Hey all, if my question has been asked before, I apologize for the re-post. I searched for about 45 minutes on this one.
My question is: if I want to reduce the weight of my Trek 820 bike for city purposes, would it be a good idea to take one of the brakes off? I've seen a lot of messengers around with only one brake. My friend only uses the front brake, and I disabled my back brake temporarily in order to see if I can do it, but I'm kind of nervous about the freak-out brake lock if something jumped in front of me. However, I really like the skidless stop I can get if I caress the front brake. Any advice on this?
Hey all, if my question has been asked before, I apologize for the re-post. I searched for about 45 minutes on this one.
My question is: if I want to reduce the weight of my Trek 820 bike for city purposes, would it be a good idea to take one of the brakes off? I've seen a lot of messengers around with only one brake. My friend only uses the front brake, and I disabled my back brake temporarily in order to see if I can do it, but I'm kind of nervous about the freak-out brake lock if something jumped in front of me. However, I really like the skidless stop I can get if I caress the front brake. Any advice on this?
Thanks!
-Sean
A) bad idea... the messangers with one brake probably also have a single speed (no freewheel) B) Skip a couple of beers and you will have lost more than the weight of the brake anyhow.
Hey all, if my question has been asked before, I apologize for the re-post. I searched for about 45 minutes on this one.
My question is: if I want to reduce the weight of my Trek 820 bike for city purposes, would it be a good idea to take one of the brakes off? I've seen a lot of messengers around with only one brake. My friend only uses the front brake, and I disabled my back brake temporarily in order to see if I can do it, but I'm kind of nervous about the freak-out brake lock if something jumped in front of me. However, I really like the skidless stop I can get if I caress the front brake. Any advice on this?
Thanks!
-Sean
Sorry, but I just can't imagine the weight reduction you get from removing one brake is worth the chance of taking a header if you hit the front brake to fast. I watched my hubby do it once (crossing a street, stupid driver not looking before making right on red- he put a hand up to get her attention and hit the brakes with the other- first ride on new bike with way grippier brakes than his other one). He went over head first and flipped his bike over without unclipping. Fortunately all he ended up with were some scrapes on his knee and cheek and some bruises from having the bike land on him, but it was freaky scary to watch. The brakes on that bike are the same kind on your bike -linear pulls.
Hey all, if my question has been asked before, I apologize for the re-post. I searched for about 45 minutes on this one.
My question is: if I want to reduce the weight of my Trek 820 bike for city purposes, would it be a good idea to take one of the brakes off? I've seen a lot of messengers around with only one brake. My friend only uses the front brake, and I disabled my back brake temporarily in order to see if I can do it, but I'm kind of nervous about the freak-out brake lock if something jumped in front of me. However, I really like the skidless stop I can get if I caress the front brake. Any advice on this?
Thanks!
-Sean
Take the gear mechs and freewheel cassette off too, use a single fixed gear instead. This counts a back brake so you are staying legal. Just taking the back brake off your bike without changing it to a fixed would be dangerous and illegal and you wouldn't even notice the difference in weight.
all right then. thanks a lot everybody. i'm just so sick of how heavy this damn bike is, i want to do anything possible to lighten it. you all definitely make a lot of sense. it's pretty idiotic to go without a rear brake. duh. as for the fixed gear, i don't quite have the legs yet, but that's my goal for the future.
i was pretty amazed by the response time and count. what an awesome forum.
all right then. thanks a lot everybody. i'm just so sick of how heavy this damn bike is, i want to do anything possible to lighten it. you all definitely make a lot of sense. it's pretty idiotic to go without a rear brake. duh. as for the fixed gear, i don't quite have the legs yet, but that's my goal for the future.
i was pretty amazed by the response time and count. what an awesome forum.
-sean
The best way to get a bike to lose weight is to give it plenty of exercise. And I was joking about turning it into a fixed.
