Brakes Or Brakeless

Brakes. Because people in this city are oblivious morons and I'd rather be able to avoid them. Also fufs

Functionality of stopping brakeless? Lol wtf

I ride brakes, brake tricks are badass and mine stop on a dime. I'll most likely never go back to brakeless.

HondaCRFRacer wrote:

Functionality of stopping brakeless? Lol wtf

I ride brakes, brake tricks are badass and mine stop on a dime. I'll most likely never go back to brakeless.

Its practical for me, like i feel like i could put my fut on a tire or skid the tire faster than grabbing for a lever. Idk its just my preference.

JustARider15 wrote:

Its practical for me, like i feel like i could put my fut on a tire or skid the tire faster than grabbing for a lever. Idk its just my preference.

It would be hard to convince me that moving my finger forward and then back about 1" is quicker and easier than putting my foot down or in my back tire.

Its cool man, ride however you like thats all that really matters, ive thought about installing some brakes on the beater that im building up but we'll see

HondaCRFRacer wrote:

Functionality of stopping brakeless? Lol wtf

I ride brakes, brake tricks are badass and mine stop on a dime. I'll most likely never go back to brakeless.

JustARider15 wrote:

Its practical for me, like i feel like i could put my fut on a tire or skid the tire faster than grabbing for a lever. Idk its just my preference.

TheDarkEnergist wrote:

It would be hard to convince me that moving my finger forward and then back about 1" is quicker and easier than putting my foot down or in my back tire.

Yeah... I'll go head-to-head brake lever vs. foot jam every time & you can't tell me my brakes aren't going to win in every aspect (braking, modulation, control, etc...). You can ride how you want. Not making any assumptions on personal preference. Just sayin'...

For me, brakeless since gyro setups are heavy, straight cables look wack and get in the way of bars and whips, and I ride mostly street anyway

JustARider15 wrote:

Its cool man, ride however you like thats all that really matters, ive thought about installing some brakes on the beater that im building up but we'll see

Oh absolutely, I wish I could ride brakeless because I prefer the look and simplicity too, but yeah in NYC it just doesn't make sense.

What year is it?

Yes. That's the best answer. Do you. Don't harm others because of an ill-informed choice.

Bikes are fun.

Them 540 hurricanes though. BMX brakes are for broadening your trick horizons. Not just for stopping.

Brakes. I would rather be able to do brake tricks. Abubicas are one of my favorite tricks.

I like brakes. Brake pads ar cheaper than shoes.

No brakes. Just less to deal with plus my rims are brakeless design.

I live in Los Angeles, someone gets killed riding a bicycle everyday sometimes 2-3 people.

I don't care about myself cause I'm 20 so I don't ride Brakes.

If my frame had mounts I'd probably take them on/off a lot, I'd also get a 30T sprocket.

i'm guessing 90% of everyone that rides brakeless does so because they don't know how to work on brakes lol

Brakeless. I really like messing about with a front brake now and then but I've never liked rear brakes at all.

Eli 173 wrote:

Brakes. I would rather be able to do brake tricks. Abubicas are one of my favorite tricks.

This

brakes, fufanus, abubacas, funky tire stalls on weird walls. brake pads are cheaper than tires and shoes. plus when you live in an area with massive hills kinda wanna stop

PastaIsLitty wrote:

For me, brakeless since gyro setups are heavy, straight cables look wack and get in the way of bars and whips, and I ride mostly street anyway

So how many barspins and tailwhips are you doing in an average line?

I'm brakeless too. But I don't make up reasons. Being brakeless has made me a lot more conscious of what's going on around me (I pretty much coast everywhere between spots. I don't ride flat out in traffic). And I've basically been brakeless so long I have less confidence riding with a lever on my bars. I'm constantly thinking I'm going to gouge a chunk out of my thumb or something. But I'm definitely pro choice on this and think everyone should have a back brake for the first year or two of riding. It adds some variety to bmx. I also enjoy watching people ride with a front brake. Straight cables look rad.

PastaIsLitty wrote:

For me, brakeless since gyro setups are heavy, straight cables look wack and get in the way of bars and whips, and I ride mostly street anyway

1. Gyros aren't heavy enough to change your riding.
2. Opinion, and they don't get in the way. I would challenge you to tell that to Aaron Ross. Learn bars and whips both ways and no issue.
3. Refer to #2 for response to riding street mostly.

adamnmexican wrote:

i'm guessing 90% of everyone that rides brakeless does so because they don't know how to work on brakes lol

Hey. I run brakes and barely have any clue what I'm doing. Fuck you pal!

In an unexpected twist, the brake-riding posters are the ones getting defensive in this thread

PastaIsLitty wrote:

For me, brakeless since gyro setups are heavy, straight cables look wack and get in the way of bars and whips, and I ride mostly street anyway

grumpySteve wrote:

So how many barspins and tailwhips are you doing in an average line?

I'm brakeless too. But I don't make up reasons. Being brakeless has made me a lot more conscious of what's going on around me (I pretty much coast everywhere between spots. I don't ride flat out in traffic). And I've basically been brakeless so long I have less confidence riding with a lever on my bars. I'm constantly thinking I'm going to gouge a chunk out of my thumb or something. But I'm definitely pro choice on this and think everyone should have a back brake for the first year or two of riding. It adds some variety to bmx. I also enjoy watching people ride with a front brake. Straight cables look rad.

When I try tailwhips I don’t feel like unwinding the cable like I had to when I rode with a super short cable

PastaIsLitty wrote:

For me, brakeless since gyro setups are heavy, straight cables look wack and get in the way of bars and whips, and I ride mostly street anyway

I hope you’re not doing all those whips and barspins with 8 spline cranks on 9ft quarters.

PastaIsLitty wrote:

When I try tailwhips I don’t feel like unwinding the cable like I had to when I rode with a super short cable

i have a long cable i whip clockwise but bar counter-clockwise so it unwinds itself..... #STRAIGHTCABLEGANG

jbales wrote:

Them 540 hurricanes though. BMX brakes are for broadening your trick horizons. Not just for stopping.

you can sort of still do those though... I do brakeless hurricanes on quarters. haven't done a 540 hurricane on a quarter yet cause I just can't commit to do the full spin back in, but I've done 540 hurricanes on banks no problem brakeless. on a sub rail or something, yeah pretty much impossible haha.




I ride brakeless cause it's just my preference. I've ridden brakes and can do brake tricks, they're just not for me. Plus I can stop just fine.

Brakeless. I rode brakes before and liked it but decided to go brakeless and haven't gone back. Brake tricks are cool and I enjoy watching and doing them, but I never did them too much for some reason. So now I ride brakeless to avoid the hassle with brakes (yes I admit, I hate brake maintenance although I can do it) and to keep the setup simple and bars free of anything "extra". I might go back to brakes some day, we'll see.

As Steve said, everyone should start with brakes and take them off later on if they feel like it.

I'm not arsed whether people ride with a brake or not. But I ride a brake because without one I am an absolute fanny, it scares me on manuals and stops me going fast.
As others have said, I also like brakes for the different trick options it offers, I love taps, fufs, abubacas etc.
I can fully appreciate why people would brakeless, because it would make life much easier when you are doing whips and bars, but I can't do either