puckman

Just wonder if anyone run a rear brake only for track bike? I saw some track bike came with one drilled hole for rear brake. Would anyone know if that would work well?

Thanks a million...

nocoins

it really doesnt make much sense. Why put TWO brakes on one wheel, and no brakes on the other?

crushkilldstroy

especially when it's the wheel that gives you the weaker stopping power.

puckman

I think to have front brake is good, but what if that is not the choise.

johanntattoo

track bikes usually dont have brake holes drilled in the frame. if the frame has horizontal track dropouts and is drilled for brake holes, then it (frame) was meant for either a fix or single speed bike.

puckman

It's a track frame, it came with rear member drilled.
It's look like it is beefty enough to handle the brake force.
I wonder if anyone has done the same....

HAUS!

https://www.craigslist.org/sby/bik/86385165.html

this Masi what your refering to?

Makes no sense to me either. Bike has supposedly sold anyway.

crushkilldstroy

if it was drilled in the rear and not the front, then obviously the frame and fork are off of different bikes. i honestly can't think of any reason to drill the rear but not the front.

OneTinSloth

my lotus sprint frame says different. and countless other classic track frames concur.

puckman

yeah it's the Masi frame... I scored it for a friend who's moving from SF to CityCollege NY. It will be his first fixed gear....So he need some form of safety without spend too much $$..
By the way.. it was the best deal ever... I wish it was my size..

HereNT

I think maybe that the fork crown on a lot of track bikes doesn't have enough metal or clearance to put on a brake, but the bridge can easily be swapped out or drilled depending on how thick it is. There probably wouldn't be as much tourque against the brake, and you'd most likely use it as more of an extra drag on long downhills...

puckman

The bridge on this one definitely thick like the regular road bike...I think they probably the same frame as road bike. Any Masi enthusiats out there?

YellowFixedGear

That hole is so you can add a reflector lol

If you have a back brake you should just be riding singlespeed. Your legs should be able to slow you down/stop just fine.

Ive talked to a few people that said they would be scared with only having a front brake. I don't see myself flying over the bars. (well unless I was dumb enough to put all my weight in the front and hit the brake)lol

tbk

The first Cannondale track frames had a drilled rear, but not front. They suggested changing forks from a round bladed, close clearance track specific fork to something more convention, ie road, for road use. There are also the clamp on fixings for a rear brake for Keirin frames, you can't ride brakless in Japan legally. They don't look pretty, but I think they are a bit stronger than the clamp on front adaptors.

nine

i'll swallow my pride and admit that this happened to me recently. i was making an emergency skid to stop before this bus almost ran me over and the leather strap on my clip came undone from the pressure, so in a panick i grabbed the brake and did indeed go over the bars. the best part - they were filming some sort of movie on the corner, so i had a whole audience to watch my stupidity. that was the only time i wish i had a rear brake instead.

eat_raw

What I like about this forum is instead of riding and getting empirical verification (or listening to those who do/have) most people would rather do thought experiments.

Anyone who has ridden a fixed gear with ONLY a front brake knows it's more than enough.

Anything else is rhetoric.

jim-bob

You can also find a dozen people willing to tell you that hand brakes are totally unnecessary.

I've got nothing against brakes of any sort. I loves 'em.

eat_raw

No doubt. The EMPIRICAL choices are FRONT BRAKE or BRAKELESS.

queerpunk

let's also remember that lots of people run two hand brakes because they don't feel like providing stoppin power with their legs--be it due to age, injury, or the view that using yr pedal power as a brake cancels out all of the work-out-related benefits of fixie riding (spin, toned muscles, etc etc)

williamw

Does anyone have any facts on this?

I don't see how riding brakeless, skidding, or skipping negates the development of muscles or technique.

/edit: It obviously puts some extra pressure on your knees and legs.

Olebiker

Sure, as long as you are applying the brake in a straight line, on dry pavement, and are riding by yourself.

Having been taken down more than once in the last thirty years by riders on fixed gears using only a front brake I avoid riding with them or, at least, make sure they are in front of me.

dmarcoul

aside from extra wieght, which if you arent racing then it doesnt really matter, or aesthetic reasons running an extra break on the back makes sense, especially if its for a newbie. im getting my stuff together for my first build and im definately putting front and rear brakes on the bike. id rather be safe than anything else.

eat_raw

Yo, if the pavement is not dry, you're not stopping very well regardless.

I don't know who you've been riding with, bro.

Tell you what: hook up a fixie with a front brake only and try it out.

Then come back and report your findings.

just rhetoric otherwise

Olebiker

You probably weren't born when I did it. Back in the late 70s. I fixed up my old Gitane Tour de France as a fixed gear bike. At first I used two brakes, but my old buddy Wallace Spradling convinced me that I only needed a front brake. The first time I applied the brake in a turn, the rear wheel unweighted enough to swing the rear end around. When the rear tire hit the pavement I did a flying high side dismount at Fifth and Main in Louisville, Kentucky.

The "front brake only" thing sounds good on paper but, in the real world, the only reason people started using front brakes only on fixed gear bikes is because they were using their old track bikes fitted with a road fork. The track bikes weren't drilled for a rear brake.

redfooj

im reinstalling the back brake as soon as i get my new levers in this friday... i like having 2 levers for aesthetic balance... and if i've got 2 levers, might as well have 2 brake calipers.

i really like the hoods for climbing and having 2 brakes to scrub speed downhills... but i guess our new york city friends wouldn't know much about that. where do i turn in my hip card?