate the cool skids. I live in a hilly area and I have brakes on my bike, a front brake is all you need.

I use a front brake without a rear. Since I don't think the skidding is really going to save me in critical situations

Front brake for those downhill descents with cross traffic mid way down or emergency situation (mixed with back pedalling).
Or else back pedal to slow down.

Brakes

Depends if you want style/grace or function. I've been riding fixed for quite some time and do run a front brake on my fixed trainers/MTN bikes/commuters but rarely use it on the last two. My fixed MTN bike is used on extremely tame/mild single track and my gearing is laughably light. I can "back pedal/resist" because of the slow speeds without worry. My commuter is 44x17 which is perfect for what I need here.* Since the gearing is light enough, it allows me to either skip stop or lean way forward on a more relaxed** skid. If I have to stop quickly w/o using the front brake, I stay seated when I lock to put more weight on the rear ti(y)re. Let go one rotation and do it again.*** You will slow quickly. The showy way is to just lock and lean forward over the bars. Your stopping time is increased but this one has it's time and place. I'm an old man and I still have fun doing long skids before I get to the stoplights. Now a front brake on a fixed trainer will do almost nothing for safety as far as stopping quickly. The purpose is really to scrub speed or slow you on a downhill so your kickers don't take a beating on a long ride. My fixed trainer is geared at 54x16 with a 14t on the other side of the hub for non-windy days and peak season when I'm in better/good shape. When you are training at speed, I can assure you with great certainty that if you have to stop abruptly, you are going over the bars no matter what. That gearing at speed causes a huge flywheel that is much much harder to lock on than 70 gear inches/a light gear. In any event, please guys, if anyone is running brakeless, please put a front brake on.**** Over the last 15 years I have seen more than one fixed brakeless rider get T-boned or run into a side of a car. It's not a pretty site and I'm sure your parents would like to have you another day.





*chicago
**timewise
***and again if need
****and have good foot retention