Jump to content

Why brakeless is so unpopular?


clerictgm

Recommended Posts

I think the fact that there's only really Ali, Flipp and Rowan (and to an extent Akkers) who've really pushed the limits of brakeless stuff might explain why people are so focussed on the limitations of it in a way. I've ridden brakeless on my various bikes since around 2006, and I used to think I had a rough idea of what would be feasible brakeless, but then I rode with Ali when he was filming his brakeless Hex video and Flipp when he's doing whatever he's doing, and you see there's way more possible than you'd initially think. I don't really get how a lot of it works (Flipp doing sidehops from rear on downwards take-offs, without rolling forwards, for example), but having people like that trying new things and setting new boundaries should help show that you can do a lot brakeless once you overcome the initial "I can't stop" side of things. Obviously people associate brakeless stuff with BMXy/streety stuff but Flipp, Rowan and Ali have done some ridiculously tech stuff brakeless that I think a lot of people wouldn't have thought possible before. Even in recent times Ali's ridden my bike and just casually done something that I just wouldn't have considered do-able, but in an annoyingly nonchalant way...

It's not going to be for everyone for obvious reasons, but I think that it's not necessarily as limited as some might think.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

with brakeless the only thing i miss is riding rails and up to backs.

Rail stuff is doable too I think. Guess it just needs the right setup.

Edited by CalopS
  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I used to be awful at riding brakeless but when I gave it a proper go I found it quite fun, you do look at everything differently. Then when I got back on a bike with brakes I found my brakeless stint had improved me loads, much smoother and more confident.

Because of this I now have two mods, one with brakes and one without. :P

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I've rode trials for about 12 years give or take now, and i was finding myself getting out less and less on my bike (getting older doesn't help), but after taking off my brakes its giving me a new lease of life on my bike and I find it as interesting and as fun the day I first tried to bunny hop up a curb, maybe I'm not the only one seeing it like this?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

to be honest i have never seen the disadvantages of running brakes if you don't wanna use them and make yourself seem smoother learn to press them less. but i can think of many disadvantages of not running them. the people who ride brakeless well do it very well and its good to watch people riding pure trials with no brakes, really does confuse me. i just always think what if flip had brakes etc thinking that he would be that much better but perhaps he has adapted so much now that it would be little to no benefit at all. at the end of the day its all what you want and its personal preference i want to ride comps and rocks so brakes is a must have.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

to be honest i have never seen the disadvantages of running brakes if you don't wanna use them and make yourself seem smoother learn to press them less. but i can think of many disadvantages of not running them. the people who ride brakeless well do it very well and its good to watch people riding pure trials with no brakes, really does confuse me. i just always think what if flip had brakes etc thinking that he would be that much better but perhaps he has adapted so much now that it would be little to no benefit at all. at the end of the day its all what you want and its personal preference i want to ride comps and rocks so brakes is a must have.

Stan's riding style and way he approached things changed in a pretty big way after he rode brakeless, and I'd say he's a lot better for it. Regarding the whole 'run brakes but don't use them' thing - it's not in any way the same, in terms of how you ride and more importantly how it feels (which feeds into the 'how you ride' aspect). When I put brakes back on again earlier this year, I barely used them when I was doing most stuff but it still feels totally different and makes you ride differently. Even just riding at a spot, with brakes I'd do a move, then roll out then just turn around and stop, then think of something else. It's almost like a subconscious thing. Without brakes though, I ended up just having to roll out of stuff more, and that makes you approach it all differently. I found I did more moves at places because you have to keep thinking ahead and look at what's ahead of you.

Just so you know, lawn-mowering is f**king difficult without a seat to wedge beneath - and this is speaking from experience only on walls, never mind rails :P

On my BMX I used to wedge my foot against the stays, not the seat - but yeah, it's still not something I'd want to do up stuff...

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I dunno. I couldn't get the hang of doing it with my back foot whilst staying on the pedals like he does. I tried some one my old Leeson and found jabbing a foot between the stays/saddle/seat got it to lock up. Can't pinch hard enough any other way :/

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I think people generally ride with brakes cos you can do more (maybe not in flipps case... but were not all flipp are we) but mostly just because is safer.

i personally dont like falling off my bike, i just like going out with mates and having fun on my bike, i tried brakeless for a few weeks, granted it is actually quite fun, but my progress was really slow.

if my progress with brakes slows down and i start getting bored.. then brakeless might be an option to liven stuff up.

plus... i cant do half of what flipp does with brakes.. so why would i take them off. haha

Edited by Carlperkins
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I think people generally ride with brakes cos you can do more (maybe not in flipps case... but were not all flipp are we) but mostly just because is safer.

i personally dont like falling off my bike, i just like going out with mates and having fun on my bike, i tried brakeless for a few weeks, granted it is actually quite fun, but my progress was really slow.

if my progress with brakes slows down and i start getting bored.. then brakeless might be an option to liven stuff up.

plus... i cant do half of what flipp does with brakes.. so why would i take them off. haha

you do realise that even flipp with brakes is not half as good as braleless flipp though :D

he was very good back then

but he start to be legendary when he took his brakes off

I do agree that it wont be the case for most of us though :giggle:

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I think people generally ride with brakes cos you can do more (maybe not in flipps case... but were not all flipp are we) but mostly just because is safer.

It's not really that much different? You ride to what you think your limit is, but that limit's going to change if you switch to riding brakeless. It's like certain people always saying "I don't ride brakeless because I don't want to lose my teeth" - you look at what Ali, Rowan, Akkers, Flipp, thousands of BMXers, etc. get away with brakeless with no problems. With brakes on it felt like I was more likely to fall off because it alters how your bike rides, and it's more parts to rely on to not f**k up.

you do realise that even flipp with brakes is not half as good as braleless flipp though :D

he was very good back then

but he start to be legendary when he took his brakes off

I do agree that it wont be the case for most of us though :giggle:

I think Flipp would be awesome with or without brakes - I think it's just that he happens to be progressing in a cool way now, but with brakes I think he'd still do interesting, creative stuff. It's the rider not the bike :P Having said that, I think having to look at spots differently by not having brakes and therefore not being able to do 'normal' stuff will have helped for trick/line selection, so it'd be interesting to see how that would alter...

I dunno. I couldn't get the hang of doing it with my back foot whilst staying on the pedals like he does. I tried some one my old Leeson and found jabbing a foot between the stays/saddle/seat got it to lock up. Can't pinch hard enough any other way :/

I always did it with my front foot as I was used to doing stuff with that anyway (e.g. footjams/fastplants). It seems to make it easier as well 'cos your back foot drops, and that means you're not basically always on the power (which you sort of are if your front foot is still in a normal place and you're putting weight on it). Distance wise it shouldn't make much difference either on your tiny little bike :P

Link to comment
Share on other sites

If u have brakes u can do both... Just dont use them... So brakes is better as it is both.. U cant use brakes if you dont have any.. Plus i like my bike to slow down when im flying down a road to a ride place and a car does somthing stupid..or whatever.. I want my shoes to not be worn out and to be honest brakeless just looks like you couldnt afford any brakes.. Not saying thats the case.. Just what it looks like to every other rider tht isnt brakeless and anyone from halfords lol

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

If u have brakes u can do both... Just dont use them... So brakes is better as it is both.. U cant use brakes if you dont have any.. Plus i like my bike to slow down when im flying down a road to a ride place and a car does somthing stupid..or whatever.. I want my shoes to not be worn out and to be honest brakeless just looks like you couldnt afford any brakes.. Not saying thats the case.. Just what it looks like to every other rider tht isnt brakeless and anyone from halfords lol

Sean Watson started to ride brakeless 'because he couldn't afford brakes. And it seems that you couldn't afford new shoes...

I ride brakeless because for me riding with brakes is:

-too easy

-you think less of how to perform some line with brakes, also somehow brakeless riding (imo) forces you to be more creative

-just boring and not interesting

And generally - I don't understand what brakes is need for(I can buy set of any brakes). Without any brakes - the bottelneck of my creativity/abilities is not the fact I don't have brakes. The bottelneck is my imagination that needs some overclock. I don't see nary limitations in brakeless riding, only opportunities. And almost every ride I find out some way to do some comlicated line without brakes, that previously I thought was impossible. So all stuff about "BLAHBLAH IT LIMITS YOU" is stupid.

Also I started to ride trials only 1 year 8 months ago, found brakeWITH riding boring and selled my brakes a year ago.

Also brakaless isn't dangerous. Danger born when you try to do something close to your limits(physical condition/skills).

:giggle: (extra bonus) i don't have to meditate about what pads to choose/how to perform grinding better/leaking/broken levers/ripped hose and any kind of problems. I get my bike and go for a ride. And that's just a bonus, not the reason (lol it would be stupid reason to ride brakeless).

PS. I so much like how brakeless bikes looks.

Edited by clerictgm
Link to comment
Share on other sites

you make me feel totally unskilled because i cant hop up a tennis table to rear without brakes

and so uncreative i can do it with brakes

i should quit riding or go brakeless

:wink2:

Edited by FamilyBiker
Link to comment
Share on other sites

If u have brakes u can do both... Just dont use them... So brakes is better as it is both.. U cant use brakes if you dont have any.. Plus i like my bike to slow down when im flying down a road to a ride place and a car does somthing stupid..or whatever.. I want my shoes to not be worn out and to be honest brakeless just looks like you couldnt afford any brakes.. Not saying thats the case.. Just what it looks like to every other rider tht isnt brakeless and anyone from halfords lol

There is a difference between having brakes and not using them and brakeless much in the same way as someone being able to see but keeping their eyes shut is different from actually being blind.

  • Like 3
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Guest
This topic is now closed to further replies.
  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...