Author Topic: Brakeless riders...How and Why did you decide to go this route?  (Read 4038 times)

Offline 89schwinnsting

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Brakeless riders...How and Why did you decide to go this route?
« on: January 07, 2019, 09:59:31 PM »
I recently purchased an Ares APlus complete for dirt cheap. Previous owner cut off the fork mounts, so no front brakes for now. Decided to spend the next six months trying out brakeless riding for the first time ever. Any tips or learning curve advice?

Offline bhuffman

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Re: Brakeless riders...How and Why did you decide to go this route?
« Reply #1 on: January 08, 2019, 02:34:46 PM »
No tips really, just play around and see how it feels. I first went brakeless when i put a new frame together and wanted to try it before adding brakes. I also was doing a lot of 180/360 bar flip karl kruzers and kept hurting my hand on the brake levers.
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Offline jbeezy

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Re: Brakeless riders...How and Why did you decide to go this route?
« Reply #2 on: January 16, 2019, 12:14:55 AM »
The funniest reason i ever hear was Matthias Dandois who said he hated the " click click click" sound brakes make . Others say they cant stand the constant adjustment. Another bunch will say its about the evolved riding style, no more scuff no brakes,  Glide, pivot , turbine , switch.

For me brakeless was hard because my body cant take the bails like it used to. I'd say ride with brakes until you get your  basics up then take them off as they get in the way or use them less

BITD we rode with no rear brakes because gyro cables were not available in the local bike shops.

Offline aliasdck

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Re: Brakeless riders...How and Why did you decide to go this route?
« Reply #3 on: February 16, 2019, 10:19:58 PM »
Most of the time I've spent riding brakeless was because I'd just put a bike together and hadn't installed brakes yet. Or the brake cable broke and I just hadn't gotten around to fixing it yet.

I've never intentionally taken them off, I just use them less and less as time goes on. I prefer to have them just in case, not just for tricks but also for times when I'm riding to/from a spot. It feels reckless not having at least one brake on the bike for safety reasons.

Offline Timmer74

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Re: Brakeless riders...How and Why did you decide to go this route?
« Reply #4 on: March 30, 2019, 07:59:08 AM »
When I got back into riding about 5 or so years ago I built up a modern geo bike with both front and rear brakes. Why? Because that's what I knew. I started riding flat in the 80s and early 90s and riding brakeless wasnt even something I (we?) thought about back then. I remember working SO hard to get my brakes to work as well as I possibly could too. I'd spend hours taking them apart, cleaning them, scrubbing my rims (mags too...ha!) trying to get them to be as sticky as could be. I remember seeing kids riding around without brakes a few years before I got back into riding again and was "Wait, thats an option?!"

Anyway, I started to find myself never using my brake(s). Especially my rear brake. Probably due to me watching so many Youtube videos of people riding without brakes and me trying to go out and copy them. So, one day I decided to take off the rear brake and see how it felt. I almost immediately loved it. However, I found that I did lose the ability to do a lot of tricks that I was able to do. I guess I relied on my brake being there more than I thought. Even if I didn't hit the brake the lack of it being there affected my confidence. I played with putting it back on here and there but it hasn't been mounted on my bike for maybe 2+ years now.

I only recently (last 2-3 months) have ridden completely brakeless. why though? Um, I think I felt like I needed a change. I feel like my riding has been hitting a plateau and I wanted to change "something" up. Also, I ride with a dude from time to time who is all about the old school ways. He HATES when I take anything brake related off of my bike and just gives me so much garbage about it. So, there is a part of me that rides brakeless just to piss him off.  ;D
I am definitely not a better rider riding brakeless. My small bag of tricks is now even smaller as I learn how to do everything without that crutch(?) of the brake(s). But, for some reason I really enjoy the feel of my bike without all the damn cables and levers all over the place. However, I think that I do miss the hours spent perfecting the brakes!

I should mention that I do not ride my bike anywhere. I drive to where I ride. I agree that it seems rather reckless and dangerous to cruise the streets without any bake.