jeff piwonka:
hey jeff,
actually while i ride with a front brake (because i'm getting a little long in the tooth and my knees can't take it anymore)
a friend got a ticket here in l.a. for running brakeless despite it not being illegal. a point that is for another conversation.
we actually took three bikes all running roughly the same gear ratio. 69-71 gear inches and put it to the test.
one was a 2003 pinrello with a centaur grupo. one was his fix, and one was a specialized fsr(i think) mountain bike with disc brakes.
the pinarello and the fix both stopped within a couple of feet of each other every time. the disc brakes obviously stopped much shorter.
as far as the mash stuff goes, he asked about the kids riding fixies so i gave him a place to look at some. i never made claims to it being the best or worst of it's kind.
and for velodromes, come on out sometime, we have two here both offer lessons for beginners. it's a blast.
cheers! jaik l.a.
On Mar 24, 2009, at 2:04 PM, jeffrey piwonka wrote:
>
>
> --- On Tue, 3/24/09, monkeyhateclean@mac.com
> <monkeyhateclean@mac.com> wrote:
>
>> p.s. i almost forgot, yes the hardcore ride brakeless! once
>> you've learned to skid stop, you can stop just as fast
>> as with mechanical brakes.
>
> i think all can figure out pretty quickly that this simply isn't true.
>
> front and rear brakes in good working condition will stop faster
> than a skid stop every time.
>
> that mash stuff is ok the first few times you watch it but it leaves
> me thinking whats the point.
> i think typing in match sprint or merckx hour record is much more
> enjoyable fixed gear riding to watch.
>
> here most all the messengers ride geared bikes...they have fixed
> gears or track bikes but they are usually on the geared bikes.
> recently there has a been a larger number of fixed gear freestylers
> around and it seems the fixed gear finally caught on here, probably
> 50% of the people i see with one gear have a freewheel.
> i know a good number of people that would race if there were a
> velodrome here.
>
> Jeff Piwonka
> Austin, Texas
> USA