A bike frame builder's workshop

[Burdekin]

Yes a young guy killed a woman pedestrian and he didn't have a front brake. She walked out in front of him and he didn't stop in time, they argued if he had a front brake he would have been able to stop. He was convicted and got prison time. The kid also an idiot though and was not remorseful that the woman died and complained online when he got home that she damaged his bike.

As a regular cyclist commuter I always use the front brake (unless going down a steep hill) in preference to the back as you stop much faster and only use both brakes if I need to stop really quickly. So I'd rather a front brake than a back one anyhow.

The bike in the link might just hang on his wall. Fixed gear bikes are pretty rubbish round town, I remember my old BMX days. Even my old 1949 Hercules has 3 gears and two brakes. ;-)

 

[clift_d]

It depends on the terrain and the rider, but in London a fixed gear bike is a perfectly workable ride, with brakes of course. I've been riding fixed in the capital on and off for around 10 years. You don't really get many opportunities in traffic to use more than a couple of gears, and so they are largely surplus to requirements, plus the simplicity of a fixed drive train makes it more robust and easier to maintain.

 

[Maker]

That thread ended with a mod locking it so lets just talk about building bikes rather than the legalities of riding them eh?