Oops

[Mr Will]

Bodo said:

Let me simplify my question: What is the second brake, that is required by UK law, in a vehicle that has an electronic parking brake?

The electronic parking brake. Every one I've ever encountered has an emergency stop feature, usually press and hold.

[Hooli]

Bodo said:

Let me simplify my question: What is the second brake, that is required by UK law, in a vehicle that has an electronic parking brake?

The electronic parking brake. If you hold the button it applies all possible brakes, normal & parking to stop the car.

[Mr Will]

Finlandia said:

Mr Will said:

A fixed gear bicycle can supply enough force to lock the rear wheel and it can completely stop the vehicle. Engine braking can do neither of these things.

Evidently not, as seen in the video.

Mr Will said:

So are you saying bikes with only one brake are safe enough, or not? This one had one and a half and he still smacked in to the side of a bus.

They are safe enough if you can put your feet down to stop the bike, which you can't on a fixed gear bike as the pedals would be smashing your legs to pieces.

Just because that rider didn't lock the wheel doesn't mean it's impossible. He's certainly got more braking force available than you'd achieve by dragging your feet on the floor.

[Bodo]

Mr Will said:

Bodo said:

Let me simplify my question: What is the second brake, that is required by UK law, in a vehicle that has an electronic parking brake?

The electronic parking brake. Every one I've ever encountered has an emergency stop feature, usually press and hold.

OK, this makes it clear!

[Finlandia]

Mr Will said:

Just because that rider didn't lock the wheel doesn't mean it's impossible. He's certainly got more braking force available than you'd achieve by dragging your feet on the floor.

He must have seen what was about to happen, he must have used everything he had to try and stop, yet he failed to lock the wheel.

Maybe time to rewrite the law and stop seeing fixed gear as a form of brake.

[Mr Will]

Finlandia said:

Mr Will said:

Just because that rider didn't lock the wheel doesn't mean it's impossible. He's certainly got more braking force available than you'd achieve by dragging your feet on the floor.

He must have seen what was about to happen, he must have used everything he had to try and stop, yet he failed to lock the wheel.

Maybe time to rewrite the law and stop seeing fixed gear as a form of brake.

And fit an extra brake to the back pedal bikes you love so dearly? He wouldn't have done any better dragging his feet on the floor.

[Finlandia]

Mr Will said:

And fit an extra brake to the back pedal bikes you love so dearly? He wouldn't have done any better dragging his feet on the floor.

As I said, some have a handbrake for the front, some do not. Stood on his feet on the floor would have given him better braking force than what he achieved in the video. He could even have braked with a foot on the front wheel, if it wasn't for the pedals rotating.

[TKF]

Mojocvh said:

TKF said:

Mr Will said:

The leg injury thing is nonsense. It'll throw you off the bike before it does any damage to your legs.

Have you tried to stop pedalling a fixed gear bike at 20mph?

So are you saying they shouldn't be on the road then?

I'm saying the leg injury thing isn't nonsense. If you try to stop pedalling at 20mph it'll feel like someone has kicked you in the back of the knee. So you don't stop pedalling, you slowly reduce your rpm.

The law is clear and a fixie must have a hand brake which is normally a calliper on the front wheel. In the case of the OP the front brake (apparently) failed and he had to slow down with the back wheel. It was wet and he was unable to stop in time, mostly because he was being a div and trying to beat the red.

[Mr Will]

Finlandia said:

Mr Will said:

And fit an extra brake to the back pedal bikes you love so dearly? He wouldn't have done any better dragging his feet on the floor.

As I said, some have a handbrake for the front, some do not. Stood on his feet on the floor would have given him better braking force than what he achieved in the video. He could even have braked with a foot on the front wheel, if it wasn't for the pedals rotating.

The ones without a handbrake are more dangerous and less able to stop than his bike. Either both are safe enough or neither is - you choose.

[turbobloke]

TKF said:

Mojocvh said:

TKF said:

Mr Will said:

The leg injury thing is nonsense. It'll throw you off the bike before it does any damage to your legs.

Have you tried to stop pedalling a fixed gear bike at 20mph?

So are you saying they shouldn't be on the road then?

I'm saying the leg injury thing isn't nonsense. If you try to stop pedalling at 20mph it'll feel like someone has kicked you in the back of the knee. So you don't stop pedalling, you slowly reduce your rpm.

The law is clear and a fixie must have a hand brake which is normally a calliper on the front wheel. In the case of the OP the front brake (apparently) failed and he had to slow down with the back wheel. It was wet and he was unable to stop in time, mostly because he was being a div and trying to beat the red.

As it was red when he was still some way off the junction, beating the red hardly cuts it. After watching the video, ignoring the red completely and hoping for a gap to appear - or expecting his divine right to be accorded by other road users because he's a cyclist - seem more like it.

In other contexts it could be seen as suicidal behaviour.

[TKF]

turbobloke said:

expecting his divine right to be accorded by other road users because he's a cyclist

Yes because all cyclists are exactly the same.

He's a wally who happens to ride a bike, not because he rides a bike.

[Finlandia]

Mr Will said:

Finlandia said:

Mr Will said:

And fit an extra brake to the back pedal bikes you love so dearly? He wouldn't have done any better dragging his feet on the floor.

As I said, some have a handbrake for the front, some do not. Stood on his feet on the floor would have given him better braking force than what he achieved in the video. He could even have braked with a foot on the front wheel, if it wasn't for the pedals rotating.

The ones without a handbrake are more dangerous and less able to stop than his bike. Either both are safe enough or neither is - you choose.

Seeing as one apparently is legal in the UK and the other is not, how can both be safe enough or not safe enough?

Fixed gears should not be seen as brakes, because they are not.

[motco]

A back-pedalling brake is not a fixed wheel, and vice versa. A back-pedalling braked bike has a freewheel but if the rider tries to rotate the pedals backwards it applies a hub brake to the rear wheel. A fixed wheel is hard to resist unless toe-clips are used - preferably with a device to retain the rider's feet in the toe clips. A brain is a useful device for a city cyclist...

[frisbee]

I'm absolutely disgusted that unicycles aren't required by law to be fitted with brakes.

And what's more, they are legally entitled to cycle on the pavement.

[Quattromaster]

Seems not the only bike rider to not look where he is going.

http://www.cyclingweekly.co.uk/videos/caught-on-fi...

[98elise]

[redacted]

[98elise]

[redacted]

[Mr Will]

Finlandia said:

Seeing as one apparently is legal in the UK and the other is not, how can both be safe enough or not safe enough?

Fixed gears should not be seen as brakes, because they are not.

You are trying to claim that the legal one is unsafe and the illegal one is safe. If just one brake is safe enough (despite being illegal) then surely one brake PLUS a fixed gear is safer.

[Finlandia]

Mr Will said:

Finlandia said:

Seeing as one apparently is legal in the UK and the other is not, how can both be safe enough or not safe enough?

Fixed gears should not be seen as brakes, because they are not.

You are trying to claim that the legal one is unsafe and the illegal one is safe. If just one brake is safe enough (despite being illegal) then surely one brake PLUS a fixed gear is safer.

Fine that there is a law about having two separate brakes on a bike, not fine seeing a fixed gear as one of them.

Just been looking at youtube for fixies in the US where no additional brakes are needed, "you just have to ride it out" and "you can't stop on a downhill" seems to be the way, or then you can lean forward over the handlebar and lock the pedals with your strong leg, or then lock the pedals while bouncing the rear wheel by shifting the weight forward as you lift the rear and balance on the front tyre.

[irocfan]

and yet DUI kills someone only get community service and 10 points? Huh?

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/mother-of-fiv...