JT! Posted April 21, 2010 Report Share Posted April 21, 2010 Would you walk up to a downhill rider and tell him "the only thing limiting you from riding trials on your bike is the gear ratio"? He'd suspension fork you in the face. My stance is so long as everyone is riding brakeless for their own good valid reasons then it's fine. So long as we don't start hearing brakeless riders bitching about rides with brakes for any reason. It's certainly not for me and never will be. I find trials challenging enough as it is and don't need any more of a challenge. I do enjoy watching brakeless vids (Mark get the shit gathered), however I sometimes think that being brakeless is counter productive to the point about it being smooth and more flowy as you see riders ride into walls to kill their momentum and when gapping to a wall they'll land their back wheel half on half off the wall to control their speed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
0zzy Posted April 21, 2010 Report Share Posted April 21, 2010 HEHE You can do that with brakes my good man and more >insert Danny Mac video here < And they are all trials moves...on trials gearing. In my opinion pointless...leave your brake on your a trials rider. If you want to do something brake-less go ride a bmx............................................. people like you piss other people off, trials is what you make it, i know i cant speak as i used to be like you, but without pushing the boundaries, we would still be riding xc bikes in lycra.. tryna get over a shitty pebble. now look what people are capable of. danny mac pushed the sport, so do all the big comp boys, benito, coust brothers, hermance etc. and so do all the big tgs riders. i recon brakeless is going to be the next trend, looks cool. and not only does it improve your balance, but when you come back to having brakes any brake will feel good and stop you well as your so well balanced. o and btw, how often you lot changing your chains mark? cos seen as you got brakes an all that wouldnt you be putting shit loads more stress through the chain? much love.x Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Captain Scarlet Posted April 21, 2010 Report Share Posted April 21, 2010 Makes you far better controlled and better at other aspects of riding, if I had the effort to remove and replace my brakes regularly then I'd do it much more often. It's only when you don't have your brakes that you realise how much you tap them or hold them, especially when remaining static/balancing before a move, riding brakeless gives you a whole new perspective on how to use your body weight on your bike. Until I went brakeless I could do nothing without brakes, but when I did I managed to sidehop 30" over tape (and not touch), and gap 6 foot (2 wheels to 2 wheels obviously). Not bad bearing in mind that my biggest with brakes is 38" sidehop and 6 foot gap. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alex Dark Posted April 21, 2010 Report Share Posted April 21, 2010 Meh I still like inch-pinching....was considering trying it on a mod, but now everyones jumped on the bandwagon I don't really see the point in putting the riding time into releasing a video on it Brakes for the forseeable future for me Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stan Shaw Posted April 22, 2010 Report Share Posted April 22, 2010 Meh I still like inch-pinching....was considering trying it on a mod, but now everyones jumped on the bandwagon I don't really see the point in putting the riding time into releasing a video on it Brakes for the forseeable future for me So you would only go brakeless to make a video of it? What's the point. You should ride to have fun, with or without brakes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark W Posted April 22, 2010 Report Share Posted April 22, 2010 So long as we don't start hearing brakeless riders bitching about rides with brakes for any reason. It's certainly not for me and never will be. I find trials challenging enough as it is and don't need any more of a challenge. At the moment it seems like it's generally people with brakes talking shit about people without. Whenever I go to Lee Mill I get grief off some chump DHers or 'Freeriders' about it. Seems to be the same on here and OTN too to a certain extent. That's the problem of doing something a bit different I guess, but it's too much fun to really give a shit about what some 'all the gear, no idea' wanker in MX gear on a full sus bike his parents bought him thinks... Either way, bearing in mind all brakeless riders used to run brakes (or have another bike with brakes on), it generally means they're unlikely to talk shit about people with brakes simply for having brakes. o and btw, how often you lot changing your chains mark? cos seen as you got brakes an all that wouldnt you be putting shit loads more stress through the chain? much love.x Stan's snapped one chain, and Adam's half-link just... well... the actual pin just sorta disappeared. That was random though. In any case, I'm gradually adding newer links to my older chain. With a full new chain I can't get it to work without a tensioner, but with half of my chain old and half new there's enough stretch to get it to work. Just replace the other half of it every now and again and it should be fine Brakeless riding does absolutely murder parts though. Most of the time you have to drop to two wheels and so on which kinda rapes bikes anyway, but for pretty much everything you have to use your bike itself as a brake which it doesn't really appreciate. Having said that, if you're breaking bits at least you know you're going for it more. At least that's what I tell myself to make myself feel better... Oh, and with the benefits of brakelessness - it makes your wheel placement so much better. I was sort of alright with it before, in that I could sorta get over/through stuff just tanking through it on my mod, but when you can't rely on brakes on tech stuff you have to get it spot on. Shipley's really fun for that - had a solo ride there after work a few nights ago and just did loads of tech bits and it was awesome fun. Learnt a hell of a lot Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mr ailsbury Posted April 22, 2010 Report Share Posted April 22, 2010 I can see the appeal to riding brakeless, i'd be brakeless on my BMX if the nearest decent park wasn't a 6 mile ride away. It helps with accuracy and confidence a hell of a lot 'cause you have to get things spot on or you flip out and stuff, and it's really satisfying to land something completely based on your balance without using brakes to help. Having a streety/TGS hybrid does sound really serious fun but I think i'd still rather keep my spinny stuff to BMX and my trialsy stuff to a trials bike. My opinion would probably be differant if there was more decent spinny street spots to ride around here though. In trials I can't see it appealing to the masses just yet but maybe in time it will get a bit more of a following. Just ride what you want, how you want and have fun thats all that matters. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Henrik Y Posted April 22, 2010 Report Share Posted April 22, 2010 (edited) I will not take my brakes off but I try to use them less at some sections to get the smoothness. Edited April 22, 2010 by Henrik Y Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stan Shaw Posted April 22, 2010 Report Share Posted April 22, 2010 Oh, and with the benefits of brakelessness - it makes your wheel placement so much better. I was sort of alright with it before, in that I could sorta get over/through stuff just tanking through it on my mod, but when you can't rely on brakes on tech stuff you have to get it spot on. I'll second that! You have improved loads at that sort of stuff over the last 2 months. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TROYston Posted April 22, 2010 Report Share Posted April 22, 2010 I love watching, videos that have bikes with breaks, break-less looks so sketchy doing gaps but takes more skill, i started brake-less when beginning trials, now don't ride any bike properly unless there's a brake. Look at Rowan's video that been posted on here, the gap to front made me want to cry, it looked horrific. *cough* Frenchies.......... If it hasn't been mentioned yet . Imo obviously Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark W Posted April 22, 2010 Report Share Posted April 22, 2010 I think even Rowan would admit that gap to front was pretty sketchy, but that gap itself is f**king huge and to even try it brakeless is mental, let alone actually pulling it... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JT! Posted April 24, 2010 Report Share Posted April 24, 2010 At the moment it seems like it's generally people with brakes talking shit about people without. Whenever I go to Lee Mill I get grief off some chump DHers or 'Freeriders' about it. Seems to be the same on here and OTN too to a certain extent. That's the problem of doing something a bit different I guess, but it's too much fun to really give a shit about what some 'all the gear, no idea' wanker in MX gear on a full sus bike his parents bought him thinks... Either way, bearing in mind all brakeless riders used to run brakes (or have another bike with brakes on), it generally means they're unlikely to talk shit about people with brakes simply for having brakes. It's the same how people talk about TGS riders, it's pretty much all jokes / banter. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cant_ride Posted May 9, 2010 Report Share Posted May 9, 2010 Haha, this is a great thread, some really amusing comments to read on a Sunday afternoon! I'm going to be joining the 24" brakeless crowd after my 4 year riding ban. This is, however, only because if I wanted brakes on my new build (and thanks to the c**ts that stole my curtis) I'd have to put off my comeback until July. Simply can't afford to buy brakes and I'm too impatient to wait! I tried riding brakeless years ago and I was pretty kak. I got frustrated and gave up too quickly though there were those few moments when I pulled something that I had trouble with when brake'd. It was a bloody good feeling and it's true... you can't even begin to imagine how much your balance, steadiness, reaction time, pedal control and general commitment improves riding brakeless. I'll probably do it until I can afford brakes, but then again I might love it so much that I stick with it. I'm going 24" for a change, maybe the lack of brakes will reinforce this? Can't wait! Oli Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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