Originally Posted by
ironnerd
My original question was pretty simple; "Are fixed-gear bikes legal?". Here in GA, they ain't, but I doubt I'll actually get a ticket were I to chose to ride one (Single speed: YES, Fixed Gear: Not so much...I had one when I was a kid then I grew up. It was called a BIG WHEEL).
Why might fixed gear bikes be illegal? I doubt that any jurisdiction insists on a bike having a freewheel. There is absolutely no reason why a fixed gear bike cannot have two conventional brakes.
In the UK, a fixed gear counts as one brake, but you are also meant to have a conventional brake on your front wheel. In normal riding on any bike, your front brake does most of the stopping.
If someone chooses to rely on skidding their back wheel instead, they are making a lot of sacrifices (stopping distance, control, cost of tyres, possible prosecution after an accident) but gaining "simplicity and style". Each to his or her own, but I think there is no justification for not fitting two conventional brakes on every bike. There are rationalisations, of course.