Bicycles Without Brakes
Track bicycles are built without brakes so as to avoid sudden changes in speed when racing on a velodrome. Since track bikes have a fixed gear, braking can be accomplished by reversing the force on the pedals to slow down, or by locking the pedals and inducing a skid.
Fixed gear road bikes may also lack brakes. Slowing and stopping is accomplished as with a track bike. Many fixed gear bikes are, however, fitted with a front brake for safety reasons, or because it is a legal requirement.
Some BMX bicycles do not have brakes. The usual method of stopping is for the rider to put one or both feet on the ground, or to wedge a foot between the seat and the rear tire, effectively acting as a spoon brake.
In Australia, Germany, the UK and Denmark, it is illegal to ride a bicycle without brakes on a public road.
Read more about this topic: Bicycle Brake
Famous quotes containing the words bicycles and/or brakes:
“Holland is a dream, Monsieur, a dream of gold and smoke—smokier by day, more gilded by night. And night and day that dream is peopled with Lohengrins like these, dreamily riding their black bicycles with high handle-bars, funereal swans constantly drifting throughout the whole country, around the seas, along the canals.”
—Albert Camus (1913–1960)
“There is a limit to the application of democratic methods. You can inquire of all the passengers as to what type of car they like to ride in, but it is impossible to question them as to whether to apply the brakes when the train is at full speed and accident threatens.”
—Leon Trotsky (1879–1940)