>> I'm going brakeless in a month and am looking for a good gear to use, i'm thinking around whatever inches 48/20 works out at.<<

Try a 48 tooth chain ring with a 20 tooth cog ! ;)

48/20 = 62.7 inches.

>> also apart from reduced braking are there any other potential dangers i should be aware of? <<

Death and disabling injury to yourself, death and disabling injury to any idiots/old people/children who wonder out into the road without looking.


Best of luck.

NIK, are you going to go on the wagon? i know it was your birthday drink up but think about riding brakeless in the state you were in on friday.

i choose not to ride brakeless because i get drunk and ride quite often... i also have an aversion to broken bones and metal face plates (but not people with metal face plates wookie )

I used to keep my bike in my room at uni. You should start a campaign for better cycle provision

Our halls had a bike shed with a lock on it, but anyone could obtain a key if they signed a form... stopped outsiders getting in but any student could rob bikes

Also there was only space for about 5 bikes!

how does removing your brakes deter thieves exactly?

a shiny bike is a shiny bike brakes or no.

it deters thieves cos they'll be so confused by trying to work out how to ride away on it that they wont be bothered and will take the one next to it. the thieves i'm talking about are your 'rude boy' thieves not your proffessional bike thief.

my original plan was to get another bike, however i've recently hit a few tiny financial problems and have less than no money.

is all the police do just caution you, or do they take the bike away?

the frame is scuffed up (many many crashes) its also got quite a few stickers + tape on it. the saddle is also ripped up as well (from all the crashes).

anyway, judging by the responses i've got here from experienced cyclists, its considered a bad idea to ride brakeless, which in turn proves that it deters people if there aren't brakes on the bike. someone will no doubt point out that my logic is flawed but until then it seems like even more of a good idea.

i'm gonna have 3 locks by the time i get there, spread over two bikes. one kryptonite D lock, one abus waist thing and a mini D aswell. however no lock is unbreakable, i want to put people off attempting to steal it in the first place. imagine your a thief, youve got a choice between two expensive looking bikes, one has gears and breakes and you know how to ride it.. the other looks different to any bike you've ever ridden, you cant see any gears or brakes, you dont understand it you wouldn't know how to ride it or sell it, its no use to you. what you gonna steal?

unfortunately for me the one with gears and brakes is mine aswell, bollocks!

no it probably wouldn't, i had to stop work early yesterday and today cos the pain was so bad. but like i say i'm not gonna be riding all day so it should be fine after i strap it up real good.

Hmmmm. . . .

NIK: "the frame is scuffed up (many many crashes) its also got quite a few stickers + tape on it. the saddle is also ripped up as well (from all the crashes)."

NIK: "you've got a choice between two expensive looking bikes"

So you bike is scuffed, has had many crashes, its got quite few stickers on it as well as tape and the saddle is ripped up - and it is an expensive looking bike ?

Everyone in this thread on every point has given you good reason why it's not such a great idea to not at least run a front brake - both legally, health wise (your knees) and for your best safety - as well as the poor idiot you run into who walks into your path and ends up with a fractured cheek bone, a blood clot under the eye and broken finger [I wish this were not an actual case :( ] - and when you are taken to court the public prosecutor will absolutely crucify you when it is made clear that you had no brakes - regardless of whether the accident is your fault or not.

NIK: "also apart from reduced braking are there any other potential dangers i should be aware of?"

Why did you even ask this question, you have been given good responses on why it is not a great idea, what kind of dangers where you looking for in your question ?

Can you not simply remove a wheel or the saddle like people have done for decades or do you still think a thief would love a bike with a missing wheel and saddle but would be dumfounded, perplexed and absolutely baffled by the mind boggling puzzle of a bike with no front brake ?

I doubt any one here can give you any advice to be honest, you made your mind up before you typed your post.

Best of luck at college and look after yourself.

"they'll be so confused by trying to work out how to ride away on it" .... won't they have already cut the bike away by that point? surely they'll just chuck it in the van anyway and put a brake on later ....or, sell it to some other muppet with no sense of social responsibility....maybe a student?

a witch made you responsible?...you think.

maybe...got an ETA?

i was just playing devils advocate, i still havn't completely made my mind up yet.

yes my bike looks expensive it got chrome bits on it, shiny shiny!

as for the 'idiot' that gets in the way, kind of their own fault, they reallly deserve everything they get, it'll teach em to look before they step into a road.

my god you take things so seriously, you need to chill, i'm playing with you, i do it to people when i get bored.

and theres naught wrong misanthropy.

why?

crank length? what difference does that make?

as for the 5 year old fuck it i'll go to prison, to be honest i really dont give a shit about the emotional argument, if you know me/ saw me ride you'd know that i dont shoot lights unless i'm getting paid, and most of the time i ride in the middle of the road because a) i dont want to get doored (it looks v painful)
b) i dont trust pedestrians to be sensible enough to not step into the road with their backs turned to traffic.
i ramble,

cranks do they make a difference? if so what kind of a difference?

i've never claimed to 'really know my bikes', thats why i ask questions, and make alot of mistakes, i find its the best the way to learn.

anyway i'm off to take my my brake off, hit alot of children and give cyclists (specificaly messengers) a bad name.

looks like i've made a new friend. fancy a drink sometime?

NIK: >>> "looks like i've made a new friend. fancy a drink sometime?"

No friend here, I was all - "Best of luck at college and look after yourself." - before you revealed your 'fuck everyone who is not me on my bike' - attitude.

It would appear that you simply want to take your brake off to look 'rad' like all the cool people, you have been called on every other facet of your reasoning and found wanting.

You go and have a nice drink with your friends.

I think I should bow out of this thread now as we are learning nothing new.


Lee (don't forget I am only 'playing' with you)

Leeww, I'm gonna wash your mouth out with Muckoff.

I go away for a week and what happens? Play nicely, children.

I like Twitchy's post. Best advice on brake/less and general riding that I have seen for a bit.

Nik, Joe Opportunist thief will nick anything with wheels, I doubt that having a brake will make a diff. If there's a problem with bicycle security on campus, take it up with the Uni Bicycle Users Group (there isn't one? start one).

Twitch has it completely right on the brakeless thing.

I bought a new bike that, although not completely brake incompatable, it would take me alot of work to put one on and I was in a hurry to play with my new toy. So I decided that I would try riding brakeless untill I could figure out what to do about my fork conundrum, but in the end I like the way I ride better without the brakes.
I'm more aware of whats happening, and although I do tend to ride slower in traffic I don't think I ride THAT much slower (I still do ok in alleycats), but you'd have to ask my controller to be sure.

The whole idea that my bike is less stealable because I don't have a break is silly, and if your worried about your bike then invest in a good lock, and try not to get so drunk that you forget to use it.

!attack!

Hey Nhatt, do you carry a fire extinguisher now you ride a combustible bike?

yes winston, NIK is a real person. how'd you like my timeswitch?

"also apart from reduced braking are there any other potential dangers i should be aware of?"

Yeah, me firing my grappling hook across the road into a building opposite to see if you can stop before hitting the grappling line and fly head first into my front and rear brake dura ace carbon spacebike, Slave 1.