Bike Snob - Anonymous [64]
Just as a narrower bar is cooler than a narrow bar, a “cleaner” bike is cooler than a clean bike. Why spoil the lines of your track bike with an unsightly brake? Never mind that slowing is as important to performance as accelerating, and that a bike without a brake simply takes longer to stop. It just doesn’t look as cool. It’s not hardcore. It’s not pure. It’s not “Zen.”
I never used to give brakeless riding a second thought. Once in a while, I’d see people—usually messengers—riding really fast brakeless track bikes and I’d feel the same way I do when I see someone jump over a bunch of cars on a motocross bike—impressive to watch, but not something I feel compelled to do. That all changed when the brakeless track bike suddenly came in vogue. No longer were brakeless riders a small minority who had as much control over a brakeless bike as it was possible to have; suddenly, they were new riders on shiny track bikes with big, empty messenger bags who were having visible difficulty controlling their bicycles. I saw riders straining against their bikes on downhills; I saw them riding slowly and tentatively in traffic; and on a number of occasions I saw their shiny new bikes leaning against ambulances while they were loaded into them.
These riders were attracted to the brakeless track bike aesthetic because it was cool, and because riding a brakeless track bike is “pure.” Naturally, a brake only contaminates this purity. However, the paradoxical truth about purity when it comes to subcultures is that the purity is gone as soon as someone recognizes it and tries to maintain it in the first place. Purity and self-awareness can’t exist side by side. When you obstinately make a poor equipment choice in the name of purity you’re not being pure; you’re being reactionary. Riding an off-the-rack track bike with provisions for brakes, not using those brakes, and riding it poorly is as far from purity as you can get.
The current crop of fixed-gear riders are the only operators of performance vehicles who don’t use brakes. Nobody buys a Suzuki GSXR or a Porsche 911 and removes the brakes. No, people who want to go fast actually upgrade their brakes. The faster you can stop the faster you can go. People speak rapturously of the control a fixed-gear drivetrain gives them. And it’s true—your legs are your transmission, and any operator of a performance vehicle uses the transmission to slow the vehicle. However, they don’t only use the transmission. They use brakes too. A fixed-gear bike with a brake or a pair of brakes will give you as much control over your speed as it’s possible to have. It’s too bad increasing numbers of new riders regard brakes like they do fenders, as something unnecessary that spoils the look of their bike. To me, a bike without brakes or fenders just looks like a bike that can’t be ridden to its fullest potential.
But worst of all are riders who ride brakeless bikes but wear helmets. If you’re going to choose between a brake and a helmet, choose the brake! A helmet will only protect you from some injuries, but a brake can potentially save you from all kinds of crashes that can cause all kinds of injuries. Riding brakeless but wearing a helmet is like wearing safety goggles while you smoke cigarettes. Sure, it’s great you’re protecting your eyes, but it’s not really doing anything for your lungs. It’s amazing that both helmets and fashion have together become more important to people than having total control over their bikes. After all, nothing bad can happen to you on your bike when you wear a helmet, right?
A BRIEF