i use two techniques to slow down (i have a brake mounted, but almost never use it).
the first, and less effective, method is skidding; unweight the rear wheel by getting out of the saddle and moving your body towards the bars, then lock the cranks in the 3 o'clock/9 o'clock position. it's easiest to learn on wet pavement.
the second method is called skipping, and it's much more effective for scrubbing off speed; bunny-hop the rear wheel off the ground and stop the rear wheel spinning by locking up the cranks (or even start it spinning backwards). as the wheel comes back down on the pavement it skids a bit, but because your weight is also coming down on it you lose more speed.
the technique is difficult to describe, it's one of these things you just need to practice a bit until you have that 'ah ha!' moment.
(both methods are pretty hard on your tires, and if the number of chainring teeth to cog teeth are not prime relative to each other you can quickly wear out your 'skid patches'. rotating your wheel a few teeth periodically can help prevent this).
galen 'skipping and skidding' pewtherer san francisco, ca
On 7/8/05, Michael Davies <msdavi59@yahoo.com> wrote:
> So...how does one lock the rear? I've been riding
> fixed gear for about 6 months now, and initially held
> back while going downhill, then finally followed
> Sheldon Brown's advice (from his website) and just
> went with the flow and let my legs spin. I've noticed
> recently that it's quite hard work to try and slow
> down by resisting the pedalling (particularly as I've
> gradually increased the gearing)...so I always use my
> front brake. Suppose I did want to lock up the
> rear...how would I do it? I don't think I could right
> now, unless I could somehow jump the rear wheel off
> the ground momentarily so I could stop pedalling. This
> sounds dangerous at speed, though? How do the experts
> do it?...I clearly have a lot to learn.
>
> One more thing....any truth to all this talk about
> riding fixed gear taking a lot more energy than riding
> a variable gear bike? Subjectively, my body feels
> quite the opposite. I can come back from a ride on my
> derailleur equipped bike feeling quite tired after a
> hard ride...generally I come back feeling quite
> energized from a fixed gear ride...maybe I'm not
> riding hard enough :^) Yes, it's hard work going
> uphill, or against a strong headwind, but the
> downhills more than make up for it...all that fast
> spinning leaves my legs feeling quite supple.
>
> thanks in advance
> Michael Davies
> St Louis, MO
> --- Joe Bender-Zanoni <joebz@optonline.net> wrote:
> (snip)
> > It is really silly in NYC right now with
> > bikes not drilled for
> > brakes commanding a premium- for road use! Used to
> > do a lot of riding in the
> > city on fixed wheels, with and without brakes (the
> > no brakes thing was
> > stupid and I gave it up), but at least I used a 72"
> > gear, not a 90". Plus
> > I'm not so sure they know how to lock the rear,
> > which is a desperation
> > method anyway.
>
>
>
>
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--
-galen
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