G
Gags
Guest
The other week I changed the handlebars of my road fixie from Sushi bars
back to a set of cow horns (actually a set of drops that I chopped back with
a hacksaw and turned upside down). The main reason that I did this is
because I have been trying to master the art of "fixie skids" using only leg
power (ie. no brakes) and with the sushi bars I couldn't get my weight
forward enough to allow me to lock up the back wheel.
Anyway, last night I spent about half an hour or so in the cul-de-sac
practicing getting my weight forward enough to lock up the back wheel. I
ended up doing a heap of skids at a fairly slow speed and in the end I was
able to skid reasonably easily. I rode the fixie to work and back today and
every time I hit a red light I locked up the rear to slow down. By the time
I got into the city I was getting the hang of things and the last one that I
did was heading up to the lights near the Princess Theatre on Spring St and
I ended up leaving about a 10m snaking black line as by this stage I was
throwing the rear of the bike from side to side as I skidded (this was
taking me back to my youth in a big way!!!)........I then did the same thing
for the trip home.
Today's efforts have resulted in me coming to a number of conclusions:
1. Skidding the rear wheel doesn't actually slow you down real quick -
not sure if this has anything to do with my technique (or lack of it) but
because I had to unweight the rear so much to stop it spinning, I just
seemed to keep skidding without actually losing too much speed. This might
be good for fixie skid competitions but it was not real good for actually
slowing down in a hurry.
2. I don't think I will ever go sans brakes - as I was going past the
Austin Hospital on the way home I had a guy who was basically level with me
decide to throw on the left indicator and turn into the hospital carpark
with about 5m or so warning - I grabbed both brakes and managed to stop a
couple of inches before running into his rear left wheel!!! I can also only
do fixie skids with my left foot back and so potentially I would have to
roll for a few metres before even starting to skid - add in the added
difficulty of tram tracks and gutters and I really don't know how anyone can
ride without brakes (may have something to do with me running too big a gear
or the fact that they are shitloads better riders than me??). I can ride
around the city without using brakes but to do this I ride less aggresively
and allow a lot more time for slowing down.
3. Skidding on a regular basis would be an expensive pastime for me -
when I left for work this morning the rear tyre was a conti GP4000 with
about 150km of previous wear as a front tyre (I only put it on last night
after I had finished practicing). When I got home I had a look at the tyre
and there are a number of significant flat spots on it and one of them is
down to the canvas!!!
4. I need to work on my technique - I currently have a really sore inner
left thigh from where I must have been pressing my left leg against the stem
due to me leaning forward to unweight the rear tyre.
I think it is back to braking with the legs without actually skidding (i.e.
slowing down gradually) and saving the brakes for emergencies. I might do
the occasional fixie skid just for fun though!!!!!
Gags
back to a set of cow horns (actually a set of drops that I chopped back with
a hacksaw and turned upside down). The main reason that I did this is
because I have been trying to master the art of "fixie skids" using only leg
power (ie. no brakes) and with the sushi bars I couldn't get my weight
forward enough to allow me to lock up the back wheel.
Anyway, last night I spent about half an hour or so in the cul-de-sac
practicing getting my weight forward enough to lock up the back wheel. I
ended up doing a heap of skids at a fairly slow speed and in the end I was
able to skid reasonably easily. I rode the fixie to work and back today and
every time I hit a red light I locked up the rear to slow down. By the time
I got into the city I was getting the hang of things and the last one that I
did was heading up to the lights near the Princess Theatre on Spring St and
I ended up leaving about a 10m snaking black line as by this stage I was
throwing the rear of the bike from side to side as I skidded (this was
taking me back to my youth in a big way!!!)........I then did the same thing
for the trip home.
Today's efforts have resulted in me coming to a number of conclusions:
1. Skidding the rear wheel doesn't actually slow you down real quick -
not sure if this has anything to do with my technique (or lack of it) but
because I had to unweight the rear so much to stop it spinning, I just
seemed to keep skidding without actually losing too much speed. This might
be good for fixie skid competitions but it was not real good for actually
slowing down in a hurry.
2. I don't think I will ever go sans brakes - as I was going past the
Austin Hospital on the way home I had a guy who was basically level with me
decide to throw on the left indicator and turn into the hospital carpark
with about 5m or so warning - I grabbed both brakes and managed to stop a
couple of inches before running into his rear left wheel!!! I can also only
do fixie skids with my left foot back and so potentially I would have to
roll for a few metres before even starting to skid - add in the added
difficulty of tram tracks and gutters and I really don't know how anyone can
ride without brakes (may have something to do with me running too big a gear
or the fact that they are shitloads better riders than me??). I can ride
around the city without using brakes but to do this I ride less aggresively
and allow a lot more time for slowing down.
3. Skidding on a regular basis would be an expensive pastime for me -
when I left for work this morning the rear tyre was a conti GP4000 with
about 150km of previous wear as a front tyre (I only put it on last night
after I had finished practicing). When I got home I had a look at the tyre
and there are a number of significant flat spots on it and one of them is
down to the canvas!!!
4. I need to work on my technique - I currently have a really sore inner
left thigh from where I must have been pressing my left leg against the stem
due to me leaning forward to unweight the rear tyre.
I think it is back to braking with the legs without actually skidding (i.e.
slowing down gradually) and saving the brakes for emergencies. I might do
the occasional fixie skid just for fun though!!!!!
Gags